The triangle you're living in
Claims their independence
That's their job: to explore, test the limit, sometimes break a rule to prove to themselves they're growing up. The risks that come with it — sextortion, fake job offers, marketplace and gaming scams — are the cost of ground they need to cross, not a danger you can remove by watching their every move.
Refuses to be a burden
Wanting to stay independent is legitimate — and it sometimes slides into denial: "I can still handle it," even when the crack is already there. Scams impersonating a grandchild, a police officer, or a bank rely on exactly that pride.
Decision-maker, without backup
Present without being overbearing — a balancing act. In the US, over half of adults aged 40 to 49 have both a living parent aged 65 or older and a dependent or financially-supported child. In the UK, an estimated 1.4 million people aged 16 to 64 are "sandwich carers" — looking after both a child and an older relative.
Pew Research Center · UK Office for National StatisticsThe dilemma the existing tools never solved
Watching over someone means conflict with a teenager, imposed guardianship on an aging parent, and broken trust on both sides. Doing nothing means risk — and the guilt that comes with it. Every tool on the market forces you to pick a side: parental control apps let you see, standalone spam blockers only cover one person. Neither one holds the pivot's actual position.
The resolution: protect without spying
Egidio's Family plan protects up to 4 people under a single subscription — each one filtered locally, on their own device. No content, no conversation, no contact list is ever sent to another member of the Circle, not even to the person who pays for the plan.
Most family safety apps are built to let one person watch another — a location pin, a message log, a screenshot sent home. Egidio was built to do the opposite: everyone protected, nobody watched. Not us. Especially not us.
The result: your teenager keeps their privacy intact — it's a filter on their phone, not a camera pointed at you. Your parent keeps their dignity — nobody puts them under digital guardianship. And you get the one thing that was missing: the peace of mind that the system is watching, without it having to be you, every single time.
Start protecting your family on Android — free →
Carrying the double load alone
In a single-parent household, there's no second adult to share the vigilance with. Roughly 10 million US families with children under 18 are headed by a single parent, nearly two-thirds of them by a single mother. A protection that demands ongoing supervision is, in practice, a protection that doesn't survive a single parent's actual day. That's precisely what Egidio doesn't ask for: once the Circle is set up, protection keeps running without you having to return to it every day.
U.S. Census BureauThe pivot from a distance
For people whose parents stayed behind while they moved abroad, the pivot role plays out at a distance — no dropping by, no quick check-in. Our page for immigrant and diaspora families covers the scams that specifically target that corridor, and how Family mode protects both households from a single subscription.
This isn't a decision to make alone. If you have siblings or a co-parent also managing your parents' care, loop them in before you set anything up — email this page to them or send it on WhatsApp.
Questions
Is Egidio a parental control app?
No, and that's deliberate. Parental control apps let a parent see what a child does, and sometimes let an adult child see what an aging parent does. Egidio protects without letting anyone see anything — every person in the Circle is filtered locally, on their own device, and nothing about their content ever reaches anyone else, not even the person who pays for the subscription.
Can I see what my teenager receives on their phone?
No. Egidio filters calls and messaging apps directly on their device. No content, no conversation log, no contact list is ever sent back to yours. What you're buying is their protection, not their surveillance.
How do I protect my parents without upsetting them?
By setting it up with them, not for them, and framing it as a filter that cuts down on nuisance calls — an argument for independence, not an admission of fragility. Our dedicated guide covers the conversation to have, in both directions of the family.
How much does it cost to protect the whole family?
$59.99 a year for 4 people under one subscription — about 4 cents a day per person protected. The price of two individual plans to cover four people.
What if someone in my family has an iPhone?
They can't be protected by Egidio today — the reason is technical, not commercial, and it's explained in full on our dedicated page. Family members on Android can be protected right now.
One family. One purchase. Four protections. Zero surveillance.
4 people, one subscription, $59.99 a year — about 4 cents a day per person. Each one protected on their own device, with nobody seeing what anyone else sees.
Try Egidio on Android — free Calls free for life · How Family mode works →Already protecting your own? Refer someone you care about and you both get 7 free days.