The worry-free kids phone for your independent child

Victoria S.

October 11, 2018

Relay keeps kids connected without giving them access to the internet

Relay is the next step in your child’s journey towards independence—it’s a screen-free cell phone alternative and GPS tracker that works like a walkie talkie. Relay uses 4G LTE and WiFi to deliver messages, so it works anywhere a cell phone would work! Your kid can use their Relay to talk to you through an app on your smartphone and to all the Relays on your account.  “Let’s say you have kids ages 6-11…they’re too young for a smartphone. These little Relay gadgets are the absolute answer! And [kids are] not going to break it!” -Fox 5 NY

Connect fast, connect meaningfully—with no screens to get in the way.

Introducing your child to a smartphone is a big step. It takes a lot of trust, communication, and responsibility. But it isn’t really fair to kids when we expect them to go from no phone to smartphone all at once, especially if they haven’t been able to practice the kind of responsibility we expect from a full-fledged smartphone user. We don’t expect our kids to know the rules for a new game or sport without a little practice. Phones are the same, but with much higher stakes! Relay enables parents to keep in touch with their digital trainees while teaching them about the internet, responsibility, and trust at their own pace. “Think of Relay kind of like a walkie-talkie, only smarter … But unlike a walkie-talkie, Relay uses 4G LTE connectivity to keep you in touch with your youngster.” -USA Today “[My son] is talking to me more than he ever has before. There is something magical about it being a walkie talkie instead of a phone that gets him talking more.” -Kareeyore, Relay member via The Neighborhood

5 things your kid can do with Relay:

1. Talk to family

Use the group channel to broadcast to the whole account and set up private channels for your child to speak to just dad or just mom and dad.

2. Talk to friends

Bump two Relays from different accounts together to set up a temporary instant chat channel for games and playtime. The channel goes away when Relay switches to a different channel.

3. Listen to a music playlist

Parents can add music files to Relay so kids can listen to their favorite playlist either out loud or with headphones. Kids can skip forward and backward between tracks and shuffle their playlist.

4. Learn something new

Relay’s translate channel lets kids hear their words repeated back to them in a different language! And no worries about your little ones learning dirty words in a different language—we’ve got that covered.

5. Have some fun

Kids can use the Echo channel to hear their words repeated back to them in funny voices, and we have a bunch of cool features, like Joke of the Day, in the works!   “The Relay has been great to communicate with my 6th grader riding the bus for the first time to and from middle school [...] this is his first year in Youth Group at church, so he’s able to let us know when he needs us to come pick him up.” -Catherinem.ft19ox, Relay member via The Neighborhood

5 things your kid can’t do with Relay

1. Screen time

Screen time is associated with sleep problems, eye strain, and obesity. If unchecked, it can also lead to behavioral changes and screen addiction.

2. Social media

It’s good to avoid social media until your child is mature enough to be a good online citizen. They can encounter bullying and feel sad or left out of other people’s activities.

3. Internet access

The internet is a big place, and if left unsupervised, your child could stumble across inappropriate content. As well, they could be targeted by advertisements, spam, and strangers. Relay enables parents to protect kids from content they aren’t ready to handle and teach them along the way.

4. Text Messages

Text messages (SMS) and picture messages (MMS) allow kids to have more private conversations that could contain inappropriate content. While this may be appropriate for tweens and teens, some parents might prefer to help their kids build some responsibility and trust before introducing them to texting.

5. Receive calls from strangers

Relay doesn’t have a phone number, and that means no spammers or strangers can contact them. Your kid also can’t contact anyone that is not part of the family account without parental permission.  

Top 3 perks of being a Relay parent

Relay, unlike a smartphone, was built for kids, not just adapted for them. That means you don’t have to install special apps to make it “safe enough” for a kid to use—with Relay, parental controls are built-in. And because they’re built in, there are no sneaky workarounds or loopholes. Here are some of the perks of kid-proof parental controls.

1. Control the Channel Store

The Channel Store is kind of like Relay’s app store, except it’s filled with completely KidsafeⓇ and screen-free features and only the parent can add and remove channels from each Relay. Channels let Relay grow with your child—you can add more as they get older and more responsible. Relay’s extra features are turned off by default, so you are completely in control of the content your kid can access.

2. Communication before play

Want to get in touch with your child, but they’re playing on another channel? No worries, your kid’s Relay will automatically switch to the correct channel and receive your message. Even though Relay is full of distraction-free fun, communication is always its primary purpose.

3. Convenient GPS tracking

Relay has built-in GPS location services. That means you can find their location in real time via your Relay app and even get directions to go pick them up. Your child’s location and location history can only be viewed on your app and no location information is stored on our servers. That security step means you (and only you!) always know where your child is.

Get quick, reliable communication for your kids without smartphone trade offs.