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Marie asked: “I live in a very small apartment. My reception on my iPhone is not good at all. I have been told that it’s because I have a Tin roof. Is there any truth to that? If so, what can I do to improve my reception. My second question is: Is there an app to retrieve all deleted text messages? Just trying to keep tabs on teenagers. They will delete text messages and I can’t find out what they have texted.”
Marie, tin roof can interfere with cellphone signals, there are two solutions to deal with that.
Your iPhone almost certainly supports WiFi calling. If your carrier does too, you can just turn it on and it will route all your calls and texts through your home’s WiFi. The only catch is carrier support, some support it, some don’t.
Your iPhone almost certainly supports WiFi calling.
If that’s not an option for you, you can look into cellphone signal repeaters. The kind with the antenna that is mounted outside, and the base unit that is plugged in inside. The installation is more involved, but it would be repeating the signal that exists outside your house, and outside the interference that your tin roof creates, so it should give you the kind of signal you get when you stand outside. These boosters will likely cost you hundreds of dollars, some even not too far south of the $1000 mark but you can find more basic versions starting at around $250.
They should do the job, but it won’t be cheap. You can also ask your phone company, they may have their own device you can use.
As for keeping tabs on your teenagers, there is a service called TeenSafe that claims to do what you need.
As for keeping tabs on your teenagers, there is a service called TeenSafe that claims to do what you need. It will keep track of your teens GPS, text messages, Kik messages, and Whatsapp messages. It does not require a rooted or jailbroken phone, but it’s not free. You can try it for a week for free, but after that it will cost you $14.95/month if you want to keep it.
We hear it does work, but keep in mind that your teens can also be using other apps to communicate and TeenSafe can’t track everything. If they want to get around whatever tracking you set up, they can and probably will within minutes of finding out what you can actually track. You’re on the wrong side of this arms race.