Gabb, all the way. I’m actually a teen myself (yeah, not a DC parent… haha.) BUT, as a user of the phone itself I think my opinion is valid.

Basically, Bark “babies” your kids, building no real responsibility, and Gabb keeps your kids safe by not taking private information to alert parents about POTENTIALLY suspicious behavior. Bark is for people who would rather their kids not trust them to tell them information and instead opt for Bark’s AI telling the parents all about the kid’s activity. Bark’s idea is very noble indeed, yet it falls a little short in reality.

Also, the point of a safe phone for kids IS no social media. So why does Bark allow social media? Bark won’t protect your kids from everything, and neither will AI. Plus, Bark is wayyy more expensive… Also? Gabb has more options for devices like watches and stuff. Not to mention that on Bark’s website they review apps like Peekaboo, CapCut, and Steam, all giving them “not very safe” ratings. YET THEY ALLOW YOU TO DOWNLOAD THOSE APPS ONTO YOUR PHONE.

So yeah, Gabb is pretty great. Gabb music is meh, but their 70’s Playlist rocks.

Anonymous wrote:Is it also good for iPad?

It works on iOS devices but differently than android. You can still monitor but you do have to use a home computer to pair Bark to their device — I used to monitor our son's iPad with Bark but could only monitor texts/iMessages, WhatsApp, Images and a few of the accounts like YouTube and Gmail. It can't monitor the safari browser but it can monitor Chrome so you have to use screen time to block safari and only allow chrome. Not sure if that's changed in the past 3 years but I used to use it for iPad and amazon tablets. Kids don't really use anything but their phones now.

Is it also good for iPad?

The Bark Phone has been awesome for us. Great features that allow us to ease our kid into the digital world -- at our own pace. Also, love the alerts we get for any concerns, so we can have a talk if needed. Wish it had been around for our first kiddo.

Bark hands down, we have done both and Gabb is good for littles but it's missing the ability to add functions which led to us buying yet another phone. Bark has a starter plan which is locked down to call and text only but you can upgrade to advanced keeping the same phone which I wish I had known before we decided on Gabb.

Gabb seems most like a regular smart phone in looks, I think they even offer a few different case colors. Their newer pro model has their new app for streaming music that's supposed to be clean. But so far it's only for that Gabb model.

Gabb worked great for our DD at her age, the new Pro is the best they've come out with

Shopping for a phone for our 12 yr old. Just looking for text and call features. What are the pros and cons of Bark vs Gabb? Or, any other ideas?