TextNow Launches a $150 Kids Phone With a $20 Monthly Plan

TextNow, a low-cost phone carrier, has launched Yello, its first phone made for kids. It costs $150 and runs on a $20 monthly plan. There is no contract and no other service commitment. Parents decide who their child can call or text, and kids cannot add apps. The phone is on sale now on TextNow's website.

What the phone is

Yello is a customized 2024 edition of the Motorola Moto G Play. It is a simple Android phone with a 6.5-inch screen that works only on 4G. TextNow changed the software to limit most internet access. The phone does not include Google's Play Store, and kids cannot install other apps or services.

What parents control

Parents manage the phone through a web portal. Kids see a menu of large icons, similar to the profile screen on Netflix, and use it to call or text approved contacts.

• Approve who can call or text the phone
• Check the phone's GPS location
• Turn on seven preloaded games, including Snake, Mines and Tic-Tac-Toe
• Receive photos, which are the only people kids can share them with

The phone also has a calculator, a clock and a weather app. It has two cameras: a 50-megapixel main camera and an 8-megapixel front camera.

Hardware and a caution

The phone has a 5,000-mAh battery, which should last a day or two of use. It is rated IP52, so it should resist light splashes. Storage is 64GB, which is small, but the locked-down design may make that fine. It comes in one color, sapphire blue.

One caution is that Motorola will provide security support for this older model only through 2027. TextNow says it will keep building on the Yello software as it gets feedback, and that work will matter more as Motorola's support period nears its end.

How it compares

Most US carriers sell their own kid-friendly phones. AT&T, for example, turned the Samsung Galaxy A16 into the AmiGo Jr, with similar parental controls. Child-friendly smartwatches are another option, and may suit some families better. Yello's selling point is flexibility: it needs no pricey unlimited data plan and no minimum commitment.