Parents' Guide to

Virtual Geocaching - Xnote

By Dana Anderson, Common Sense Media Reviewer

age 12+

Send personalized, virtual treasure hunts to any smartphone.

Virtual Geocaching - Xnote Poster Image

A Lot or a Little?

What you will—and won't—find in this app.

Community Reviews

age 17+

Based on 1 parent review

age 17+

This sounds a little scary

My child loves quests, and this sounds fun, but before I would ever consider this app, I would want to hear from parents who use it. I know, educate your kids on net safety and don’t let them go out alone. But this game sounds like an open invitation to a pedophile to lure a child into an ambush. The review recommends to accompany kids “younger than teens” but teens with mobility options that don’t involve parents seem especially at risk. How have parents dealt with this? Who gets to send your kids messages? (“social media” sounds rather broad)

Is It Any Good?

Our review:
Parents say: (1 ):
Kids say: Not yet rated

This is a fun, novel way to get your friends, family, or students searching outside for personalized, virtual treasures. Virtual Geocaching - Xnote is easy to use both while sending and receiving the treasure hunt messages. Searching around your yard, neighborhood, or community to retrieve a note sent by a friend can be fun and exciting. Of course, if kids younger than teens are sending and receiving notes beyond their own yards, a parent may want to accompany them. Remind your kids and teens: While walking and checking the map for the X that marks the message spot, they must be looking up and around, checking their surroundings. The Xnote app website also includes tips and ideas for quiz walks and other group activities for families and classrooms.

App Details

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.

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