Bark, pinwheel, gabb?

[Anonymous]

What locked-down phone have you liked for your kids? I want them to be able to text me (and their friends, within reason) and maybe listen to music, but that’s pretty much it.

[Anonymous]

I wasn’t a fan of Gabb because it was too locked down. They have music but it’s their own streaming service and more like a radio station, you can’t just pick the songs you want to listen to.
They have an option with apps, but only a few apps that are pre-approved by Gabb.

Ultimately we got a regular phone with the parent controls. I also looked into Bark and that seems ok, and has a little more freedom that can be allowed.

[Anonymous]

We're going to try Pinwheel. I like that I can allow Spotify, Google Calendar (which we use for our family calendar), Google maps, and texting to approved contacts only. I can also read all texts in the app, without taking the phone and even if they've been deleted on the phone.

[Anonymous]

I just use iPhone family sharing with app control and downtime. Super easy

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I just use iPhone family sharing with app control and downtime. Super easy

I think this is a different concept than the phone in the post title. Bark, Gabb and Pinwheel are about turning a smart phone into a very simple device so it only does a few things, including texting and calling to known contacts, and maybe playing music, calendar, calculator, etc. No Internet, no YouTube, no social media. I think this version of a phone is aimed at middle schoolers and younger. It's not supposed to act like a smartphone, but be a dump phone with a nicer screen and a few extra features. Gabb originally didn't even put screentime limits because they didn't think there would be enough interesting content on the phone to necessitate screentime limits.

I think phone controls you suggest are better used for limiting a full fledged phone. You can turn off certain apps, but it's really hard to turn off all Internet access as t(w)eens can find workarounds. This seems like a better option for high school where you want to give some freedom but with limits.

[Anonymous]

Gabb is awful. Reception is spotty and unreliable. Their app is buggy. I am counting down the days of our contract before I cancel and get a real phone.

[Anonymous]

Light Phone 2

[Anonymous]

We used Troomi for 2 years and I liked it.