The Top 10 Surround Recording Apps of This Year
Your child may be hanging out with a reckless crowd of kids or getting bullied by some of his classmates, and you have no idea. It is also possible that few of your employees are trying to sabotage your business and leaking confidential information to rivals and you do not even know about that. To stay prepared for any such unforeseen situation, using a surround recording app comes in handy. Yes, an app; you heard that right! By listening to whatever is going around your child or employee’s phone, you could guess what they are experiencing at a certain point in time. If you think that investing in a surround recording app is worth it, you have a tough job ahead of you as the market has plenty of apps claiming to be the best.
This comprehensive guide will save you from the hassle of comparing the various surround recording apps available. Read on below to know in detail about the top 10 surround recording apps so you can make an informed decision easily:
1. XNSPY
Xnspy’s surround recording app takes the lead in our top 10 list. Offering an array of both basic and advanced monitoring features, Xnspy is a popular choice in surround recording apps. It allows the user to remotely switch on the microphone of the target phone and lets you hear the surrounding voices and sounds. Not only that, you can also listen in on to live calls and record them, too. You can also view the time and date stamps for every recording. By downloading the Xnspy Dashboard app you can send commands to the remote phone from anywhere without having the need to access your web account always.
A single ambient recording command records up to 30 minutes. You can send more commands if you want to continue the recording. The commands that Xnspy send are discreet, not arousing any suspicion. Most other apps tend to send text message commands to activate the microphone which could really put off your entire plan of monitoring someone’s surroundings.
Other Features:
Here are some other features of the Xnspy:
- Monitor text messages and phone calls
- Access chats from instant messengers
- Remotely control the target device
- Track location through GPS
- Monitor social media activity
- Access emails, photos, and videos
- Set alerts on certain words and locations
- Access web browsing history
Pros:
- Xnspy has an easy and convenient user interface.
- It also offers keylogging feature that records keystrokes made on Facebook, Facebook Messenger, WhatsApp, Skype, and Viber.
- The app also keeps track of the Wi-Fi connections the target phone is connected to.
- Xnspy supports offline tracking and as soon the target device connects to the internet, all the recorded information is uploaded to Xnspy’s web account.
- If the target user deletes a call log or text message, and as long as Xnspy has created a backup of it, you will still be able to access that deleted data.
Cons
- The app does not support desktop monitoring.
Price:
Xnspy offers its users with two editions. Xnspy’s Basic Edition costs $8.33/month and Xnspy’s Premium Edition is for $12.49/month. Moreover, there are quarterly and annual subscriptions available as well along with the monthly subscription plans.
Compatibility:
Xnspy is compatible with both Android and iOS devices. There are two different versions of the app for the iOS devices, i.e. Jailbreak and Non- Jailbreak, depending on how you would like to monitor a device.
2. Flexispy:
When it comes to surround recording, Flexispy is another popular choice. It’s a useful application if you wish to spy on somebody’s calls and conversations. It can record surroundings of Android, iPhone, and Symbian phones. The app offers the users with call interception feature so that they can listen to live calls. You can also record calls and the whole process remains hidden. The app allows remote activation of the target phone’s microphone so you can listen to the surroundings. You can set specific time limits for the recordings, too. The recorded files are sent to the online user account from where you can access them.
Flexispy’s surround recording feature allows the user to record from 5 minutes to 1 hour at a time.
Other Features:
Following are some other features of the app:
- Monitor text messages and phone calls
- Monitor text messages
- View the installed apps on the target phone
- Access the contacts list
- Check the web browsing history
- Track the GPS location of the phone
- Monitor incoming and outgoing calls
- Record keystrokes
- Monitor the conversations on Facebook Messenger, Instagram, Skype, Viber, and Kik
Pros:
- Flexispy offers a free demo account.
- The app offers an active technical support in the form of email, live chat, and phone.
- You can also take pictures and record secretly without touching the target device.
- The app allows you to capture usernames and passwords for email, Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, Skype, and Pinterest.
- The app sends you instant alerts when any changes occur on the phone.
- You can also save browser bookmarks and monitor the web-browsing.
Cons
- Flexispy is expensive compared to other monitoring apps available.
- The app does not support contact or website blocking from the smartphone.
- Some of the advanced features of the app require root access.
- Flexispy requires some initial configuration.
- Flexispy only works on jailbroken devices.
Price:
There are two editions of Flexispy. The Premium Version costs $68/month and the Extreme version costs $199 per quarter. The Extreme version is available for 3 and 12 months’ subscription whereas the Premium version is available for one month, three months and 12 months’ subscriptions.
Compatibility:
Flexispy supports both Android and iOS devices but the device requires a jailbreak for installation.
3. MobiStealth:
MobiStealth is a smart spying app designed to monitor phone activity in a very discreet manner. The app allows you to record the surroundings of the target cell phone, which you can listen to later on. You can also record the incoming and outgoing calls of the target phone.
Other Features:
Listed below are some more features of the app:
- View messages and calls
- Track phone location
- Record calls and surroundings
- Access email of the target phone user
- Record keystrokes
- Take screenshots
- Monitor social media chats
Pros:
- The app offers good compatibility and works with non-Jailbreak iOS devices.
- The app has a 15-day money back guarantee.
- You can view photos that are taken with the camera.
- You can also block certain apps and websites you think are not appropriate.
Cons
- MobiStealth is an expensive monitoring app.
- The app does not offer a free trial to the users.
- The customer support is not available 24/7.
- The phone requires root in order to use certain features.
Price:
For Android, MobiStealth offers two versions. Pro-X and PRO. Pro-X costs $69.99/month and PRO costs $59.99/month. The Premium Plus is meant for the iOS device and also costs $69.99/month. There are also versions for MAC and PC.
Compatibility:
MobiStealth is compatible with both Android and iPhone.
4. TheTruthSpy:
Because of the variety of features, this mobile spying app offers, TheTruthSpy makes it to our top 10 list. The app offers users with a variety of features that keep your interest intact in the app. You can listen to live calls as well as the phone’s surroundings with TheTruthSpy. Live control panel lets you switch on the target device’s microphone so you can listen and record the phone surroundings. You can also make a spy call and listen to the surrounding noises.
It offers plenty of advanced and basic features and that also at a relatively low price.
Other Features:
Following are some other features of the app:
- Text message monitoring
- Call monitoring
- Location tracking with GPS
- Remote device monitoring
- Remote app blocking, phone lock
- Real-time phone tracking
- Access to multimedia files
- Access to internet activities
- Alerts and notifications
Pros:
- TheTruthSpy is compatible with both Android and iOS device.
- The app offers keylogger feature for both Android and iPhone.
- You can also record the app usage of a certain app.
- It’s relatively affordable compared to other apps.
- The app lets you see all the stored notes as well.
- You can remotely lock the target device, wipe off data or block apps as well.
- If you suddenly decide to stop monitoring, you can also remotely uninstall the app.
Cons
- TheTruthSpy does not support Blackberry and Symbian devices.
- Many customers have reported issues online about the call recording feature.
- The support service of the app is not impressive.
Price:
TheTruthSpy provides users with 3 plans: Standard, Premium, and Gold. The Standard Plan is for $21.99/month; Premium Plan for $25.99/month, and the Gold Plan is for $30.99/month. Users can benefit from one, three, six, and 12 months’ subscription plans.
Compatibility:
TheTruthSpy is compatible with Android and iPhone.
5. Spyera:
Spyera is another popular spyware that, due to its great monitoring features, makes it to our top 10 surround recording apps for this year. It offers the option of live iPhone call recording and calls recording so that you can listen to the conversations taking place around the phone, pretty much how you would do it on other apps, aforementioned.
Other Features:
Some prominent features of the app include:
- Text message monitoring
- Web history tracking
- Multimedia monitoring
- keylogging
- Remote device management
- Social media monitoring
- It runs 100% in stealth mode
Pros:
- Unlike other spying tools, you can record hours-long voice calls.
- You can track the real-time location of the target device.
- You can listen to calls in real time.
- The app offers users with free updates and device changes during the subscription.
- Spyera has an easy user interface.
- The app gets you a complete refund if you are not satisfied within ten days of the purchase of the app.
Cons
- Spyera is quite expensive.
- You will have to jailbreak the device in order to use this app.
Price:
Spyera offers three types of subscription packages. The price starts from $189 for 3 months, $289 for 6 months and $389 for 12 months. 1 license allows you to monitor one device.
Compatibility:
Spyera is compatible with Android, iPhone, iPad, Windows PC, and Mac OS.
6. GuestSpy:
GuestSpy is another app you can try if you wish to record the surroundings of a phone. The app’s ambient recording feature works great if one wishes to know where the target user is. Along with that, it also offers auto answering and spy calling features to its users.
Other Features:
Some other features of GuestSpy are:
- Monitor internet use
- Monitor calls and text messages
- Access the multimedia files
- Read chats on Skype, Line, Kik, Facebook, Hangouts, Viber and BBM
- Remotely control the target device
- Track the GPS location
Pros:
- GuestSpy traces the phonebook as well. The user can get access to the entries saved on the target phones. You can get the address, email ID and even the birthday information of a said contact.
- It also has a feature of photo tracker which captures the images taken by the target phone. It also records the saved videos which users can access through the online dashboard.
- The app allows you to monitor all the visited URLs and track the internet browser history.
- Moreover, GuestSpy lets you track the date and time of the visited website along with the number of times the sites were visited by the target person.
Cons
- There is no live chat support for GuestSpy customers.
- GuestSpy doesn’t allow the option of voice call interception.
- Compared to other surround recording apps, it does not offer a diverse range of features.
Price:
GuestSpy offers its users with three plans: Standard, Premium, and Gold. The standard edition costs $20.99; the premium plan costs $24.99, and the Gold plan costs $28.99. 1-month, 3-month, 6-month, and 12-month subscription plans are available.
Compatibility:
GuestSpy is compatible with both Android and iPhone.
7. SpyPhoneMax
SpyPhoneMax‘s ambient recording feature remotely enables a device’s microphone to record its surroundings which are then uploaded to your SpyPhoneMax account. The recordings are saved in MP4 files and you can easily download them to your PC or tablet. The recordings can be made from 5 minutes up to 1 hour at a time.
Other Features:
- Track GPS location
- Track SMS and manage calls
- Monitor internet usage
- Monitor social networks and IM chats (Facebook, Snapchat, WhatsApp, and Viber)
- Track emails
- Control apps
Pros:
- It gives you the advantage to listen to the recording in real time
- You can record for up to 1 hour
- It supports most basic monitoring features besides ambient recording
Cons
- There is no live chat support and they are almost unreachable through email.
- The app does not support the latest OS on both Android and iPhone.
- It lacks some standard spying features other apps are offering at the same price.
- Lots of users have complained the recordings are not clear
Price:
SpyPhoneMax is available in 3 plans. The Basic Plan costs $29.99 a month; the Premium Plan costs $16.66, and the No-Jailbreak Plan costs $39.99 a month.
Compatibility:
SpyPhoneMax has separate versions for Android, iPhone (jailbreak) and iPhone without jailbreak. Have a look at its compatibility:
8. Copy9:
Copy9 is a monitoring tool that can records calls and surroundings from both Android and iOS devices. It also has a live audio recorder which lets the user hear all the surrounding sounds of the target phone. The voice recordings stop if the user receives a call or makes a call. Copy9 has the auto-answer feature as well. The feature, however, needs to be turned on the target device. This way, you can listen to live surroundings secretly.
Other Features:
Copy9 also has the following monitoring features:
- Tracks phone location
- Text messages and call monitoring
- Access to instant messaging apps
- Spy on WhatsApp, Viber, Facebook Messenger
- History of app use
- Social media messages
- Monitor contact lists
- Tracks internet activities
- GPS location tracker
Pros:
- With Copy9 keylogger, you can detect passwords, login credentials, search queries, etc.
- The app allows you to view the deleted messages. If the data is backed up and then messages are deleted, the app’s online control panel will still show them to you. In case the backup is made after the deletion, you can view the messages.
- Copy9 records both incoming and outgoing voice calls.
Cons
- Copy9 is compatible with limited Android versions.
- Copy9 requires root of the target device to function.
- It does not run on iOS devices.
Price:
Copy9 offers three packages to its users: Standard, Premium and Gold. The subscription plans start at $21.6 and go up to $184.8. Each of the packages features a different spying option. The Basic and Premium packages offer live assistance via chat and free e-mail support. The Gold package is the best one as it monitors complete activities of the target user.
Compatibility:
Copy9 runs on Android 4.0.3 – 7.1.1.
9. iKeyMonitor:
Another surround recording app in our top 10 list is the iKeyMonitor. It allows users to listen to the phone surroundings remotely. The app’s voice message recording feature is pretty great as well. The different thing about iKeyMonitor is that it can log voice chat messages sent or received on Facebook, WhatsApp, QQ, and WeChat.
Other Features:
- Call history details
- Incoming and outgoing call logging
- Email monitoring
- Wi-Fi connections history
- GPS tracking
- Geofencing
- Browser history tracking
- App blocker
- Screen time limit
Pros:
- iKeyMonitor supports multiple languages and works on Android, iPhone, iPad, Windows PC, and Mac.
- The app automatically saves passwords and other texts pasted on the device.
- It is an easy-to-use app.
- The app offers a 30-day money-back guarantee to the users.
- iKeyMonitor allows the user to set screen time limit.
Cons
- There is no remote control feature that makes it impossible to control the target device from another place.
- The target iOS device has to be jailbroken for the app to function properly.
- Android devices can enjoy the advanced features after rooting the target device only.
Price:
The app offers a free trial for three days. For Android, iPhone, and iPad. The app costs $49.99/month.
Compatibility:
iKeyMonitor is compatible with Apple iPhone, iPad, Mac, Android Phones and Windows PC.
10. Mobi-Spy:
Mobi-Spy is another powerful app that lets you monitor target phone’s activity, discreetly. It lets you bug the target mobile phone or tablet so that you can listen to the surrounding sounds from the target device. With Mobi-Spy, you can record and listen to both incoming and outgoing phone calls, and even listen to phone surroundings. With this feature, you can record from 5 minutes to one hour at a time. You can also listen to phone surroundings in real time.
Other Features:
Following are some of the other features the app offers:
- Monitor text messages
- Call monitoring
- Access to contacts
- Monitoring social media activity
- Tracking of online and website activity
- Access to photos and videos captured by the phone
- Remote control of the target device
- Email monitoring
Pros:
- The app offers 24/7 support to the users.
- The keylogger feature allows viewing of all the text that is entered in the target device.
- You can block certain apps.
Cons
- Facebook, Skype, Viber, WhatsApp and Gmail tracking on Android require rooting the targeted device.
- Mobi-Spy and Mspy are the same companies operating under different brand names, so if you have had a bad experience using either of the two, don’t try spending your money again on the other one.
- Mspy does not offer the iCloud/no-jailbreak version, which means, it’s simply useless for you if you want to monitor an iOS device.
A targeted iPhone must be jailbroken.
Price:
Mobi-Spy’s basic package costs $29.99/month. The premium package costs $69.99 for a month, $39.99 for 3 months and for $200 for 12 months. A separate package for iPhone monitoring (without Jailbreak) costs the same as the premium package.
Compatibility:
The app is compatible with both Android and iOS device.
Making your decision – Things to consider
As almost all of the apps have rather similar features, it’s okay if you find it tough to make a decision. All of the apps let you monitor text messages, calls, chats, calls, and above all, they let you record surroundings. But you should make the decision by weighing all the factors such as price, compatibility, and support against the rest of the apps. See which app is offering the most apart from the surround recording feature because when you buy any of the aforementioned apps. Considering all this, Xnspy takes the lead among the aforementioned apps.
Apart from compatibility, the biggest highlight of Xnspy is its price which is rather economical compared to the variety of features that it offers:
Price:
Although the app offers two versions, no matter which version you select, you will be able to enjoy more than one feature. The app has a lot to offer to its users at a rather affordable price. One can take care of their monitoring needs quite efficiently while sticking to their budget.
Compatibility:
Xnspy is compatible with both Android and iOS devices. There is no need to jailbreak the iPhone for the app to work. Having the Cloud credentials is enough to get the app running. Xnspy supports Android Oreo and iPhone 11.4, thus, making compatible with the latest OS which the other apps may lack.
Surround Recording Feature:
Surround recording is a premium feature no matter which app you buy and that it could cost you as much as $60 for a month’s plan. Xnspy, however, costs only $12.49 for its premium package.
See Also : How to Listen to surroundings on Android Phone?
Customer Support
As far as the customer support is concerned, Xnspy customer is pretty impressive. The app offers 24/7 live chat support so that users can get help regarding any queries and questions. The app’s website also offers detailed how-to guides and video tutorials. You can even try out the Xnspy live demo (for Android & iOS) on the site. It can help you in knowing how the app works and how you can use the ambient recording feature on your device.
How to choose a surround recording app?
As stated earlier, the number of spy apps that have gone up in the last few years, making the decision-making process a bit difficult. So even though we have given you a detailed review regarding the surround recording apps or any other spyware, here are the main considerations you should bear in mind to make the best decision:
Price:
First of all, you have to see the price. There are plenty of apps on the market and each claim to have the best features. Make sure that you get the best value out of your money spent on a spy app. Also, decide how much you are willing to spend on your spying needs; that will also greatly help in making the final decision. Decide carefully as you don’t have to buy the cheapest or the costliest of the apps. Just the one that best suits your needs according to your budget.
Authenticity:
See that the company you are considering to buy the app from is authentic. Do your research and make sure that you’re putting your money in a reliable service. People do not do a background check, and therefore, have no way of knowing whether the company is real or not. People often suffer at the hands of such fraudulent and scam companies. Make sure that the company you are buying from actually exists and has an online presence too.
There are fake companies out there too who are ripping people off of their money and their apps don’t even work. Ensure that you buy from a reliable source.
Reliability
While selecting an app, see that it is reliable. Always select the app which you find safe to use and you can trust. Sometimes apps don’t work as smoothly as they claim to be and can often affect the performance of the target phone. The users are then left with no option but to uninstall the spy app. If an app is not reliable, you cannot count on them to do the job and fulfill your monitoring needs.
With the plethora of services available out there, it is no easy feat to know for sure that an app works. But you can always research and look for genuine customer reviews, see how good the refund policy is, in case you don’t find the services satisfactory, this is how you save your money.
Performance:
It is very important that no matter which app you invest into it should deliver what it promises. If an app does not perform well, it’s just a waste of money! So it is important that before you buy any spying app or consider to buy it, go through its reviews. It is essential that the spy app you get should not affect the target phone’s speed or performance as these apps are installed secretly on the target phone so one cannot afford the other person knowing that their phone is getting monitored.
Compatibility:
Compatibility is another factor that you need to pay attention to before buying a spy app. The app you are thinking to buy should be compatible with the phone you are thinking to spy on. It is very important that you pay attention to this. People, who lack the technical knowledge or are not aware of how these things work, usually end up paying for something that they can’t use. The app you are considering to get has to be compatible with the phone you want to install it on. These details are normally available on the website.
User Interface:
When you wish to use an app that has advanced features such as surround recording feature or keylogging, see that the app you are considering to buy is easy to use. There is no point of getting an app which is too technical and complicated for you to understand. It should also be easy for you to navigate through the app.
Some apps offer free trials or demo version as well so that you can test the interface and see whether you are comfortable using the interface.
Stealth mode:
Since you wish to keep tabs on someone’s conversations and surroundings, it means you would like to do so secretly. So the app you buy must work in stealth mode. Look for the apps that work in hidden mode and the user of the target phone cannot detect them. The spy apps that work under some code names are easy to detect. Therefore, always go for an app that has proven to work stealthily in the background.
Customer Service & Technical Support:
It is important that the company you choose offers efficient customer service and technical support. Reason for that is if you face any kind of problem or issue while installing or using the app, the customer support team can help you with it. With an informed and efficient customer service, the users can get instant help whenever they need. So, the app you are considering to get must have a responsive and helpful customer service.
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