Hey folks, my wife and I use Pixel phones, but we’re starting to think about a phone for our kid, really just to be able to call 911, probably wouldn’t even get data. We’re looking for cheap and boring, the fewer features, the better. Also open to smart watches, tho we have no experience with them.
Are there any devices that fit the bill? I’m thinking something like an old Nokia brick from 20 years ago, but of course with VoLTE/VoNR.
Thanks for any help this community can provide!
I would say go with an older Apple phone. Their stock parental controls tend to be a bit better than what you can get on Android without modding, and (let’s be real) it will probably be supported for longer. When they get older you can disable the features to their maturity level.
No, stay away from Apple. Their parental controls are godawful, (granular, but awful) because it randomly disables itself. I’ve watched it happen with my own eyes.
Pinwheel, Gabb, Bark, MMGuardian, and others sell cheap Android phones with custom firmware tailored to kids with backdoors for parents to control and monitor them.
Didn’t know that. It has been a while since I have had to set one up for a relative. Maybe I should have them check that to make sure they haven’t gotten up to anything they shouldn’t’ve
That’s an option, but once again do you know if I can provision and use parental controls if we don’t have any other Apple devices?
So far I’ve only given my kids Samsung tablets and no phones yet, but Google’s Family Link has pretty solid features and usability.