Naven
Answers
What is a good messaging app for kids without a phone number?
Look for an app that signs up with an email address, works on a tablet or a school laptop, lets a parent be involved, and does not let strangers find your child. Options include Naven (email sign-up, parent agreement, screened messages), Messenger Kids (needs a parent's Facebook account), and Google Chat on a Family Link account; most popular apps, such as WhatsApp, Signal and Snapchat, require a phone number or are for 13 and over.
Why phone numbers matter. Most messaging apps use a phone number as your identity: WhatsApp, Signal and Telegram all require one. That leaves out children with an iPad, an Amazon Fire tablet or a school Chromebook and no phone, and it means everyone in a group sees everyone else's number.
What to check before choosing:
Who can contact your child? The safest apps only allow contact with people your child already knows, or make every new conversation a request they can decline.
Can a parent be involved without reading every message? Look for parent controls such as pausing the account, limiting new contacts and time limits.
What happens to harmful content? Most apps act after the fact through blocking and reporting. Very few screen messages before they are delivered.
Does it work on the device your child has? A browser-based app works on a Fire tablet, an iPad or a Chromebook without an app-store download.
The options.
Naven: signs up with an email address, runs in any browser, has no public directory, and needs a parent or guardian to agree for anybody under 18. For under-13s it asks for a parent's signed consent under COPPA. Parents get controls and are told the category of anything Naven refuses. It is not end-to-end encrypted, because it screens messages before they are sent.
Messenger Kids: built for children, with parents approving every contact, but it needs a parent's Facebook account and runs as an app.
Google Chat through Family Link: possible on supervised Google accounts, with Google's rules and no pre-send screening.
JusTalk Kids, Kinzoo and similar kid-focused apps: worth a look, but check who runs them and how they make money.
Whichever you choose, set it up together, agree who is on the contact list, and talk about what to do if a stranger gets in touch.