Roo Kids
By Amanda Bindel,
Common Sense Media Reviewer
Common Sense Media Reviewers
Parent-controlled chat; settings have limitations.
A Lot or a Little?
What you will—and won't—find in this app.
Where to Download
Videos and Photos
Roo Kids
Community Reviews
There aren't any parent reviews yet. Be the first to review this title.
What’s It About?
To register with ROO KIDS, kids or parents enter a username, password, and parent email. They then can invite other users from their contact list or enter a known username to connect with friends. After that, kids can message friends, sending text, drawings, stickers, or pictures. Parents receive notification of friend requests -- sent or received -- and can approve or remove friends. Kids receive push notifications when they have a new message, unless notifications are disabled in settings.
Is It Any Good?
Although Roo Kids has potential as a safe chatting app for kids, the parental controls don't work reliably enough for parents to have full confidence. Parents can set curfew hours restricting when kids can use live chat, but kids can still write messages and use the drawing feature during curfew hours. The banned words features also is faulty, allowing those words if they're followed by punctuation. The alerts when kids send or receive friend requests work well and are probably the most valuable for parents.
Talk to Your Kids About ...
Families can talk about choosing whom to "friend" and what is appropriate to chat about online. Watch our video Perspectives on Chatting together and discuss.
Think about how much you'll monitor kids' texting. Read our Q&A: Should parents read their kids' text messages for different perspectives. Let kids know how you'll be monitoring their activity.
Discuss the permanence of online communication: For example, let kids know that, even if they delete a message they've already sent, it will stay on the receiver's device.
App Details
- Devices: iPhone, iPod Touch, iPad, Android
- Skills: Communication: friendship building, multiple forms of expression, Tech Skills: social media, using and applying technology
- Pricing structure: Paid (Additional stickers and backgrounds available for in-app purchase)
- Release date: March 4, 2015
- Category: Social Networking
- Topics: Friendship
- Publisher: Gungroo Software Private Limited
- Version: 2.1.7
- Minimum software requirements: iOS 6.0 or later; Android 2.2 and up
- Last updated: July 12, 2020
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 suggesting a diversity update.
Suggest an Update
Where to Download
Our Editors Recommend
Safer Social Media and Messaging Apps for Kids
Social Networking for Teens
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