Low-cost provider TextNow is launching its first child-friendly cellphone on Tuesday, pairing a closely discounted Motorola handset with a software program portal that lets mother and father management who their child can name or textual content.
Yello is a personalized Moto G Play that prices $150 — $100 lower than the usual mannequin’s present retail value — and comes with a $20 month-to-month plan, with no different required contracts or service commitments.
The Android cellphone restricts entry to Google’s Play Retailer and doesn’t permit customers to put in further apps or companies. It’s designed primarily for calls and texts with parent-approved contacts, which oldsters can handle via a web-based portal that additionally lets them test the cellphone’s GPS location. Children can name or textual content these contacts from a menu of enormous icons harking back to Netflix’s profile choice display.
Different software program out there on the cellphone consists of entry to the cameras — a 32-megapixel foremost digicam and an 8-megapixel front-facing digicam — together with the calculator, clock and a climate app. Seven preloaded video games could be enabled, which embody cellphone classics reminiscent of Snake, Mines and Tic-Tac-Toe. Photographs taken on the cellphone can solely be shared with mother and father.
This extra restrictive strategy ought to let children keep in contact with authorized buddies and coordinate pickups with mother and father whereas limiting distractions and entry to content material inappropriate for younger kids.
The 2026 Moto G Play is an efficient selection for Yello’s software program strategy. Once I reviewed the cellphone final yr, I favored its bigger 5,200-mAh battery as a result of it might simply get via two days of use. However its less-powerful processor, 64GB of storage and 4GB of reminiscence made it difficult to make use of as a media machine. Since Yello’s software program intentionally avoids that use, the Moto G Play ought to be greater than enough for calls and texts.
Regardless of the identify, the Yello cellphone is out there in only one coloration: the identical gentle blue on each 2026 Moto G Play that Motorola calls “pantone tapestry.”
Most US carriers supply their very own variations of child-friendly gadgets reminiscent of Yello. AT&T, as an example, has repurposed the Samsung Galaxy A16 into the AmiGo Jr with comparable parental controls. There are additionally a lot of child-friendly smartwatches, which can be a greater possibility relying on your loved ones’s wants for connectivity. However Yello does supply a whole lot of flexibility, because it doesn’t require a costlier limitless knowledge plan or a minimal service dedication.
The Yello cellphone is now out there on TextNow’s web site.
