Apps Are Displayed in Two Categories:

Age Inappropriate Apps

Apps You Should Be Aware Of

*SAFE apps are not displayed

Reports are tailored to each child's age.

Jenna, age 11
Jenna
Brian, age 16
Brian

Click on Any App to See Its Ratings (We have ratings on 243,782 apps)

Phone

Risk ratings are set to None, Low, or High for 17 categories including:

Meet strangers Risk of Meeting Strangers

High

EXAMPLES: Apps designed for meeting strangers, social networks with too many anonymity, messaging products with high anonymity.

Low

EXAMPLES: Social networks where you are primarily there for talking to people you already know, but where you can meet strangers. Other products with social integrations that are secondary and do not have geo matching and have low anonymity scores.

Age violence Adult Content Risk

High

EXAMPLES: Social products where people can and frequently do share content. Content providers, such as streaming video sites, who offer apps with adult content inside of them.

Low

EXAMPLES: Social networks and messaging products where people can share adult content.

Bullying risks Bullying Risk

High

EXAMPLES: Social networks and messaging products with high degrees of anonymity, especially those tied to geography, schools attended, etc.

Low

EXAMPLES: Social networks with low degrees of anonymity.

Sexting risks Sexting Risks

High

EXAMPLES: Products designed for meeting strangers. Products designed for anonymously messaging strangers.

Low

EXAMPLES: All messaging products have these risks.

Ratings are also provided for up to 13 other risks including various kinds of violence, foul language, drug references, and more.

Under the ratings, you'll find the reviews. learn more

How Are These Ratings Developed?

Feature1
Research

We continually study new apps coming into the market, new versions of existing apps and monitor criminal reports and other news of bad outcomes happening on apps.

Feature2
Identifying Mechanics and Content of Concern

From our research, we make an ever-growing and evolving list of mechanics that concern us based on the bad outcomes we see and our experience in studying thousands of these outcomes.

Feature3
Relating Mechanics and Content to Bad Outcomes

We assign risk ratings to the apps based on how much of a concern the risks are. All messaging products can be used for sexting, for example, but different mechanics and use cases will cause some to be more or less likely to be used for sexting. This is where we risk rate that.

Feature4
Identifying Mechanics and Content in Apps

We then search for apps that have these mechanics and content of concern and apply risk ratings to them.

Feature5
Assigning Age Ratings

Based on the ratings, we will assign up to two age ratings to an app. One is the minimum age to use an app. The other is the minimum age to use an app without a parent being aware.