The 2026 App Risk Report
We reviewed 93 apps kids actually use and scored each one on the same structured questions: can strangers reach a child, does it share location, do messages disappear, and what can a parent actually see. This page is computed live from those reviews — it updates as the catalog grows.
of the 93 apps we reviewed allow strangers to contact a child — 55 of them by default, before any settings are changed.
give parents no native visibility at all. Only 7 apps (8%) earn a "Good" parental-visibility rating.
have location sharing, and 8% have disappearing messages — the two features that most often turn stranger contact from a nuisance into a danger.
we rate High or Urgent risk still admit children 13 or younger by their own minimum-age policy — the age-rating gap.
31 of 93 apps (33%) carry an elevated (High or Urgent) risk rating. The Urgent tier — Kik, Tinder, Wizz — is where we recommend parents act this week, not this month.
| App | Risk | Strangers | Location | Disappearing | Parent visibility | Min age |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Kik | Urgent | Yes | No | No | None | — |
| Tinder | Urgent | Yes | Yes | No | 18 | |
| Wizz | Urgent | Yes | Yes | No | None | 17 |
| Badoo Dating: Meet New People | High | Yes | Yes | No | None | 18 |
| BIGO LIVE | High | Yes | No | No | Limited | 13 |
| Bumble Dating App | High | Yes | No | No | None | 18 |
| Calculator# Hide Photos Videos | High | No | No | No | None | — |
| Character.ai | High | No | No | No | None | 13 |
| Discord | High | With settings | No | No | Limited | 13 |
| Grindr - Gay Dating & Chat | High | Yes | Yes | No | None | 18 |
| Holla Chat App | High | Yes | No | No | None | 17 |
| Hoop - Make New Friends | High | Yes | No | No | Limited | 13 |
| IMVU: Fun 3D Avatar Chat Game | High | Yes | No | No | Limited | 13 |
| High | With settings | Yes | Yes | Limited | 13 | |
| Kick | High | Yes | No | No | Limited | — |
| LiveMe - Live Stream, Video Chat | High | Yes | No | No | Limited | 16 |
| MeetMe: Go Live & Meet People | High | Yes | Yes | No | Limited | — |
| MonkeyCool - Make New Friends | High | Yes | No | No | None | — |
| NGL: ask me anything | High | Yes | No | No | Limited | 16 |
| High | Yes | No | No | None | — | |
| Rumble | High | Yes | No | No | Limited | 16 |
| Snapchat | High | With settings | Yes | Yes | None | 13 |
| Tagged: Dating, Chat & Go Live | High | Yes | Yes | No | None | 18 |
| Telegram | High | With settings | No | Yes | None | — |
| Tellonym | High | Yes | No | No | Limited | 13 |
| TikTok | High | With settings | No | No | Limited | 13 |
| Whisper Secrets | High | Yes | No | No | None | — |
| X | High | Yes | No | No | Limited | 13 |
| Yay! | High | Yes | No | No | Limited | 16 |
| Yik Yak | High | Yes | Yes | No | Limited | — |
| Yubo: Chat Meet & Make Friends | High | Yes | No | No | Limited | 13 |
| Azar: Chat, Meet Friends | Watch | Yes | No | No | Limited | — |
| Bluesky Social | Watch | Yes | No | No | Limited | 13 |
| CapCut | Watch | No | No | No | None | 13 |
| Clapper: Video, Live, Chat | Watch | Yes | Yes | No | Limited | 13 |
| CrimeRadar Dispatch Audio | Watch | No | Yes | No | Limited | 13 |
| DramaBox - Stream Drama Shorts | Watch | No | No | No | Limited | 13 |
| DramaWave - Dramas & Reels | Watch | Yes | No | No | Limited | 13 |
| Watch | No | No | No | Limited | 13 | |
| Fizz | Watch | No | Yes | No | Limited | 13 |
| Fortnite | Watch | Yes | No | No | Limited | 10 |
| Freecash - Get Paid Real Money | Watch | No | No | No | Limited | 13 |
| Habbo - Original Virtual World | Watch | Yes | No | No | Limited | 10 |
| Instagram Instants | Watch | No | No | No | Good | 13 |
| Lemon8 - Lifestyle Community | Watch | Yes | No | No | Limited | 13 |
| Life360: Family Safety & GPS | Watch | No | Yes | No | Good | 13 |
| Likee | Watch | Yes | No | No | Limited | 13 |
| LINE | Watch | No | No | No | Limited | 13 |
| Links | Watch | No | No | No | Limited | 13 |
| Litmatch | Watch | Yes | No | No | Limited | 13 |
| Locket Widget | Watch | No | No | No | Limited | — |
| Mastodon | Watch | Yes | No | No | Good | — |
| Messenger | Watch | No | No | Yes | Limited | 13 |
| Nextdoor: Neighborhood Network | Watch | Yes | Yes | No | Limited | 13 |
| PineDrama - Short Dramas | Watch | Yes | No | No | Limited | 13 |
| Watch | No | No | No | Limited | 10 | |
| Pokémon GO | Watch | No | Yes | No | Limited | 7 |
| Quora | Watch | Yes | No | No | Limited | 13 |
| Roblox | Watch | With settings | No | No | Limited | 13 |
| sendit | Watch | Yes | No | No | Limited | 13 |
| Spotify: Music and Podcasts | Watch | No | No | No | Limited | 13 |
| StoryReel: Exclusive Drama | Watch | No | No | No | Limited | 14 |
| Stumble Guys | Watch | Yes | No | No | Limited | 7 |
| Substack | Watch | Yes | No | No | Limited | — |
| TextNow: Call + Text Unlimited | Watch | Yes | No | No | None | — |
| Threads | Watch | Yes | No | No | Limited | 13 |
| Triller: Social Videos & Clips | Watch | Yes | No | No | Limited | 13 |
| Tubi: Movies & Live TV | Watch | No | No | No | Limited | — |
| Tumblr: Social Media & Art | Watch | Yes | No | No | Limited | 13 |
| Twitch | Watch | Yes | No | No | Limited | 13 |
| VibeShort: AI Short Dramas | Watch | No | No | No | Limited | 13 |
| VRChat | Watch | Yes | No | No | Limited | 13 |
| VSCO: Photo & Video Editor | Watch | Yes | No | No | Limited | — |
| Wattpad | Watch | No | No | No | Limited | 13 |
| Watch | Yes | Yes | No | Limited | 13 | |
| Watch | With settings | No | Yes | None | — | |
| WiQi | Watch | Yes | No | No | Limited | 13 |
| XChat | Watch | No | No | Yes | Limited | 13 |
| YOLO: Anonymous Q+A | Watch | Yes | No | No | Limited | 13 |
| YouTube | Watch | No | No | No | Limited | 13 |
| AlexTV: Kids YouTube Control | Low | No | No | No | Good | 6 |
| Among Us | Low | Yes | No | No | Limited | 10 |
| BeReal | Low | No | Hidden | No | Limited | — |
| Canva: AI Video & Photo Editor | Low | With settings | No | No | Good | 10 |
| Fridge: Habits with Friends | Low | No | No | No | Limited | 13 |
| GroupMe | Low | Yes | No | No | Limited | 13 |
| Hinge | Low | Yes | No | No | None | 18 |
| LinkedIn: Community & Network | Low | No | No | No | Limited | 16 |
| Minecraft | Low | Yes | No | No | Good | 6 |
| Partiful | Low | No | No | No | Limited | — |
| Saturn Calendar | Low | No | No | No | Limited | 13 |
| Signal | Low | No | No | Yes | Limited | 13 |
| Steam Mobile | Low | Yes | No | No | Good | — |
Every app is reviewed against its own current documentation, settings screens, and published policies — not press coverage. Risk levels follow the public rubric on How we rate. “Strangers can contact” means an account with no prior connection can reach a minor's default account (“with settings” = preventable, but only if a parent changes the defaults). Statistics on this page are computed directly from the current review set and update automatically as apps are added or re-reviewed. Data last updated 2026-08-17.
Citing this report? Link to this page — the numbers here stay current. Press or research inquiries: contact us.
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