Common Sense Media Review
By Dana Anderson
,
based on child development research. How do we rate?
Social media, games, video, text, audio chat all in one app.
Parents Need to Know
Why Age 16+?
Any Positive Content?
Where to Download
Videos and Photos
Line
Privacy Rating Warning
Privacy Rating
Our expert evaluators create our privacy ratings. The ratings are designed to help you understand how apps use your data for commercial purposes.
Pass
Meets our minimum requirements for privacy and security practices.
Warning
Does not meet our recommendations for privacy and security practices.
Fail
Does not have a privacy policy and should not be used.
Privacy Rating
Our expert evaluators create our privacy ratings. The ratings are designed to help you understand how apps use your data for commercial purposes.
Pass
Meets our minimum requirements for privacy and security practices.
Warning
Does not meet our recommendations for privacy and security practices.
Fail
Does not have a privacy policy and should not be used.
What's It About?
Register for LINE with your mobile device's phone number and an email address (or only an email address for computer or non-phone-based devices). Create a profile, and view which friends in your contacts already have LINE so you can call or message them for free. Invite other friends to Line, browse and add stickers, play games, or view official accounts for news and information. All features can be accessed from the app's main screen and a "more" tab. Line packs a lot of messaging and social media options into one app.
Is It Any Good?
Line has become a popular messaging app, presumably in part because of its many options for messaging, cute stickers, and use across platforms and computers. But that multitude of options may be a drawback, too. This app includes a lot of ways to spend money, little by little, through small in-app purchases for a pack of cute stickers or a game.
The integration between some social media elements (timelines, games) and video, audio, calls, and many other forms of messaging is interesting, although sometimes more options in one app are useful and at other times they can clutter basic functions until it becomes too distracting to enjoy any of the many options. Voice-message sound quality during this review was less clear than in other messaging apps. Sometimes simplicity can help users communicate even better than a multitude of methods, and LINE rides the thin line between enough and too many choices.
Talk to Your Kids About ...
Review the privacy options on Line with your teens and encourage them to keep their user IDs private and filter messages from people they don't know.
Discuss your family's rules about in-app purchases with your teen.
Families can talk about messaging apps. Read Common Sense's trend alert about messaging apps and talk with your teen about why it's not a good idea to share iffy secrets online.
App Details
- Devices : iPhone , iPod Touch , iPad
- Pricing structure : Free (Users can make in-app purchases for a variety of services, such as buying credits to call to non-LINE users, games, sticker packs, and more.)
- Release date : July 22, 2014
- Genre : Social Networking
- Publisher : NAVER JAPAN
- Version : 4.5.0
- Minimum software requirements : iOS 5.0 or later, Android 2.1 and up.
- Last updated : June 20, 2019
Did we miss something on diversity?
Research shows a connection between kids' healthy self-esteem and positive portrayals in media. That's why we've added a new "Diverse Representations" section to our reviews that will be rolling out on an ongoing basis. You can help us help kids by
Suggest an Update
Common Sense Media's unbiased ratings are created by expert reviewers and aren't influenced by the product's creators or by any of our funders, affiliates, or partners.
See how we rate