Time for my Highster Mobile review – this spy phone app has been around for years now with both good and bad reports online. So what’s the truth about this app? Not all Highster reviews can be trusted but I hope you will trust mine!
Does Highster mobile work as expected (or claimed)? Is it reliable? Does it make my recommended list of proven cell phone monitoring apps?
All will be revealed so please keep reading.
Not Recommended
Remember that I only recommend a few top rated phone spy apps such as mSpy and FlexiSPY – read those reviews before buying any other app.
Find out all about the mspy app here and check this guide on FlexiSPY – before making any decisions. My new Look at uMobix is a well-priced alternative to consider. I also have a FAQ page for the mSpy app here.
You need to ask – does any other spy phone app offer more than these – is it better value and why would you choose a product with a dubious reputation? I’ll hopefully answer your questions below.
The Big Problem With Highster Mobile Reviews
As it was some time since this review was first published, I decided to try this cell phone spy program out again. I test every app that I review and I also look at other online reviews to see what people are saying.
Soon after installing the Highster mobile spy app, I noticed a major problem. It is no longer hidden on the target phone.
I couldn’t believe it! The first feature of a phone spy app must be that it is hidden from the user. If it isn’t hidden, it isn’t a true spying app – think about it.
I wondered had I installed it correctly. The Highster app icon was there on the menu screen. So, I did some research online. None of the reviews of Highster Mobile mentioned that the icon is no longer hidden.
I reached out to Highster support but got no reply (another concern). Then as I looked around their website I found something in their FAQ Section. And I quote:
“Is the Highster Mobile icon visible on the monitored phone?“
“Yes. By default, the Highster Mobile icon will appear in the Applications menu (screens and/or pages) and also in the Applications Manager menu. The icon cannot be removed and will remain visible unless Highster Mobile is uninstalled from the monitored device.”
That is in their own words, on their website. How come no one else is talking about this? It’s a pretty major issue. You need to question some of these so-called reviews!
Anyway, just be aware that everything that follows, every feature and claimed feature will be visible. The cell phone user will know that they are being monitored. In my view, this is Not a true Spy app but could be better described as a parental control app.
How Does Highster Mobile Work?
Apart from the fact that it isn’t hidden, Highster works in the same way as most spy software apps on the market today. It is available as a full version monitoring software for Android phones and devices and they have a separate version that can monitor the iPhone and Apple devices.
For Android monitoring the software is installed on the target device – the cell phone you want to monitor or track. Once installed, Highster will report many activities on the phone such as messaging and call logs.
These are sent to their online servers where you can log in and see everything. After installation, you don’t need access to the cell phone again.
The iPhone version of Highster mobile works differently. It uses a system first released by mSpy that avoided needing to Jailbreak the iPhone. No software is installed on the target phone. Instead, it works by monitoring the user’s phone backups on Apple’s free iCloud platform.
For this to work you must have the user’s Apple ID and password, iCloud backups need to be running and it is best to turn off 2 FA (2-factor authentication). Monitoring is not as detailed as the full version software and is not as up-to-date in the reporting.
It reports the changes between backups so there is always a delay. The tracking functions will also be delayed. It does however offer a way to monitor an iPhone when Jailbreaking is not possible.
Highster Mobile Features
Before deciding to purchase spying software, you have to know what it offers you. Highster presents you with lots of features which we’ll be going through here. In my testing, many features did not work as they were supposed to.
SMS Text Message Tracking
This is the most basic monitoring feature offered by every spy app. If this doesn’t work you really are in trouble! Thankfully even Highster managed to get this feature working.
Highster enables you to track any SMS activity. This means you can review sent and received messages, deleted texts, receiver and sender numbers, dates, and all types of media content such as photos, videos, and audio.
Phone Call Logging
The call log monitoring feature lets you see details of all phone call activity on your target mobile, the least a spying app should be able to do.
Highster lets you see incoming and outgoing calls, their corresponding numbers, and when the calls were made. You can also view their dates, how long they lasted, and their contact numbers. Again this worked well – as you would expect.
Monitor iMessages
This one is for those of us who need to look beyond regular carrier texts. The Highster iMessage monitoring feature enables you to record all messages sent and received using Apple’s iMessage platform. iMessage is Apple’s native messaging app.
View Photos and Videos
Another basic feature for any monitoring program. Highster Mobile will allow you to see every photo and video file on the target device. It includes any images taken using the phone or saved in their gallery or media folder.
You’ll also get any related information, such as the time and date they were taken, as well as the geolocation information.
GPS Location Tracking
Phone tracking has become an important tool in phone monitoring. The best tracking apps have this technology down very well giving accurate results. Unfortunately in my tests using Highster Mobile the tracking did not perform well. It was often not available and when it was it proved inaccurate.
What I have learned from reviewing many spy apps is that several key features prove the quality of the competing programs. GPRS tracking is one of these. In the lower quality programs, the tracking nearly always is off or nonexistent.
If tracking the target phone location is important to you, you really need to choose your phone spy app carefully. Highster is not for you.
Email Monitoring
Another basic feature of any decent spy software. With the Highster software, you get to monitor all the emails sent and received on the target’s phone, email addresses of participants, and contact information. It goes without saying, you can read the content of messages whether text or attachments.
Social Media Monitoring
You know you’ve been waiting for this one, we all have! There’s no denying how involved people are with social media apps. More messages are now sent on messenger apps than in text messages. Especially with the younger generation.
If you are trying to keep your kids safe online, you need to be able to see what they are doing on popular social media apps. Most monitoring software companies have been trying to cover more and more platforms – to be the best!
This is another indicator of the app’s quality. First – do they cover the main programs and second do they work properly? Poor-quality apps often claim to monitor a wide range of services. But when you start trying to use them you find out that some are not actually covered.
This was my experience with Highster Mobile. I was able to monitor Facebook, Twitter, and Skype in my tests. But they failed to report anything from Snapchat, Instagram, and WhatsApp. This is a problem but as I mentioned, Highster isn’t the only one to fail here.
Device Compatibility
Setting up spy apps can be very frustrating as some of them only work on a few selected devices or operating systems. However, with Highster Mobile, this isn’t really an issue. This software will run on just about any device on the market operated by Android or iOS systems.
Keyword Alerts
On your dashboard, there’s an option you can request to get notified whenever a particular word is typed into the target phone. For example, words like “alcohol”, “sex”, or “drugs” can be set as keyword alerts. If your child types any of these selected words you will get an alert in the online reporting dashboard.
I have tested this and it worked well for anything entered in normal text messages. However, as Highster didn’t work for me on Snapchat and WhatsApp etc. you could be missing a lot of information here.
Advanced Features of Highster
All the features covered so far are seen as fairly basic in modern spy software apps. And even her, Highster doesn’t fare so well! They do have a few other features they call advanced or special. So let’s have a look at some of these now.
Mobile Web Browsing History
The internet never sleeps and browsing it never stops. Highster provides full access to browsing activities on the phone you’re targeting.
You can get reports of all websites visited on the phone’s native browser. Also, any bookmarks that have been saved will be reported.
This feature is useful to keep track of the type of sites your kids, especially teens, are surfing. For business owners, this too can be really helpful for finding out if your employees are wasting their time online during working hours.
The thing is, this is again a pretty standard feature of any decent monitoring app. Some such as mSpy and FlexiSPY go further and can report non native browser activity. But to be fair the browser history feature does work on Highster.
Remote Camera
This feature from Highster mobile is a bit of a gimmick. It allows you to remotely activate the camera function and take pictures or videos. Then, only you can view them on your device online without your target ever knowing.
Well, first off, it doesn’t work as described. You need to send a message from the online control panel to the target phone to activate the phone camera. The user sees this message and will know the camera is being operated remotely.
The resulting photos or video is also available for them to see in the media folder of the phone. So, there is nothing very secret about any of this. Not to mention (again) that the app itself isn’t hidden!
This feature is just pointless. What could you hope to achieve using the camera? This is billed as an advanced feature but I’ll let you decide on that.
Total App Control
Another “advanced feature” that most phone spy apps have. Here you can view all apps installed on the target phone. Plus, you can then restrict or block their access to specific apps that you don’t want them using. You can even take matters into your own hands and uninstall any app you find inappropriate.
You can clearly see how such control would be helpful for parental or professional supervision. App blocking and control is a very useful feature and it did work with Highster mobile.
Even the Highster app itself can be remotely uninstalled via the control panel if you no longer need to monitor the target device or have any other reason to delete the spying software.
How to Install Highster Mobile
To be fair installing Highster mobile is easy enough. The Android full software version is installed directly onto the target phone or mobile device. They send you easy-to-follow instructions when you buy Highster.
As mentioned the iPhone monitoring version does not involve any software installation. You go to your Highster Mobile Login page, sign in with the username and password provided, and then enter the Apple ID and Password of the target user. Again you get easy-to-follow instructions.
One thing about installing Highster made me laugh. And it highlights another sales gimmick used by some companies in the spy app market.
People seem very keen to find out how long it takes to install Highster ( and any other spy software). Some companies make ridiculous claims trying to sound better than the rest.
Reading the Highster website I noticed the Disclaimer at the bottom of each page has this line “Physical access to the Android phone for approximately 45 seconds is required.” I had to laugh! I’ve been using and testing phone spy software for years now and I can assure you – you will not install a spy app in 45 seconds. Where do they even come up with this?
To contradict this I also noticed in the FAQ section they say “Installation can be done in less than 5 minutes.” Take your pick I guess!
Highster Mobile Cost
Highster has a unique pricing setup. They have 2 plans available: Basic and Pro. Both are billed as one-off payments for a year’s service.
- 1 year Basic $59.88
- 1 year Pro $83.88
Strange numbers! Just remember when they say basic, they mean basic. You might look at the one-off payment and the relatively low cost as a good thing. But please do your research. There are many complaints online about them not issuing refunds and about the software in general.
Once they have your payment, there is not much incentive for them to make sure your service and support is good. With monthly payments, the companies always want to get you to stay subscribed and have good reason to give proper support. Just something to consider.
Final Thoughts
The biggest problem for me is the fact that the app is not hidden. And this is not made clear to everyone from the outset. If you are looking for spy apps Highster doesn’t really qualify now that it is visible on the target device.
Then you need to consider their support. They claim to offer email ticket support but after repeated contact, I did not get Any reply.
Unfortunately, this doesn’t seem to be an isolated case. There are many complaints about Highster Mobile support online. Then there are the refund complaints! If you are still considering buying this program – good luck!
Although Highster Mobile did manage to work for most of their basic features (which is more than can be said for some apps), some key functions just did not work properly.
I am more fussy than most reviewers, but I stand by any product I promote. Here are some other reviews that do not come up to scratch for different reasons: Check what I made of the TeenSafe app, and then there was my review of HoverWatch. XNSpy was another spy app that showed promise but in the end, was a letdown. Even my MobiStealth review doesn’t make it these days.
Have a good look around this site, read the reviews, and get to know what is available before you commit to any spy app.
The phone spy app market is very competitive with a few really good programs on offer. I just feel that Highster Mobile has failed to keep up. The program feels dated and poorly supported. And their marketing is a bit shady, to say the least.
If you want a reliable spy app that works as claimed, I’m afraid I could not in all honesty recommend Highster Mobile.
mSpy
Best social media monitoring
All iPhones supported
Best tracking features
Umobix
Good feature list
Good support for beginners
Best for a tight budget
Common Questions
Can Highster be detected?
Yes, the Highster Mobile app icon is visible on the monitored phone.
Does Highster Mobile record phone calls?
No, Highster Mobile does not record phone calls.
Is there a free trial of Highster?
No, there is no free trial version of Highster Mobile. They only offer yearly plans for their software.