Pinwheel smartphones for kids

[shoehelp]

Anyone have any experience with pinwheel smartphones for kids? I was recommended this from someone at work but it's so expensive and not sure if it's worth the money? Any real life reviews would be very much appreciated, I don't know anyone in real life who's bought one.

www.pinwheel.com

Bump! Anyone?

These phones are being marketed as the 'smartphone that grows with your child', I.e, you turn in more features and let them have more access as they get older.

Any thoughts / experiences?

Is there any reason why they’re better than setting up an old iPhone with full parental controls (no web browser, camera switched off, unable to download apps, can only call contacts in addressbook etc)? Because that’s about an evening’s work to set up, with the help of google, and you can switch things back on as your child needs them or you think they’re ready.

As far as I can tell, the suggestion is that the security is tighter - no way round

it for savvy teens to add apps that are not what they look like - messaging / social media apps masquerading as calculators for example. No possibility of adding a browser ever, no way of downloading apps at all or adding contacts, all of this is completely controlled by the parent allegedly.

I wish I could roll back time and never have to make any of these decisions, it feels like a minefield. This pinwheel thing was flagged to me by a techie at work but he didn't personally have any experience, he just thought the software looked good.

Are they avaliable in the UK yet? My older one has a regular smart phone with family link set up but I think I would prefer this if its avaliable when my younger two get their first phones.

Yes, just recently available in the UK.

Having had an older child with a smartphone, what would make you prefer this one out of interest? Have you had any particular issues with your eldest having a 'normal' smartphone or would it just be because you feel this would be more secure? Sorry for picking your brain, very interested to hear from parents who have already got some experience with older DC!

Well I don't see why using an android phone and setting up Google parental controls would be any less secure. For example we had a few issues with DS and his phone use. DH locked it down so at one.point he could only uses texts and the phone. He now has a few apps and can't put anything on it without asking permission and DH authorising it.

I bought one for my son’s birthday which was yesterday. I set it up before he opened it and so far it’s great. He can’t get social media, no way to get online browsing etc. it’s piece of mind for me as he’s inquisitive and likes to search things but this could lead into all sorts of places he never intended.
he can get quite a few useful apps and really he just wanted to stay in touch with mates and Arrange meet-ups etc.

I set up routines so all apps Disappear when he needs to do homework/sports clubs and at night etc.
the security is causing a few problems with apps at the moment like his banking app as the authorisation codes he needs to log into his account aren’t coming through but pinwheel are trying to resolve this for me.
For me it’s like a brick phone that doesn’t embarrass him as it’s a Samsung galaxy to anyone looking at it. I hate the idea of social media and online bullying for kids so this was a compromise.
I’ve restricted the apps I’ve approved at the moment so that it feels like he’s growing up as I allow them (Spotify for example) as the apps are rated in their safety by pinwheel.
happy to give advice as I learn more as I was frustrated by how little UK experiences there were to draw in before I bought ours.

Oh brilliant, thanks so much for taking the time to post, I really appreciate it!

It sounds like your reasons for buying are very similar to the reasons I'm considering it too. So far, would you say it's been worth the cost? Is your DC the only one with a pinwheel phone or have any of his peers got them as well? Is it your first DC to have a phone?

Thanks again!

He’s the only one. He knows it has tighter controls but to him and his mates it’s a Samsung galaxy.
the monthly subscription on top on the sim
contract is pricey but I pay for things like swimming lessons each month and I square it in my head that this is like him learning to swim in the digital age. I’ve no doubt the company has been making money out of parents’ fears but what company doesn’t!!!
he’s my eldest so he’s my only child with one but if it works I’ll use a similar approach with the next one.
I have to say setting the schedules is great. I set it so during the times we want him to focus he has limited apps which meant he got ready for his sports club and school etc fine. All the apps disappear and things like photos are greyed out so he can’t open them. Only messages from me and his dad go through. It really takes temptation away. But you can personalise what he has access to and when to suit you.
im sure we’ve got hurdles ahead and moaning about wanting what other kids have in terms of social media and games etc but this was always my compromise and he knows it.
plus-when you have spent a lot of money in it-you’re not going to get weak as a parent and buy them something else!!

We also bought a Pinwheel for our son who is in Y6 after two Nokia brick phones broke.

He has limited apps atm so he doesn’t spend a lot of time on his phone at all. We will add what’s app probably when he starts secondary so he isn’t excluded from group chats. I can monitor everything at the moment.

I think an old iPhone works with parental settings for sensible kids who will not try to circumvent the settings but I have read (I may be wrong) that a tech canny child can work out how to get through the parental settings, as a previous poster mentioned.

The fact there is no internet browser gives me a lot of peace of mind and it’s a really nice Google Pixl phone. He still wants an iPhone though as many of his friends have one and he obviously can’t be in iMessage group chats.

The main cons are the expense and the parent app is occasionally a bit glitchy eg the live location seems to update every few mins, rather than in real time. But other than that I think it’s worth it.

I feel like we are playing for time with the pinwheel and I am really hoping the government take the ‘Adolescence’ momentum seriously and follow Australia’s lead. I’m a secondary teacher and the effects of smartphones for some children are huge.

Good luck!

Totally agree with the last poster. It’s helping me delay social media in the hope many of those sites are banned for our kids soon. Like you say, it’s peace of mind. I bawled my eyes out at Adolescence because I too see how accurate it is.

An iPhone with parental controls works just fine for us, ds is very tech savvy and has tried his best to get past parental controls but hasn't succeeded yet.
no social media, no web browsing, has to request my approval for apps to be downloaded etc

Hi, I’m so pleased you posted about Pinwheels!
I’m looking to get my dd one before she starts senior school in Sept.
It looks like there might be a few small teething problems but hopefully the more they appear in the UK the quicker those will be sorted.
My DH and I have iPhones but just a YouTube search shows how easy it is to get round any parental controls so I don’t view them as a safe option.
I wish the Govt would step in and say social media is banned for under 16s.

Hi, Peggy21. Can I ask whether you have installed Watsap please? It seems to be a big one in terms of communicating (Snapchat is a big no)…

No I haven’t installed what’s app yet but will consider it when he starts secondary.

Oh good I’m so pleased other parents are aware of Pinwheels as a potential option and are seriously considering them too!

Interesting you mention WhatsApp, as I’ve always felt like that will be a hard no because of all the stories I’ve heard about bullying, thousands of notifications, whole class / year groups etc, but agree it seems like the communication app of choice.

Also wish to God the government would take some responsibility and legislate around smartphone use / social media and kids.

Personally won’t be allowing WhatsApp any time in the near future (my DS starts secondary school in September.) I’ve heard too many awful stories about bullying / fallouts/ group chats going on half the night etc. I also want him to (at least start) by viewing his phone as something he needs to be functional rather than social - to contact us, use google maps, Amazon music, audible, homework apps etc.

Leaning more and more towards pinwheel….I wish it was available on iPhone though, as we’re all iPhone and Mac users. I’ve messaged their support this morning to ask if it will be any time soon.

Personally I wanted to enable WhatsApp for my now-teenagers before I wanted to allow YouTube or a browser or any other social media. They weren't in whole class groups age 11 but they were in a couple of smaller friend groups and some family groups. You can do this with Google Family and Apple, it doesn't look like you can have WhatsApp with Pinwheel. For my youngest I will probably go for an Android phone again with Family Link.

You can have WhatsApp on pinwheel

There's also Parentshield - a child safe sim - has anyone got any experience of this?

We're trying to decide between the Pinwheel and the new Xplora Phone. Has anyone used the Xplora phone?

We've had the Xplora watch, which has been great, but progressing onto a phone for secondary.

We don't have one but I like the concept as it will look like everyone else's phone. We bought DD10 a Nokia brick and I can't believed how difficult they are to use compared to a touch screen! We were just used to it back in the day! Also it is not cool!

I’m also looking at the pinwheel v the Xplorer for my child starting secondary in September, if anyone has any recommendations or reviews?

I have 3 older teen children and every single one has been able to get around various parental controls - even the one who doesn't particular like tech - her friend did it for her.
We have had bullying and dodgy photos taken and shared via whattsap- my child reported it and it becomes a police matter and everyone on that particular Whatssap becomes involved in a police incident - you cannot control what is shared on Whatssap AT ALL!
Whatssap IS social media.
My youngest has SEN and is vulnerable and i'm looking at Pinwheel. It's time parents woke up and I would 100% support a ban on smart phones but until then I will look for something like Pinwheel.

I’m going to go for the Xplorer I think, looks very much like the pinwheel but quite a lot cheaper?

https://www.techadvisor.com/article/2816605/hmds-x1-fusion-xplora-children-smartphones.html