How do I get a tablet for my kids with no social media?

Skie for Parents · Updated

Short answer

Use an ordinary Android tablet and set it up with Skie. Social apps are hidden because they are not on the allowed list, the Play Store can be hidden so they cannot be added, and the browser can be off or filtered. You end up with a tablet that has only what you chose.

Many parents ask for a kids' tablet with no social media. The honest route is not a special device but a managed ordinary one, where you decide what is on it.

On a Skie-managed tablet, an app that is not on your list does not appear. So if you do not add Instagram, Snapchat, TikTok or a similar app, your child never sees one. Hide the Play Store so that none can be installed. The install guard also removes any app installed after setup that you did not allow, and installs from unknown sources are blocked.

The web is the other door. Social sites can be reached through a browser. You can turn the browser off entirely for a young child. For an older one, the browser with a locked filter and SafeSearch gives a calmer web, though Skie has no per-website block list yet, so a social site is not blocked by name.

A tablet with a short list of reading, drawing, learning and video apps, a bedtime window and no browser is very close to what the question is asking for.

Some products sell dedicated kids' tablets, such as Amazon Fire Kids editions. Those are hardware you buy from the maker with its own content service. Skie is software on a tablet you choose, which is why it can be an ordinary Android tablet you already own.

As your child grows, add one app at a time, and talk about each.