Hi! My less-than-10-year-old has their own iPad (registered under my apple id) and wants to be able to “text” with the rest of the family. Most of us are not Apple people though: Android phones, using some combo of SMS, Discord, and Signal. The little one doesn’t have a phone, so I think that prevents us from signing them up for Signal. I could probably install Discord on the iPad, though it doesn’t feel ideal. They use iMessage (or whatever it’s called) to text a couple other friends/grandma/etc who also have Apple stuff, but what should we use for our mostly-non-Apple family that wouldn’t require a phone number?
An internet search pointed me to WhatsApp, Telegram, Viber… stuff I’ve never used but it seems popular. Facebook Messenger also, but screw that. Google Chat/Hangouts (or whatever it’s called now) is another option, which would require creating a google account.
If nothing else appeals to me we’ll probably go the Discord route, and I’ll just have to be clear, don’t join random servers :) But, anybody out there use WhatsApp with your kid, and does it not require a phone number? I’m open to other ideas! Thank you…
Telegram carries the risk of the kid stumbling into some really ugly communities on there.
I’d recommend Threema, but buying that for life costs as much as a cup of coffee, so hardly anyone can be convinced to use it.
Honestly, I’d just use Teams to be honest.
interesting, Threema doesn’t look bad at all… I’ll consider it if none of the free options work great. Teams… I use that on my phone for my work M$ account, and it might be a pain to split it into my personal M$ account too… but if that’s easy, that’s a good idea. thank you!
In general and specifically for this use-case I would recommend Threema as well. No phone number requirement. No spam. Secure.