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June 08, 2020

Why Aren't More Smartphones Designed for Kids?



The data is in: kids are using phones more than ever before. Over 50% of kids have their own phones. With smartphone usage hitting never before-seen levels among young people, why are there so few phones designed with kids in mind?



In everything from their features to their sizes, modern smartphones are specifically built with adult usage in mind. Some parents might be uncomfortable with the idea of entrusting their adolescent with a cutting-edge smartphone, instead looking for a more transitional option. As entire generations become entrusted with mobile phones at younger and younger ages, cell phones for kids will quickly become the norm.

What does a kid-friendly phone look like?

With kids on their phones so much, parents will want them to be using devices tailor-made for younger users. Different families will need different things from their phones, but some key features are likely to fit the bill of what many parents are looking for, such as:

App Restrictions

One of the last things a parent wants is their child to have unrestricted access to an app store. Kids can unknowingly rack up serious expenses or access illicit content unless app downloaded are carefully limited.

While platforms like the iPhone (News - Alert) currently incorporate some mild purchasing controls, they’re relatively weak and easy to disable. Smartphones intended for child usage often incorporate more detailed options for app restriction, allowing parents to have a high level of control over what their child can download.

Minimal Need for Parental Controls

Some aspects of phone usage such as downloading require a degree of parental guideline-setting, but no parent wants to be burdened with endless manipulation of parental controls on their child’s device.

The best child-friendly smartphones have certain restrictions hard-wired into their operating system, ensuring that no parent needs to constantly flip switches on and off. With only 40% of parents actually using the controls at their disposal, it makes more sense that they adopt devices that cover all of their bases for them.

GPS Access

Even if parents don’t want to have to micromanage their kids’ phone usage, they still want to be able to reach their children in times of need. Emergency GPS features embedded in kid-safe phones can allow parents to keep tabs on their child’s location, though could also be used in day-to-day scenarios like making sure your child made it onto the bus in time.

While existing smartphones often have features like this, smartphones for kids need to incorporate extra degrees of security to ensure that only loved ones can access sensitive features such as GPS.

Addiction Resistance

With some children having problematic smartphone habits, phone developers need to take some responsibility in creating devices that prevent addiction. While manufacturers can’t fully solve the problem themselves, taking some steps such as putting caps on internet usage or limiting non-emergency texts can go a long way in helping kids create positive relationships with their phones.

Screen Time Caps

Too much screen time can result in a number of harmful side effects, ranging from an increased risk of obesity to issues sleeping. Between video games, movies, and television, kids already get more than enough screen time — parents want a phone that won’t add too much to the total.

As kids get older, their ability to properly engage with screens increases, so their screen time should along with it. Cell phones for kids can often have adjustable time limits that parents can increase as their child ages and becomes more responsible.

Remote Monitoring

While it may not work for every family, remote usage monitoring is an option that many parents would like to have when it comes to their child’s phone. With many modern phones, users have to dig through data in order to get a sense of what their screen time looks like — an action that many parents might not want to take.

Newer kid-friendly phones sometimes offer the option of accessing that usage data directly from other devices, allowing parents to get a sense of how much time their child is spending on their device in a matter of seconds. For parents with busy lifestyles, remote monitoring lets them get a sense of greater patterns with just a single glance.

While they might not have taken over the market just yet, kid-safe phones are poised to have a major impact on the tech market over the next several years. Developers looking to capitalize on this trend need to incorporate the features parents want the most — and maybe think of some new ones themselves.



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