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Google releases smart watch for kids
- geraldwhen 2y agoThe last thing I want is my kids playing on a tiny screen instead of with their friends, which is exactly what would happen if you give this to a 7-10 year old.
- PaulStatezny 2y agoThat's an inaccurate generalization. Some kids would get distracted and socially disconnected from a smart watch. But there are loads of kids who aren't affected this way.
- joiojoio 2y agoOrbiting this at a distance of roughly 92 million miles is an utterly insignificant little blue-green planet whose ape-descended life forms are so amazingly primitive that they still think digital watches are a pretty neat idea.
- d--b 2y ago[flagged]
- wmf 2y agoSmartwatches may be an overlooked answer to the kid phone conundrum. Watches have the communication and location tracking that parents demand without the distraction of phones.
- nextos 2y agoAlso for adults, it's a much less intrusive technology.
- polairscience 2y agoI'm not sure I agree with less intrusive. Having a tracker attached to your body that can notify you of anything it wants is very intrusive. It is, however, seemingly less addictive in some capacities. No doom scrolling, etc.
- nextos 2y agoI think it's much less addictive. And if you only allow very urgent notifications, it's almost like a plain watch. Whereas on a phone, the temptation to open apps to do things is always there. It's almost like comparing an eink device with a regular tablet.
- LordDragonfang 2y agoConsidering the number of times I've heard cell phones referred to as being "attached at the hip", I think that ship has sailed. Also, almost every smart watch allows you to block notifications on top of what you phone already blocks, so if you have apps that you want notifications from for when your attention is on your phone, but not all the time, you can only allow those through. It's not "anything it wants", it's anything you choose.
- kccqzy 2y agoJust turn off notifications for the vast majority of apps. I don't even auto-install third-party apps on the watch. I use my watch as mainly a fitness tracker and I allow notifications from fewer than 5 apps.
- philomath_mn 2y ago100%. My kid is not getting a smartphone until he's ~16 but we're looking at a restricted smart watch right now (a flip phone would also be acceptable but a watch is physically attached which is ideal for 7 year old).
- ZiiS 2y agoNot getting a phone you know about!
- philomath_mn 2y agoA minor is going to get a phone plan w/o a guardian signing for it? And use it in my house without me knowing? There is a lot my kid is going to do under my nose, getting a smartphone doesn't seem too likely (esp. if he has alternatives like a desktop).
- gnicholas 2y agoThis is absolutely what I worry about for my kids, down the line. A boyfriend could easily pass her an inherited iPhone with a prepaid SIM card so they could keep in touch away from parental prying eyes. Most families around here (SV) have old devices lying around, and $20/mo for a cellular plan is nothing for many teenagers.
- philomath_mn 2y agoFair enough! Something to watch for I suppose.
- LordDragonfang 2y agoI think you've sort of missed the forest for the trees, here. If you've gotten to the point where the kid is hiding a phone from you, you're already in an adversarial relationship with a young adult who has lost trust in your ability to be a reasonable authority figure.
- wlesieutre 2y agoNot specifically made for kids, but see “family setup” for the Apple Watch also https://support.apple.com/en-us/109036 https://support.apple.com/en-us/109036
- Almondsetat 2y agoI have seen a couple of videos on youtube about people only using an Apple Watch with LTE, but I have found nothing long term or about android smart watches. I would really like to explore this possibility for myself
- steve_adams_86 2y agoMy watch changed my relationship with my phone very positively, so I offered to get my kids watches as a phone alternative. Not that they couldn't have phones at all, but they'd leave them at home when going on, and not carry them in their pockets around the house. They declined because they think watches are lame and nerdy. Only the most unfortunate kids get watches. They still can't carry them around the house, but I didn't gain much ground overall. I've gradually increased controls on and over the phones in my home, but the watch offer has never been taken up. I think you're right that it could be an overlooked solution, but I suspect you need to sneak in before the kids are accustomed to a phone.
- bilsbie 2y agoHow did your relationship To your phone change?
- cklemming 2y agoNot the poster, but since getting a smartwatch with a cellular plan, I've found myself more often leaving my phone when out and about - especially with my kids. I'm still be able to make calls, text, listen to pods and music, pay for stuff, navigation etc. but without any of the distractions. The only essential thing I'm missing is a camera!
- tuumi 2y agoAre you able to connect to Carplay?
- dcdevito 2y ago[dead]
- steve_adams_86 2y agoI believe you still need your iPhone for that to work. That might have changed recently, but I don’t think so. Apple watches work fine over Bluetooth, though that leaves a lot to be desired if you’re accustomed to CarPlay.
- sharadov 2y agoI got an Apple watch for my 11-year-old for precisely this reason - he can text, call, and play some games on it. Subscription to cellular is $10/month. And it let me set parental controls on it. No way was I getting him a phone, it's already way too distracting with the other devices he has access to at home.
- tonightstoast 2y agoDoesn’t it need to be paired with a phone thought?
- esteth 2y agoIt only needs to be paired to an iOS device for initial setup and configuration. A watch with cellular can operate independently of the iOS device after setup and configuration.
- gedy 2y agoIt's been a year or so, but some carriers refused to sell me a watch only plan, it had to be a new cell plan for a phone too. (And pairing with an existing phone meant it had that cell's number, not a watch only one.)
- LorenzoGood 2y agoThe iPhone ecosystem has "family watches" now.
- jmacd 2y agoI also have an 11 year old with an Apple Watch and it has been such a good introduction to connectivity as well as social media (iMessage/texting...) She has gained a lot of independance because we are able to track her with the watch, and she is now proactively communicating with it to let us know where she will be etc. I'm not enthusiastic about the teen years with TikTok/Instagram,etc but at least she will have been onramped gradually and hopefully it's a natural progression.
- 2y ago
- giantg2 2y agoI was honestly coming here to say fuck those exploitive assholes at Google. But I see your point. Maybe this could be a good in-between.
- geraldwhen 2y agoI can’t get reliable signal on the watch on any carrier. And reliable signal is a deal breaker.
- hi-v-rocknroll 2y agoWhich watch model?
- sambazi 2y agothere are meta sim-card that connect to any carrier, pricy though
- asp_hornet 2y agoOverlooked answer? Aren't you are literally describing a mobile phone. You know, before they were smart phones with distractions. The nice thing about this solution is its less likely to be forgotten because its on the wrist.
- nsagent 2y agoConsidering how often my three-year-old niece wants to play around with my Apple Watch, including at bedtime, it seems like it can be just as big of a distraction.
- boringg 2y agoI'll add that while that may be true. I find that it doesn't matter what kind of screen it is - my kids are like moths to flame. Its the backlit lighting + some kind of interactivity that makes it attractive to play with.
- heyjamesknight 2y agoThe color is part of it. I put a greyscale filter on my phone and it’s insane how much it’s reduced the device’s ability to suck me in and keep me staring at it.
- retrac 2y agoThe original Game Boy and Tamigotchi weren't colour, or backlit, and they were disruptive in classrooms when they came out. For at least some individuals, even simple black and white, non-networked games, are kind of compulsive. This is probably particularly true for younger children without guidance.
- FeistySkink 2y agoThe design doesn't look kid-proof at all with the curved front glass. And I'm not sure what they're on about when saying "first of a kind".
- Invictus0 2y agoWhen I was a kid I wanted a slick James Bond style smartwatch that had lasers, tools, and other badass capabilities, not this baby-ified fitness tracker.
- CobrastanJorji 2y agoAs soon as you invent the In Live and Let Die watch that deflects bullets with magnets or something, I'll buy one for my kids as long as you leave out the buzzsaw.
- Terr_ 2y agoIf it had an IR emitter and camera in the right place, one could play laser-[watch-]tag, although the classic cheat of obstructing the sensor would still exist.
- Minor49er 2y agoThe James Bond watch was a tool for James Bond to use. This watch is a tool for parents and Google to use. They are not so easily comparible beyond both having the appearance of a watch and being called "spy tools"
- mc32 2y agoI just hope this is not a repeat of the Versa 4 where no third party apps were allowed[1] (unlike the prev versions which allowed them). That's a head-scratcher. This is the thing that gets people to spring for a Garmin. [1]https://community.fitbit.com/t5/Versa-4/Can-I-install-apps-on-my-Versa-4/td-p/5414729 https://community.fitbit.com/t5/Versa-4/Can-I-install-apps-o...
- bradfa 2y agoThere's no mention of software support lifetime. If this is just another multi-hundred dollar electronic gadget that's going to be useless in 2 years, why would I buy it for my kid? I can get a refurb Apple Watch SE 2nd gen direct from Apple for $209. I'm clearly not going to buy this Google watch because of the price.
- wmf 2y agoIf the child doesn't carry a phone you'd need a cellular Apple Watch for $250 which is slightly more but probably worth it for the software support.
- mhaberl 2y ago> going to be useless in 2 years, why would I buy it for my kid Don't worry about it. I will be broken or lost far before those 2 years :)
- mkoryak 2y agoAnd if that doesn't happen, the battery will be such crap that your kid will do nothing but complain about it 24/7. You will wish it was lost.
- bradfa 2y agoIf it's going to be broken, have a shot battery, or be useless in 2 years it doesn't matter which of those happens, I am not willing to spend >$200 initially and then a monthly fee on it. If I needed to track my kids' locations, I'd give them each an Airtag. $20ish and free tracking. I mind much less if they destroy/lose a $20 thing with a replaceable battery.
- cdme 2y agoWe’ve used AirTags on trips with our kids and they work well. Our dogs have them on their collars too. I don’t trust Google with our kids’ data (or our dogs, I guess) and they’ll probably discontinue this in a year.
- nalekberov 2y agoI am amazed by the way decisions are made at Google. In my imaginations the story was something like that: - How to keep next generations hooked into useless technology? - Oh, let's make their parents buy smartwatches to their kids, this way we A. will track them 24/7, sell other useless stuff too.
- jsnell 2y agoFitbit has been making smartwatches for like a decade. They've been making models specifically for kids before Google even bought them. It's the Fitbit Ace line. Why is continuing that product line something you're amazed by? Like, the only reason you seem amazed is because you've made up an outrageous story about how the product came to be. Except you admit that you've just made it up and know very well it's not true, so presumably that's not driving your amazement.
- nalekberov 2y agoDidn't know about that, thanks for the addition.
- janice1999 2y agoAnyone else who would be uncomfortable opting your child into location, behavior and health surveillance by the world's largest advertising company?
- zooq_ai 2y agoNo. Because I'm not a loser with irrational paranoia and hatred towards corporations undermining my own ability to live a happy, productive life
- dang 2y agoCould you please stop posting unsubstantive comments and flamebait? You've unfortunately been doing it repeatedly. It's not what this site is for, and destroys what it is for. If you wouldn't mind reviewing https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html and taking the intended spirit of the site more to heart, we'd be grateful.
- wmf 2y agoApple Watch exists if that's what you want.
- janice1999 2y agoDoes Apple have a children's version of their smartwatch? I was not aware of that.
- philomath_mn 2y agoNo, but there are several settings you can enable to make them more kid-friendly (including app limits and school hours)
- bradfa 2y agoAs mentioned by others in this discussion, Apple does have a way to limit the functionality of an Apple Watch, as outlined: https://support.apple.com/en-us/109036 https://support.apple.com/en-us/109036
- aiauthoritydev 2y agoThis is one good product.
- philomath_mn 2y agoThis is about the same price as the Apple Watch SE w/ LTE -- seems tough for Google to compete with an established, reliable alternative at the same price point.
- guluarte 2y ago[flagged]
- rvnx 2y agoCan buy a Airtag (or just a leash).
- 2OEH8eoCRo0 2y ago> Fitbit Ace LTE is designed to protect your child’s privacy and wellbeing. Parents can see their child’s recent activity and goal progress, but older data will be automatically deleted from our systems. Location data is only shown to parents and is automatically deleted after a short time. > There are no third-party apps or ads shown to kids, and health and wellness data will not be used for Google ads. Sounds better than the regular smart watches.
- rvnx 2y agoInteresting definition of "protecting your privacy", which means: Sending location information remotely to a US-hosted centralized server + a third-party (the parents) can track you all the time
- rmrfchik 2y agoIn next year: Google EOL watch for kids, closes servers rendering watches useless.
- philomath_mn 2y agoRight -- why would I risk $229 on this when I know the Apple Watch will be around for many more years?
- rvnx 2y ago$229 plus mandatory subscription of $120 per year.
- atonse 2y agoDoes this include the cellular plan? Then it's probably fine. But if we'd still have to get an additional cellular plan on top of this, then it's silly.
- KMnO4 2y agoThe $10/mo subscription is the data plan.
- canucker2016 2y agoOr $60 if you pay annually instead of monthly - though who knows how long that annual discount will last. [edit] and there's no buying the watch WITHOUT the Fitbit Ace Pass data plan, the watch setup REQUIRES a data plan. from the Compatability section of Tech Specs page: "Requires Wi-Fi and Fitbit Ace Pass data plan for setup." [edit2] though I guess you could buy just one month of the data plan, just for setting up the watch. But the watch's WiFi supports only 2.4GHz. [edit3] the annual data plan deal is only good until before Aug 31. see https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xzDpo1t02yA&t=275s https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xzDpo1t02yA&t=275s
- fma 2y ago
- andrewla 2y agoWe've been happily using the Verizon Gizmo watch for a while now. It's a deliberately crippled smart watch. No games, no apps (it has a step counter and a stopwatch, but that's about it) -- some calling functionality, some messaging functionality, tons of oversight (limited contacts, all contacts must be approved by a guardian), and location tracking. It's kind of bad at all of these, but our primary thought is to have it be a limited capability device -- similar to a flip phone but a wearable. This looks like it's trying to enter the same market, but with a bunch of really really really really stupid shit. "Meet the eejie. The eejie is the center of the Fitbit Ace LTE. The more your kids move, the more goals they hit and the happier they make the eejie." You'd have to be an "eejie"-it to buy into this cutesy bullshit.
- ygjb 2y agoIDK, showed it to my 12 and 15 year old. It's a bit too "little kid" for them, but both of them would have liked it when they were younger. You call it bullshit, but maybe you just aren't the target market?
- andrewla 2y agoQuite possibly I am not the target demographic -- I never really got the tomagotchi thing either, so maybe I'm just a soulless monster. My kids have access to other electronic devices, but don't yet have a smartphone. The Gizmo is a nice intermediate step. They know what real games are like and they want those. As a parent I don't want the phone to be a source of distractions. Having these sort of half-assed games feels like the worst of both worlds; disappointing games that the kids don't like, and stupid distracting games that the parents don't want.
- gnicholas 2y agoI agree that some kids would like this, but in my family we wouldn't give our kids smartwatches at that age (6-8?). I don't think this will hit with tweens/teens, both because of the UI and because Apple Watches will be perceived as more prestigious/elite (not endorsing the feeling — just saying that will likely be the impression).
- 2y ago
- balls187 2y ago$230 device, plus $10/mo, and that is per kid. At what age does Google think kids are responsible enough to be given such a device?
- lostlogin 2y agoGoogle’s views on this could be quite interesting to hear. Remember the (long ago) episode when Schmidt suggested that kids change their names to avoid connection with online antics in the past?
- deleted 2y ago[deleted]
- surajrmal 2y agoIt's not up to Google. It's up to parents. The point of this product is to give parents an option other than a phone, which I assume you would believe to be worse (in cost and what it enables).
- crims0n 2y ago$59.98 a year for unlimited connectivity is a pretty good deal. My kids are getting to the age where we leave them for things like soccer practice or summer camps. Not really interested in giving them a phone yet... but want them to be able to keep in touch. This seems like a decent compromise.
- robg 2y agoNo sleep or stress with heart rate seems like a missed opportunity. The games to help kids move is interesting but if a distraction in school more trouble than it’s worth.
- tamimio 2y agoIf I have kids, I will never trust them with an evil and dangerous company like google, same goes for facebook too, the business model been and still exploiting, abusing, and selling users’ data. An open source alternative, both software and hardware would be ideal for kids, in the meantime, being a good and dedicated parent is the best strategy, and keep your eyes on your kids, tech isn’t needed.
- rvnx 2y agoIt's privacy-protecting; their location will be private, only you can track them all the time, the apps installed, Google and their SREs, the US government if they want to (but they most likely need to ask), etc.
- tamimio 2y ago> the apps installed, Google and their SREs, the US government Overseas contractors, third party apps that are used by said contractors, other cloud services and their contractors etc etc.
- rvnx 2y agomhhh, and the phone operator too
- surfingdino 2y agoMy heart sunk when I saw this on the cookie control panel for a popular website "We and our 796 partners..." Oh, do f*k off...
- slackfan 2y ago>Privacy Protecting Words have meanings. And I don't think you know what they are. Google absolutely will be selling this location data to "improve the advertising experience".
- rvnx 2y agoIt was a quote from their website, claiming this watch was privacy-protecting. It seemed so absurd that I wanted to pinpoint it
- Achtunglskjdf 2y agoI think we are crossing a boundary. If our world gets so broken, that parents need this, we should start changing our world
- pixxel 2y agoYou’re preaching to the wrong crowd. They’re salivating in this thread to attach a corporate surveillance tracker to their kids.
- red-iron-pine 2y agoas if a regular cellphone is less of a tracker?
- bmoxb 2y agoAm I missing something? Is it not just a glorified fitness tracker? I can certainly understand privacy concerns but I don't get how a smart watch is the signifier of a 'broken' world.
- wmf 2y agoIt's also a phone. Parents are demanding the right to say last goodbyes to their children during school shootings.
- probably_jesus 2y ago[dead]
- gnicholas 2y agoWhat's the benefit of this over a cheap LTE Apple Watch? I'm not an AW fanboy (Pebble/Garmin for me), but I had always anticipated getting my kid an LTE AW when the time came. It doesn't look like the pricing is much different, and for families with iPhones it would presumably be simpler to stay in the Apple ecosystem. Is there something I'm missing, or is this just for Android families? Regardless, I'm happy to see innovation in the space.
- m3kw9 2y agoIt’s an Android watch rebranded as kids version, add some restriction features. Apple has all of that already
- deleted 2y ago[deleted]
- wilsonnb3 2y agoYou can (in fact, I think you have to) get the data plan straight from Google. Lots of carriers, particularly cheaper MVNOs, don't support LTE watches and even less support the standalone Apple Watch setup. So in that sense, it is convenient.
- gnicholas 2y agoHuh wow, I can see that. [1] I didn’t realize that not all carriers that support Apple Watch support the family setup feature. I hope that changes soon! I was counting on that for our kids, but we’re not going to triple our monthly bill to enable this one feature! 1: https://www.apple.com/watch/cellular/#table-family-setup https://www.apple.com/watch/cellular/#table-family-setup
- taeric 2y agoI feel somewhat in a twilight zone. I'm not a fan of this device, but I also don't understand the over the top paranoia around it. Why do we invent such absurdly terrifying discourse around kids? If you don't want this for your kids, just don't get it. If you are worried about folks knowing where your kids are and what they are up to, I have bad news for you about neighborhood gossip.
- jordanmorgan10 2y agoRational commentary isn’t allowed here. Come on now.
- barbazoo 2y ago> If you are worried about folks knowing where your kids are and what they are up to, I have bad news for you about neighborhood gossip. Obvious strawman comparing Google knowing vital stats and location about your child at any time with neigbors knowing and talking to each other about a kid.
- taeric 2y agoI mean, sure? Still feels over blown to me. And an area we should probably focus more on policy than just complaints?
- makeitdouble 2y ago> Ace Pass required. Works with most phones running Android 11.0 or newer or iOS 15 or newer. This is a bummer. It's still better than being android only or iOS only, but this would really have benefited from allowing standalone use with management from the web for instance.
- Laremere 2y agoA noble idea that looks to be mired in bad design. Once again Google ties a product to a subscription service (beyond whatever lte connectivity which would be needed anyways). They seem to be always chasing getting that recurring revenue by adding unnecessary features. This adds little value, greatly increases the maintenance cost for Google, and puts the risk on the customer for whether Google will continue thinking it's worth it. Worst of all, "Games". As a lover of games as an artistic medium, and a game designer myself, I'm just so tired of gamification crap being added to everything else. Flashy graphics and numbers going up are the "sugar" to games' "nutrition" of interactive experience, mechanical exploration, and emotional expression. Rewarding children with external rewards over building internal motivation is dubious at best, and incredibly harmful at worst.
- jfkw 2y agoI was hopeful this would be minimalist, secured contacts version of general purpose OS used in more powerful smartwatches. Regular phone and message apps, parent-limited contacts, communications logged where the parent can review/block it. We are currently sharing a Verizon Gizmo 3 among multiple children. The GizmoHub app is not bad but its mandatory use is frustrating. Friends need substantial parental help to start communicating with the Gizmo user (account creation with Verizon). Forcing all communications through a dedicated and clunky app is a non-starter. Battery life is the other challenge. Kids don't heed advice to conserve the less than all day battery life. Later when communications for pick-up are most needed, the watch is often low on power.
- stanski 2y agoThe communication part is a good idea but games? Would hate to watch my kid stare a smart watch to figure out what to do with herself.
- wmf 2y agoThe "games" appear to be gamified exercise apps.
- canucker2016 2y agoThe Fitbit Ace LTE (age 7+) seems to be the step up to the FitBit Ace 3 fitness tracker (age 6+), https://store.google.com/product/fitbit_ace_3 https://store.google.com/product/fitbit_ace_3
- gnicholas 2y ago> You have control over when they can play on their Fitbit Ace LTE. Set downtimes during the day, while still letting them get in touch with you if they need to. This sounds like a great feature. I want my kid to be able to reach me in an emergency, but I want there to be zero distractions during the school day. Hopefully Apple implements this on Apple Watches that use Family Setup.
- atonse 2y agoThere's been "School Mode" on apple watches for years now. It's a distraction-free mode.
- gnicholas 2y agoCool, good to know. Seems like the discussion forums have several requests for preventing the kid from exiting the school mode, or only allowing exit in order to send a message or call an approved contact. I'll be interested to see how the different school modes evolve. It sounds like some schools don't allow watches where the kid can exit school mode except to make an emergency call, which makes sense. I wouldn't want to be a teacher trying to catch kids slipping in and out of school mode!
- pie420 2y agoHeroin for kids! NOTIFICATIONS NOTIFICATIONS TECH TECH START THEM EARLY QUANTIFY EVERYTHING RECORD EVERYTHING CONNECT EVERYTHING
- dmitrygr 2y agoRequires a $10/mo data plan. So that is 2x of the many $5/mo plans you can get for a standalone-setup apple watch SE. Price is $70 less than the SE. Ok, so that crosses over in just over a year. But, I know the apple watch will be supported for 7 years or so. This is a google product, so I expect it to be EOLed tomorrow. No thanks. Fool me 100 times, shame on you, fool me 101 times, shame on me, google!
- canucker2016 2y agoUnder Tech Specs, https://store.google.com/us/product/fitbit_ace_lte_specs?hl=en-US https://store.google.com/us/product/fitbit_ace_lte_specs?hl=...: "Tap to Pay (NFC)4(Coming soon)" What? Why would my kid need Tap to Pay? That's just setting the user/Google up for a horror story where the watch wearer goes overboard on spending for some lame game with in-app payments... Or are they expecting adults to use this as well?
- jakemoshenko 2y agoTap to pay with spend controls sounds ideal for things like after school snacks/activities and transit. It could also be an easy to way to manage things like allowance digitally?
- ryukoposting 2y agoSame reason we have debit cards with parental controls. If I lived in Chicago, I'd put my Ventra card on my kid's smart watch.
- joezydeco 2y agoSome urban transit systems use NFC for fares. Maybe you want your kid to have a bus or subway pass without having to carry a wallet.
- enragedcacti 2y agoIf you read the the "4" footnote included in your copied section... > Requires compatible payment card and internet access. Payment cards for supervised users may require a separate paid membership (not included with Fitbit Ace Pass). Payment card memberships or parents may restrict purchases of certain products or from certain retailers. Supports Tap to Pay only.
- hn_throwaway_99 2y agoUgh, I threw up a little in my mouth just from the headline. This constant tracking of kids is unnecessary and dangerous. Generations of kids survived without their parents needing to know their location at all times. And yes, I totally admit, some kids (very few actually depending on the locale) didn't survive. But we've traded this false sense of "safety" for kids that are so risk averse it is seriously negatively affecting their development. I highly recommend the writings of Jonathan Haidt - he not only has great arguments but also has a lot of data to back up his conclusions. Kids don't need more tech, they need less of it (and FWIW, most adults, too).
- wepple 2y ago> Generations of kids survived without their parents needing to know their location at all times. And cars used to be safe even without seatbelts! It turns out times change. Before you think I’m disagreeing with the entirety of your comment, my own kids are the most free-range in-the-dirt kids I know. But it’s location-dependent. I trust cities and their people far less than wild animals.
- NullPrefix 2y ago>And cars used to be safe even without seatbelts! Me and a lot of people wear them purely out of fear of being robbed by the state
- forgotusername6 2y agoI met a guy who didn't wear his seatbelt. He was a delivery driver and in a collision at 20mph. His head went through the windscreen and it scalped him from the eyes up. He had a scar all the way across from ear to ear. He couldn't shut his eyes for months. He wears his seatbelt now.
- NullPrefix 2y agoSo? Obesity is a way worse toll on the human body than a scarred face, but we don't issue fines for people who enter McD's Other people have their own bodies and they do not belong to you
- neilv 2y agoHow will this work out with grade school kids' socialization, when some kids in a class have the neat smartwatches, but some don't? I remember very much noticing as a young kid that I didn't have some things some other kids had. But most of the time that was at home, rather than visible every day. And I was also a bit aware that some other kids had less than I did. (Parochial school uniforms helped.)
- wilsonnb3 2y agoI don't think it will change much, kids have been sorting themselves into pretend hierarchies based on the cool thing since the dawn of time. We could send them all to school wearing a potato sack and some of the kids with the whole foods sack would make fun of the kids in the food lion sack.
- LeoNatan25 2y ago> Requires Ace Pass data plan $9.99/mo. LOL
- alooPotato 2y agoThis reminds me of an idea I've been noodling on for a bit about my kids. I want them to be able to take more risks and be more independent - but counterintuitively, I think this means putting them in a safer environment. For example, I'd be waaaay more comfortable letting my young kids (6yrs old) roam around outside the house if will lived in a safe suburb rather than a city. I think the same is true for this type of watch, I'd let them do more stuff at a younger age if I knew I could always get a hold of them and knew where they were.
- stavros 2y agoBut that's not taking more risks, that's taking the same amount of risks, just doing more with it.
- alooPotato 2y agosure but you know what I mean, they can learn to be more independent if they can do more stuff on their own which i'd let them do if their was a min level of safety
- mustang-med 2y agoMy partner is on one of the teams responsible for red tape and cost-cutting at Alphabet. After having frequent conversations about past failed projects, I'm surprised this project got the green light. Personally, I don't see this product taking off. As a parent, I think it looks quite lame, and I don't think anyone at Google knows how to break into product areas for kids. I've seen quite a few headlines concerned about Nvidia being the next Cisco, but as someone who has had family at both Cisco and Google over the last 30 years, I really think Alphabet is more likely to become the next Cisco, where middle-aged engineers go to work for 30 hours a week to keep the internet's backbone afloat.
- refulgentis 2y agoI worked on Android Wear many, many, years ago. 2016ish. This segment and use case was quietly huge, massive, in at least China, and I bet it still is. (Left google late 23) I'd love to hear more about this team for cost cutting, it really messed things up*: external, or internal? * You may imagine I am finding some humor in "my SO is on the google cost cutting team and I don't get why this team exists, why would anyone want a watch for their kid." I am, but I understand where you're coming from, and I'm sure your SO likely would have learned more about the watch market before making similar decisions
- mustang-med 2y agoMy partner's team works across all of Google's products (e.g., Cloud, Geo, not Verily or Waymo) and is part of the green light process for those launches. I don't want to get into more specifics than that, but let's say a product is not growing year-over-year as expected. This is one of the teams involved.
- canucker2016 2y agoJust based on the UI, I can see the user age range being limited to 7-11/12 year olds. Teens won't want this on their wrist in high school.
- aflag 2y ago
- m3kw9 2y agoGoogle tracking yo kids, your moma, papa, sisters. Build a ad profile early, even a family profile, gotta serve them good ads
- tanker_root 2y agoThe 5% of the world that makes most of the decisions has an active interest in creating a labor force that will passively and diligently maintain order. The subconscious drive to give young children technology is no different in its psychohistorical origins than the Hitler Youth. One could ask for what purpose does somebody want to "monitor" themselves. Is it for any great works or for the prolongation of bare life through the min-maxing of REM cycles.
- julienreszka 2y ago> wild things That formulation is poor taste imo
- red369 2y agoDo you mind explaining why you think so? I'm missing what is negative about it. To me it doesn't seem an unusual phrase - often a reference to Where the Wild Things Are. And I've just found from the Wikipedia page that "wild thing" in that book was inspired by the Yiddish expression "vilde chaya" ("wild animals"), used to refer to boisterous children.
- srameshc 2y agoLTE is good, but what is the subscription for? A sturdy LTE watch that can call and text would have been great. This product is dead on arrival.
- kQq9oHeAz6wLLS 2y agoGabb wireless and others have had this for ages, for much cheaper.
- canucker2016 2y agoPeople who have parents/relatives with cognitive problems might want this for tracking purposes.
- mrinterweb 2y ago$230 is a bit high up-front cost for a kids watch. Compare this to something like TickTalk and it seems that TickTalk has more features. https://www.myticktalk.com/ https://www.myticktalk.com/. The design of the Google kids watch does look nicer though. TickTalk is pretty bulky and the UI is not great.
- pquki4 2y agoSpending $300 already on a watch is already expensive (in addition to a $500-$100 phone), and it is a relatively small market, especially for watch OS watches. $230 on a kid's watch -- potentially more than one if you have more than one kid -- is definitely for parents who have money to spare.
- kccqzy 2y agoIt's clear to me that the point of this watch is that the wearer will not have a $500–$1000 phone in addition to the watch.
- unregistereddev 2y agoI mean, that's fair, but phones don't need to cost that much. I can buy a current-gen basic Moto for $60 in the Fi store today. Who buys current flagship phones for kids? Most families I know upgrade one device at a time and the kids get old hand-me-down devices. It's a rich privileged family that is buying kids either new smartwatches or $500 - $1000 phones.
- mrinterweb 2y agoAs a parent, my main value from watches like this are: * GPS, I can see where my kid is at (not always super accurate) * I can contact my child and my child can contact me (contacts are whitelisted) * School time lock helps avoid distraction (locks most watch functions when at school) * Knowing I can locate and contact my child helps me allow more personal freedom to my child. Within reason. I hear you that spending that kind of cash is not for everyone. For me, those features make it worth it. I am planning a prototype for an alternative to smart watches that will use LoRa Meshtastic as a platform. The main upside of this would lower upfront costs, and no recurring cellular provider bill. I think it would be cool to have a system where trusted contacts and kids friends could message each other. My goal is to build a management system parents could use to quickly set up a LoRa node for their child.
- dtx1 2y ago[flagged]
- nytesky 2y agoIt says GPS location, but does it do mapping? That and calling are like the two most valuable features (only 20 contacts, so no group chats with his class?)
- ugh123 2y agoThis is an interesting move by Google. The watch market for kids is huge and growing. Look at the major companies sales here. Also look at the amount of kid's smart watches available on Amazon and number of reviews (I know, i'm sure some of those are fake yada yada). The detractors here say "let the kids be free" and "no new tech for kids", but I wonder if those people have kids today? Parents WANT to give their kid's more outdoor freedom in this f'd up world. Tracking products like this give them more peace of mind. At $10/month (or $5/mo with annual buy), this is competitive and possibly a new recurring revenue stream for Google's consumer products group.
- dgacmu 2y agoDoesn't even have to be about tracking - we got a limited watch for our kid when she was 9 or 10 so she could call and text us if anything came up, and used that as the basis for letting her do her own thing even more. Was fantastic. I'm pretty anti-device for kids (said 11yo is still grumpy I won't get her a phone), but watches with cellular are quite great.
- barbazoo 2y ago> Tracking products like this give them more peace of mind. Good job big tech marketing departments!
- Havoc 2y agoDoes it come in ankle bracelet form factor?
- simmo9000 2y agoImplant would be better. Harder to loose.
- LeifCarrotson 2y agoWhy yes it does! Ankles are usually only slightly larger in circumference than wrists, my Garmin even does OK at picking up my heart rate when I'm working in the machine shop and wearing it on my ankle.
- kochie 2y ago[flagged]
- hulitu 2y ago> Google releases smart watch for kids No. The smartwatch is for Google, to track your kids.
- surajrmal 2y agoThis product was conceived by parents who want an alternative to giving their kids a phone. It's good to be suspicious, but what you're saying sounds more like FUD. Parents are the ones who want to do the tracking.
- 727374 2y agoSmart watches for kids are great compared to alternatives. My kids have Apple Watches and aren't asking me for phones/tablets (and the related evils like IG, TT, etc). Love to see this from Google (and Apple).
- franczesko 2y agoI'm intrigued by those comments about smartwatches. Can you tell more about your experience? How your kids handle peer pressure?
- Narkov 2y ago> Fitbit Ace LTE has been tested with hundreds of families and is designed to get 16+ hours of use from a full battery. Fail. Adults struggle to recharge their devices every day and my kids certainly won't remember to. Garmin Kids watches, while drastically different in functionality and connectivity, last 12 months before a battery replacement is needed and are wildly more suitable for young kids.
- 77ko 2y agoGarmin Bounce[0] for kids, which is the watch which directly competes with this, has a 12-24hr battery life on LTE, although Garmin claims 2day battery. [0]: https://www.dcrainmaker.com/2023/01/garmin-bounce-activity-tracker-lte-in-depth-review.html https://www.dcrainmaker.com/2023/01/garmin-bounce-activity-t...
- Narkov 2y agoYou are absolutely right. I'm certainly not pro-Garmin here. Just anti-12 hour battery life for kids watches. It's just not compatible with the way young kids work.
- canucker2016 2y agoReading the comments to dcrainmaker's review, his kids' Bounces were getting 36 hours of charge whereas several commenters state they were barely getting 10 hours, certainly less than 24 hours of charge. Seems like the energy used to keep the LTE connection up is the main problem, if all the users have the similar settings to minimize battery used by the Garmin Bounce. If Google/Fitbit says the ACE LTE only lasts 16 hours, I'd hope their estimate is much more conservative than Garmin's and has a lot less variance. Otherwise, I can't see the ACE LTE lasting until end of school day.
- TrisMcC 2y agoI only have to charge my kid's bounce every 2 days, 2.5 days usually. I do not turn on the "Live Tracking" very often but location updates, boundary fence notifications, voice/canned messages work great.
- jauntywundrkind 2y ago> Every Ace Band unlocks a themed Bit Valley mini store that levels up the eejie’s house. Get wacky decor for the room and cool outfits for their eejie. There are new themes to collect with each band. Scummy ass shit. Incredibly direct tell about their true nature here. I rather like the general notion, alas. The $120/yr annual plan seems not great but $60/yr offer for connectivity seems decent. Albeit it seems quite expensive compared to the expensive data-consumption a watch is going to have. I wonder if it works with other plans?
- lrvick 2y agoI was at one point head of security and infratructure at Pebble and the only person standing in the way of personally identifiable biometric data being directly accessible on employee workstations. I know such practices end with data leaked or sold. I believed Pebble users could enjoy rich data-driven features without fear as long as someone like me had their back. That sense of mission was part of why I stayed on to the end. Once Pebble and I were integrated into Fitbit I got to see up close that they are not a wearables company, but a surveillance capitalism firm that will profit from all available data, even not-technically-hipaa protected medical data in any way legally possible. No one there had any mission but share-price-go-up. I quit 3 months before my golden handcuffs came off, because I realized I no longer wanted to be part of an organization so deeply negligent with security and unethical with data usage. I then got to watch from a distance as Pebble user trust and user data was then gobbled up again, this time by Google. Now firms like Google have fully saturated the adult market and seek to parasitically cause behavior changes in children while extracting highly profitable biometric data from them too. A ratified-and-strengthened American Privacy Rights Act cannot come soon enough. We have to convince our legislators to stop these predators.
- 77ko 2y agoMy kids main demand is the following features, and this watch doesn't deliver on any of them: 1. Whitelist contacts for calling and text call - installing an app is a pain for older ppl / friends. 2. Music: Why not Google? This already has headphone support and the Pixel watch hardware which support musics. 3. Maps: in case they need to go A to B. WearOS has google maps, so this should be an easy add. School bus is on google maps for e.g, so being able to check time to leave would be great. 4. Battery: 16hrs at launch is not going to age well... Overall, despite being in the market for this, would not buy. Features kids didn't ask for and I don't want: Gaming: There is a market for gamification, but it seems to me the product team went overboard and spent way too much time here at the cost of making a better kids watch. I have no doubt it can and will make some kids more active, but...
- binkHN 2y agoGood points! I can't agree more with item 1.
- lopis 2y agoKids have never needed a watch to be active, run around and imagine creative games. Although, sure, we did spend hours during breaks all surrounding the one kid with a gameboy.
- barbazoo 2y ago> 4. Battery: 16hrs at launch is not going to age well... Sounds like a nightmare having to also manage your kids' watches and keep them charged just for them to barely make it through the day.
- ghaff 2y agoIf they don't care enough to keep them charged, maybe they don't want/need them?
- sussexby 2y agoPrepare your child for the path, not the path for your child.
- faeriechangling 2y agoThe value and battery life aren’t there are the biggest issues. Not kidding when I say I think the device needs to double that runtime minimum.
- canibalon 2y agoThere are a couple companies already doing this for some years. https://soymomo.us/ https://soymomo.us/ Even has its own chatgpt for kids, Spotify and videocalls. Fitbit is late and device is expensive for basic features.
- 23B1 2y agoThis would be a good idea if we didn't already know Google's real agenda here.
- zx8080 2y agoWith this, kids will be prepared for wearing hand or ankle monitors [0] in the future. 0 - https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Electronic_monitoring_in_the_United_States https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Electronic_monitoring_in_the...
- Sargos 2y agoIt won't let me stick a SIM card in it and instead makes me buy some proprietary overpriced LTE plan? That's pretty sickening. WTF Google?
- jaydeegee 2y agoGamifying fitness and activity I really like. The rest is something I don't think we need.
- LeifCarrotson 2y agoYou might like the Garmin Bounce: https://www.garmin.com/en-US/p/714945#specs https://www.garmin.com/en-US/p/714945#specs It's a similar LTE-enabled smart watch with GPS for parental tracking and two-way text/voice messaging within the app, but from Garmin, which has a much better reputation for privacy - including a very positive review from the Mozilla Foundation: https://foundation.mozilla.org/en/privacynotincluded/garmin-bounce/ https://foundation.mozilla.org/en/privacynotincluded/garmin-.... I would trust Garmin with my son's data. He's 7, and has been wearing the plain digital Timex I got him for almost a year; when he's 8 or 9 we'll get him a Bounce. If you really want the bare minimum, look at the Vivofit Junior: https://www.garmin.com/en-US/p/711538 https://www.garmin.com/en-US/p/711538 which doesn't have GPS or LTE, just an accelerometer and Bluetooth that it uses to gamify fitness and activity tracking and (with parental management through the linked app). See also DCRainmaker's reviews of the Bounce: https://www.dcrainmaker.com/2023/01/garmin-bounce-activity-tracker-lte-in-depth-review.html https://www.dcrainmaker.com/2023/01/garmin-bounce-activity-t... And the Vivofit Jr 2: https://www.dcrainmaker.com/2017/09/garmin-vivofit-jr-2-review-everything-you-ever-wanted-to-know.html https://www.dcrainmaker.com/2017/09/garmin-vivofit-jr-2-revi...
- jaydeegee 2y agoAwesome info cheers I have a feeling my 6yo will have a vivofit jr 2 in a few days.
- ChicagoDave 2y agoHere we go with more helicopter parenting devices. Please parents...look up the studies on how detrimental it is to hover over every aspect of your child's life. It's not good. I raised five kids to adulthood with the last one finishing his freshman year of college this year. None of them had devices until middle school and even then, it was restricted. We made our kids roam around like feral coyotes. They are absolutely better for it.
- zffr 2y agoI don't doubt your claim, but you didn't provide any examples or evidence. What positive effects did limiting device access from your kids have on them?
- tuumi 2y agoChicago huh? Are you talking Naperville or did your kids grow up in an apartment on Lakeshore? The context here means a lot. Surely you wouldn't begrudge a parent in Detroit (outside of safe downtown) having a device to communicate/locate their child.
- ChicagoDave 2y agoGeneva and city life is certainly different. You’ll still see young kids roaming around in parts of Chicago. Not every part though.
- tuumi 2y agoAnd they probably have phones.
- simmo9000 2y ago"Hook em while they are young" - George Carlin. Dogma.
- steveBK123 2y ago[flagged]
- jordanmorgan10 2y agoAh yes, my favorite genre of comments - parenting opinions.
- bilsbie 2y agoI find the gabb watch is pretty decent. Similar pricing? Battery life is a little low.
- 39896880 2y agoSo what are they doing with the movement data? Is it tied to a shadow profile for ad targeting?
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- throwaway_1237 2y agoAnd it has been sunset already!
- m4rc3lv 2y agoI'am an adult but I like a watch with exergames on it. I'll buy one for myself.
- l1nktlst 2y ago[dead]
- godisdad 2y agoNo.
- b3ing 2y agoGoogle wants to understand the next generation so they can plan how to adapt in the coming years
- democracy 2y ago230 USD? Thanks, no, thanks )))
- enceladus06 2y agoI remember running a lemonaide stand as a kid back in the late 90s with my friend, we were 11-12ish small town in the PNW. We were at the end of his driveway along the main road that went out of town. Noone got abducted or molested; we were just fine and didn't have cellphones. The obsession with not letting kids play or be in the real world is going to come back to bite society hard in 10-20yrs when generation alpha will need to navigate the real world. Having kids inside gaming and not going outside is going to do more physical damage (childhood diabetes/obesity/metabolic syndrome) when compared to the very unlikely event of a child obduction.
- lgleason 2y agoThat screen design is going to break really easy. Should have integrated an protective bezel. FAIL.
- cyclecount 2y agoCreepy, low-quality and overpriced! The Google hardware trifecta.
- n3storm 2y agoJust what a developing brain needs, useless games available any time. (sacarsm)
- rock_artist 2y agoThis HN discussion flares one clear thing. While it's a debatable topic, Google did their homework and there are enough potential customers for this product.
- nurettin 2y agoSimilar devices were banned in western europe, and were sent to türkiye at a discount. https://www.bbc.com/news/technology-42030109 https://www.bbc.com/news/technology-42030109
- matrix87 2y agoI really don't get it: paying a couple hundred so you can spend 2 seconds reaching for your wrist instead of 5 seconds pulling your phone out of your pocket Like is the watch supposed to replace the phone? Or if not, why bother? If you need heart rate monitoring, why does it need an internet connection?
- red-iron-pine 2y agokids pockets are small, and they lose things a lot. my middle schooler is on their 3rd phone -- thankfully they were all cheapo, basic models. i'd love the idea to strap it to them, i'm just not crazy about a biometric monitor + something following them uber-closely all day.
- thih9 2y ago> The only way to move through the game is to get moving. Why gamify children’s movement related activities? Instead of making them fun in the first place?
- SillyUsername 2y agoWhy is this not available to RoW?
- cik 2y agoWhere I live, "smart watches" have been a thing for about 5 years now. The reality is that they have a one year life span before the social aspect catches up to them. We wanted to get our son a smart watch, so that he could call us if he needed something, or we could call him to come home; no tracking. The problem is cohort. Friends have phones. Friends COORDINATE over WhatsApp (not communicate). This means, that in order for him to know that he can hang out with others, he needs a way to be part of that.
- SillyUsername 2y agoCoincidentally Vodafone just stopped supporting their Neo smart watch which is pretty much the same, turning it into eWaste come August this year.
- globular-toast 2y ago> Meet Fitbit Ace LTE, the first-of-its-kind smartwatch that makes movement fun for kids. You know what also makes movement fun for kids? Being able to go outside. Not having helicopter parents. A bicycle. A football. Something is very wrong if kids don't even want to run around unless they're filling up rings on a screen.
- deleted 2y ago[deleted]
- sigwinch28 2y agoA smartwatch for kids could be so good if it was designed in a way to be educational, but most importantly, which respects a child’s privacy utmost, even from their parents in terms of tracking. For example, a maps app, to always get the kid home if they’re lost. Medication reminders. Fitness tracking. Emergency SOS. A calendar to remind them about family birthdays and upcoming holidays. School timetables. Medical ID. Payment cards or passes for travel (in Western Europe a lot of schoolchildren commute by themselves, especially on public transport) and spending their allowance. Let the kid choose to notify their family of their location as and when they want to. Empower them to use tech to their advantage but put their privacy first. Children are going to end up as adults in this world regardless of whether we teach them, so we should be teaching them the benefits and warning them of the many bad actors. We should be teaching our children the skills they need to navigate the modern world. This includes technology and abusive/controlling relationships. I believe a good responsible smartwatch for kids can exist. Alas, this is Google and helicopter parents exist, so this product is not it.
- davidmurdoch 2y agoI wonder if they write their shutdown notice at the same time as their landing page copy for products like this. /s
- wkat4242 2y agoDamn that's expensive for something that's meant for kids. Don't forget Google refuses to repair their watches. Break the screen? Go buy a new one. Ifixit found that it's actually not hard to replace the screen/glass module but with one issue: Google won't sell you one.
- yobid20 2y agoHaving gone through 5 different fitbit watches and them all breaking within a year or two, as well as two different fitbit scales and them breaking too, i have moved on and will NEVER look back. Fitbit is CRAP. let me reiterate. crap. C-R-A-P. crap. Lets use that in a sentence. Mark grumbled, "My Fitbit is such crap—it breaks down faster than I can count my steps!" And for those wondering, I moved onto Garmin watches. I mean if you're going to pay it might as well be a nice one and most importantly one that is reliable.
- LeifCarrotson 2y agoHaving gone through just 2 Garmin watches over the last 10 years (though the upgrade from the FR220 was only to get optical heart rate, it's still perfectly serviceable), how did it possibly take you that long to learn that?
- Ylpertnodi 2y agoI got rid of dealing with them when my first one broke. As did my wife's shortly after.
- koalaman 2y agoI really just want a dumb kids watch with very long battery life that is trackable using the Apple and Google find my device network.
- lomase 2y agoHoy is a device that cost 229.95$ + 10$ month sub for kids?
- Kwpolska 2y agoThe parents would be paying?
- lomase 2y agoI dont know any kid who pays for himself.
- jordansmithnz 2y agoThink about it from the parent’s perspective: the safety of your toddler while you’re at a crowded amusement park is of high value. Losing a young child must be terrifying, even if they’re found shortly after. I think the value proposition justifies the price, at least for a reasonable amount of parents.
- red-iron-pine 2y agokid wouldnt have a cell phone, just the watch. same cost as a mid-tier smartphone, and 10/mo is for the networking features aka cellphone plan. kid can't lose it like a cellphone since it's strapped to them, and sill gives them some basic call / text / tracking but without giving them access to the Play store, Tiktok, YT, etc. the more i think about it the more i'm okay with the idea -- i've done the custom side-loaded android ROM for a kids phone strictly for the purposes of locking it down and it was a PITA. OTOH now google gets to snoop on your kid 24/7 which i don't love...
- darkclouds 2y ago[dead]
- password54321 2y agoChildren don't participate in sports anymore because of tech, so we created tech to counter other tech so they go outside more.
- deleted 2y ago[deleted]
- odiroot 2y agoThe best thing about this is, you don't have to worry about your kids outgrowing it. Google will cancel it before they do.
- raggi 2y agotrue, but then they'll escalate to wanting the real watches, and the next generation i'm sure will get premium pricing now
- complianceowl 2y agoYeah, no.
- RecycledEle 2y agoWhy does this worry me more than the swarms of armed drones?
- Night_Thastus 2y agoI've never gotten smart watches. There are some things that a smart watch simply can't do, due to limited screen size and resources. And if you're going to need to carry around a regular smart phone to handle those cases, why bother carrying both? It feels weirdly redundant, more like a gimmick.
- longnighthn 2y agoAs a 8yo kid's parent, I hope it have no game, no pay function. Just locate and video call, message, long battery life.
- taoufix 2y agoOh hell no! I'll stick with a dumb phone for my kids, thanks.