The location app your child will actually agree to.
Your child sees everything you do in it: every check, with who is looking, since when and how far back, and afterwards the exact route you saw. Nothing happens behind their back, so there is nothing to fight about.
Coming soon to iPhone and Android. 7-day free trial, then one subscription for the whole family.
7:18 PM, one check, two phones
Other apps ask your child to trust them. This one shows them.
Plenty of apps put a dot on a map. They are built for the parent's phone. Kids Are OK is built for both phones, and your child can see every part of it.
When you look
None of them describes showing the child who looked, or when.
Your child's phone shows who is looking, since when and how far back.
What you saw
None of them describes showing the child what the parent saw.
Your child can replay the exact route you saw.
Location history
Days or weeks, depending on the app and the plan. Some keep months.
1, 6 or 24 hours. Your family picks.
A child who can see all of this has no reason to hide from it. That is the whole idea.
We read the official help pages and privacy policies of nine popular family locator and parental control apps on October 24, 2026. Some remind the child now and then that their location is shared. None of them describes telling the child about a particular look: who, when and what they saw.
Why it matters
Studies of parents and teenagers keep finding the same thing: tracking that feels like control costs trust, and trust is what keeps you informed. Six studies, with sources and their limits.
Everything you do shows up on your child's phone
Not a weekly summary and not a setting you can turn off. The real screens from your child's side of the app.
Before the first point
They read the rules first
When your child sets up the app, the first screen is the family rules: what you can see, what is never collected, how long anything is kept. Recording starts only after that, when your child turns on location on their own phone.
In your words
Your promise sits on top
Write your child a promise, up to 200 characters: when you will look and when you won't. It opens their Rules tab, above everything else. If you ever change it, their feed says so.
During a check
They see you looking
While a check is open, the status screen on their phone says who is looking, since when, how far back you can see and the reason you picked. A second parent's checks show up the same way. There is no quiet mode and no invisible check.
After a check
They can replay what you saw
Each check goes on their list. For 30 days, one tap plays the map back point by point: a solid line for what was already recorded when you opened the check, a dashed line for what came in while you watched.
Everything else
Nothing happens behind their back
You asked if they are OK, closed their SOS, set a safety zone, changed the rules, added grandma as a trusted adult, called them, switched their calls off or back on: each one lands in their feed with the time and with your name.
And when you get an alert about them, their phone says so too: "You left Home. Your parents got an alert."
What we never collect
Messages and chatsApps and screen timeContactsPhotosCall recordingsYour child's phone number
There is no setting to turn any of this on, because none of it is built. Your child reads this same list in their rules.
There is no chat in the app either, and no messaging of any kind. It never reads WhatsApp, iMessage, Snapchat, text messages or any other app on the phone, and it has nothing of its own for anyone to write in. The only conversation the app carries is a call, and a call is never recorded.
The microphone and the camera work only in a call you start or answer yourself. There is no auto-answer, and nobody can switch on someone else's microphone or camera from a distance. No call is recorded, stored or transcribed.
What the app does store: the route, for 1, 6 or 24 hours, whichever your family picks, with coordinates encrypted in our database with AES-256-GCM. A record of each check is kept 30 days, so your child can still replay what you saw.
Set it up together
The app is made for a conversation, not for a phone you install in secret. One way to do it:
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Say when you would look
Tell your child what worries you and when you would open a check. Then write it in the app as your promise. It will be the first thing on their Rules tab.
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Pick the limits together
Choose how far back a check can reach, 1, 6 or 24 hours, and whether you can watch live during a check. Both show up in your child's rules exactly as you set them.
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Let them set it up
Your child scans your code, reads the rules and turns on location on their own phone. Then they choose, for each adult, whether that adult can call them. After that the Rules tab and the list of checks are always one tap away.
Not sure how to bring it up?
Send your child kidsareok.com/kids. It is written for them, not for you: what you can see, what you can't, and what they see about you.
And everything you need when it matters
SOS, calls, quick answers, check-ins and safety zones, built the same way: your child sees them too, and calls take both your switch and theirs.
SOS
Your child holds the button for 3 seconds, even when the app is locked. Every parent and trusted adult gets the alert, and your child sees that the signal went out. When it is over, one parent closes the banner for everyone.
Are you OK?
One tap to ask. One tap to answer: I'm OK, Call me, or Pick me up. Often that is all you needed, and no check at all.
Safety zones
A circle of 1 to 50 km or an area you draw, on a schedule: always, school hours, night or your own. Up to 5 per child. Your child sees every zone, and sees when it sends you an alert. Alerts never contain coordinates.
Check In
Your child says where they are going and by when: heading home, 15 minutes. If they are late, you get an alert. They can add 15 minutes or tap I'm there.
Trusted adults
Grandparents or a nanny get the SOS and the alerts, and never see where your child is. Your child's feed says who they are.
Both parents, same view
A second parent can join the family. Parents see each other's open checks, and your child sees both.
Calls, free over the internet
Out of credit is no longer out of reach: your child can call you, and you can call them, by voice or with video, over the internet. Video is switched on by whoever wants it. The call is encrypted between the two phones, nothing is recorded, and each call leaves one line in the feed: who called whom, how long, how it ended. Calls work with the adults your child has switched them on for, while your own Calls switch for that child is on.
Two switches, yours and your child's
You have a Calls switch for each child, on by default: switch it off and calls in the app stop working for that child with everyone, until you or the other parent switches it back on. What it cannot do is pick people for your child: for each adult of the family, your child has their own switch, which starts off, and only your child can turn an adult on. A call needs both. SOS, alerts, "Are you OK?" and Check In reach you whatever either switch is set to.
Nothing about it is quiet
Switch your child's calls off, or back on, and it lands in your child's feed and in the family log with your name and the time, where the other parent sees it too, and where it cannot be edited or deleted. That is the same rule as for checks: you can do it, and your child knows you did. A child who is allowed to say no to a conversation, and who can see what the adults did, is a child who tells you more.
Alerts worth having
Battery running low, recording stopped, a phone that went offline on the move. Each alert you get also shows up on your child's phone.
Your location, if you offer it
Share where you are with your kids once, visible for 15 minutes, or keep it on for 15 minutes up to 2 hours. It shows only on kids' phones with a screen lock or an app PIN, so a stranger holding the phone can't see it.
Hours, not months
A location history that keeps piling up is exactly what makes kids feel watched. Here, a day of it is the most that ever exists.
The route your family keeps
24 hours by default, or 6 hours, or 1. Your family picks, and older points are deleted.
A history that keeps piling up
Days and weeks of places, times and patterns, long after anyone needed them.
Questions parents ask
Will my child actually agree to this?
That is up to your child, and no app can promise it. What Kids Are OK does is take away the hidden part: they read the rules and your promise before anything is recorded, they see every check while it is open, they can replay what you saw, and they see every alert you get about them. You can show them all of it before they install, on kidsareok.com/kids, and read what research says about tracking and trust.
Can I check without my child knowing?
No, and that is the whole point. Every check appears on your child's phone while it is open, with the time, the history you asked for and the reason you picked, and it stays in their list. There is no hidden mode.
Does my child get a notification every time I look?
No pop-up. The check shows in the app: on the status screen while it is open, and in the list of checks after. The app also keeps a permanent sign on the phone, the blue location dot on iPhone or a notification on Android, that shows location is being recorded.
Can my child turn it off?
Your child can switch location off on their phone, as with any app. You get an alert when recording stops, and their phone tells them that you did. Nothing about it is hidden from either of you.
Does my child need a SIM card or a phone number?
No. The phone needs an internet connection, nothing else. Calls in the app go over the internet too, so they work without a number. We never store your child's phone number.
Can my child call me without credit on their phone?
Yes. Calls in the app go over the internet, by voice or with video, and cost nothing beyond the data. A child can call any parent or trusted adult they have switched on, and any of them can call the child, as long as your Calls switch for that child is on. The call rings even when the app is closed.
Which phones does it work on?
iPhone and Android, both coming soon. The app is in English.
How long do you keep the location?
The route is kept 1, 6 or 24 hours, whichever your family picks, 24 by default. Coordinates are encrypted in our database with AES-256-GCM. What a parent saw inside a check is kept 30 days, so your child can replay it.
Can grandparents or a nanny join?
Yes, as trusted adults. They get the SOS and the alerts and never see your child's location. Your child sees who they are.
Do you watch screen time, apps or messages?
No. Messages and chats, apps and screen time, contacts, photos: none of it is collected, and there is no setting to turn it on. The app has no chat of its own either, so there is no messaging in it at all. The microphone and the camera are used for one thing only, a call that your child starts or answers themselves, and no call is recorded.
Can my child refuse calls from me?
Yes, and that is deliberate. Calls start switched off for every adult, and only your child can switch them on. You cannot switch them on for them, and we will not do it for you. What you do have is the other switch: you can turn calls off for your child altogether, and back on, and your child sees it with your name on it. It can sting, and it is the reason the app works: a child who is free to say no to a conversation is a child who installs the app and tells you more. Everything that matters for safety is unaffected: SOS, safety zone alerts, "Are you OK?", Check In and the checks you open reach you whatever either switch is set to. If a child has switched you off, that is worth a conversation, not a setting.
Something in the app worries me. How do I tell you?
Write to [email protected] with "report" in the subject line, and put "child safety" instead if a child may be in danger. Anyone can do it: a parent, a trusted adult or the child. We answer as fast as we can and in any case within 48 hours, and we tell you what we decided within 14 days. Our terms of use say what we do with a report and how to complain if you disagree with us. If someone is in immediate danger, call the emergency number for where you are first.
Can I listen in through the microphone or camera?
No. They work only inside a call that your child started or answered themselves. There is no auto-answer, no hidden mode, and nothing in the app lets you switch on another person's microphone or camera. Calls are not recorded, and your child sees every call in their feed.
What does it cost?
There is a 7-day free trial, then one subscription that covers the whole family.
How do I delete our data?
Delete the account in the app settings. When the last parent deletes their account, the whole family and its data go with it.
Coming soon to iPhone and Android
Leave us a line and we will write to you once, on the day it is out.
Tell me when it launchesKids Are OK is not a replacement for emergency services. The calls in the app reach only your own family: they cannot dial a phone number and they cannot reach 911, 112, 999 or any other emergency number, in any country. If someone is in danger, call the emergency number for where you are, from the phone's own dialler, first.