Safer phones for kids expand as parents seek controls

Safer phones built for children are moving from a niche product into a crowded market, as parents look for handsets that can call and text without opening the full internet, TechCrunch reported on 7 November.

Writer Lauren Forristal described a wave of devices that look like ordinary smartphones but run locked-down software. Browsers, social networks and app stores are removed or tightly limited. Parents usually manage the handset through a companion app, approving contacts, checking location, setting screen-time limits and, on some models, receiving alerts about bullying, sexual content or other risks.

The same report also covers a second group of products that go further and drop the smartphone shape altogether: home phones and screen-free gadgets that can only reach a list of trusted people. Prices and monthly plans vary widely, so the market now stretches from a simple Wi-Fi home phone to a monitored Samsung-based handset with a full cellular plan.

What safer phones actually block

Most of the dedicated children’s models still include a touchscreen, a camera and basic communication tools. The difference is the software. Companies strip out or gate the features that turn a regular phone into an open portal: unrestricted web search, social apps and the ability to download anything from a store.

Parents can often add features later. That matters for families who want a first phone at primary-school age and a little more freedom in the teenage years, without buying a new device each time the rules change. It is a different design choice from giving a child a standard smartphone and then trying to bolt on parental controls after the fact.

The category also overlaps with wider questions about how people use mobile devices. Our earlier explainer on AI-powered smartphones looked at handsets that add more intelligence and more data collection, while a separate guide to password managers for security covers tools that adults use to lock down accounts. Children’s devices try to solve the problem earlier, by shrinking what the phone can do.

The main options on sale

TechCrunch compared several of the better-known brands and the prices they were listing at the time of publication:

• Bark Phone: built on Samsung Galaxy hardware, with calls and texts limited to approved contacts. Bark scans texts, emails, photos and supported apps for signs of cyberbullying, grooming, suicidal language and sexual content, then alerts parents. Features can be unlocked as a child gets older. The standard model was listed at $240, plus a wireless plan from $29 a month.
• Gabb: removes social media, a browser and an app store. Children get calling, texting and a short list of preloaded tools such as a camera, calendar and calculator, plus a curated music library. Phones started around $159.99, with service from about $24.99 a month.
• Pinwheel: parents approve every app, control contacts, set routines and review location history. A “modes” feature can limit the phone to calling and navigation during school hours. Handsets started around $119, with a caregiver portal from $14.99 a month before cellular service. The company also launched home phones at $68 and $79 and a smartwatch at $160.
• Teracube Thrive: a tailored Android system that lets parents approve downloads, filter browsing and set app-by-app time limits. TechCrunch said it is often suggested for older children. The phone was listed at $99, with plans from $35 a month.
• Ooma MyPhone: a home phone, not a mobile. It allows calls only inside a Trusted Circle, offers quiet hours, provides address-based 911 service and lets parents review call logs. The device was $99.99, with service from $7.99 a month.
• Tin Can: a Wi-Fi home phone styled like a tin can, priced at $100. Approved contacts only. Calling other Tin Can users is free; a $9.99 monthly plan covers other approved numbers.
• Waffle: screen-free devices now on preorder, with Waffle Home at $119 and Waffle Go, a portable voice gadget, at $169. Shipments were due on 23 November.
• Yello!: a new children’s phone from Canada’s TextNow. It looks like a normal smartphone but has no app store, social media or open web. It was listed at $149.99, plus $19.99 a month.

Why demand for safer phones is rising

Parents are reacting to a simple gap. A full smartphone is a powerful computer that happens to make calls. For a child, that can mean exposure to strangers, endless scrolling and app stores that are hard to police in real time. The new devices try to keep the useful parts of a phone, especially the ability to reach a parent, while cutting the open internet down to size.

No handset can remove every risk. Location sharing, cameras and even approved-contact lists can be misused, and monitoring tools raise their own privacy questions inside a family. Prices also add up once a monthly plan is included. Families in Thailand who want a first device for a child should check whether a US-centric brand actually ships and supports service here; TechCrunch’s survey focused on products available to American and, in TextNow’s case, Canadian customers.

Still, the range of designs is now wide enough that a parent can choose a philosophy, not just a brand: heavy monitoring, as with Bark; removal of risk by deleting the browser and store, as with Gabb and Yello!; or a screen-free home phone that only rings a short list of people. That choice did not exist in this variety a few years ago.

Messaging apps used by adults continue to add family-adjacent features as well, including the recent WhatsApp events update that lets people share plans without every guest installing the app. Those tools do not replace a locked-down first phone, but they show how companies are building more controls around who can contact whom.

The product survey and prices above were reported by TechCrunch on 7 November 2026.

Photo: A standard smartphone, the kind of open device safer phones are designed to replace for children (Kyu3 via Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0).