Keep track of your kids with Trusted Contacts from Google

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Getting your child their first phone is maybe as exciting for the parent as it is the kid. It's also scary as hell, yeah, but part of the idea of putting a computer in their pocket is so that you can keep in touch with them as they start branching out into the world — especially if things go wrong. (And they will at some point, right?)

If your phone doesn't come with some sort of emergency contact app built in, Google's new Trusted Contacts app will get the job done, for sure. It's going on all of my family's phones.

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[BrendanCasey]

This video explains the app so much better than anything else. My 11yo is getting it on his phone immediately. This video will help me explain why!

[RoyDelgado]

Thumbs up for the great video, and the classic real-life Dad ending!

[Altema]

This is way better that AT&T's "Family Map". Big problem I had with that, is that it would send a notification to the kid's phone every time you used it, and as they got older their response would be to turn the phone off. Now, I do have Avast anti-theft on my wife's phone because she does volunteer work in some rough areas, and if she goes missing for more than a few hours, it's a good option. However, Avast is slow and fails to locate the phone 80% of the time, even though my wife lives with her GPS and mobile date turned on. I don't bother with it anymore.

[BreonNagy]

I think Phil is taking safety and security a bit too far with the barbed wire fence! :P

[samtokyo]

Where did you get that google mug? @moderndad

[manjnerd]

Ok I am all for keeping your kids safe, but does anyone think that this is just a tad invasive of their privacy? I mean yes they are kids but they still have rights.

[snowjack]

ok so does the person i put as a contact need to download it before i could say send them my location?

[dsignori]

Looks cool. Life360 has always been the go to app for this kind of thing though. Alerts when family members arrive or leave designated areas, and lots of other good stuff as well as Android, iOS and desktop browser apps. Still, this app looks good, though it would be quite a step down from Life360.

[AhmedMohamed-mqxz]

0:09 did you just say that you can trust google !

[Android_jimmy]

Nice work Phil, loving the videos, keep up the great work. Cheers Jamie (Formally of Ausdroid.net)

[ambreblood]

Is there any ways kids can hide their location without you noticing it ? For example if they go into plane mode or ?