What is FriendBell?
A parent-controlled calling app for children aged 4–12. A child taps a friend's card to ring them. There is no messaging, no social feed, no public profiles and no way to search for other people — only friends both parents approved.
Is FriendBell an emergency service?
No. FriendBell is not an emergency communication service. It must never be relied on to contact emergency services or to reach someone in an urgent situation. In an emergency in Australia, call 000.
Does my child need an email address or Apple ID?
No. Children never create an account. A parent signs in once, creates the child's profile, and assigns the device to that child. From then on the child only enters their own numeric PIN.
How does my child sign in?
The parent sets up the device once and chooses which child it belongs to. When the app opens, that child's sign-in screen appears and they enter their PIN. Wrong PINs are rate-limited, and a parent can reset the PIN at any time from the parent controls.
Can one device be shared by two children?
A device is assigned to one child at a time. A parent can reassign or revoke the device from the parent controls; revoking takes effect immediately and ends any call in progress on that device.
Is it voice-only, or is there video?
Voice by default. Video is off for every child until a parent turns it on. Video only works when both children's parents have enabled it. If either parent's setting is off, the call stays voice.
Can children do group calls?
Only if a parent enables group calling for that child and adds the friends to a group. Every participating child's parent must have enabled group calling for their own child. Permissions are re-checked on the server each time a call is joined, not just when it starts.
How do I change what my child can do?
Open the parent dashboard, tap Controls on the child's card. From there you can reach calling permissions, School Mode, Bedtime Mode, pause, friends, groups and the child's device. Changes apply to new calls straight away.
What is School Mode and Bedtime Mode?
Time windows you set per child. During those windows calls are blocked on the server, so they cannot be bypassed on the device. You can also pause all calling for a child or for the whole family at any time.
Can my child change their own status?
If you allow it. Children can set themselves to Ready, Playing, Away, Busy or Do Not Disturb. Busy and Do Not Disturb stop the device ringing. You can turn this off so only you control availability.
Are calls recorded?
No. FriendBell does not record, store or listen to call audio or video. We keep call records only — who called whom, when, how long, and whether it connected or was blocked — so you can review activity.
Is calling encrypted?
Call media is encrypted in transit using the standard WebRTC protections (DTLS-SRTP) between the device and our calling provider's servers. Calls are not end-to-end encrypted, because they pass through a media server that routes audio and video between participants. We will not claim end-to-end encryption unless and until it is implemented and verified.
How do friendships work?
Parents invite each other with a QR code, a link, or a FriendBell ID. Both parents must approve before the two children can call. Children never search for, add, or accept friends themselves. Either parent can block a friendship, or block a whole family, at any time.
How much does FriendBell cost?
FriendBell is free to use today. If a paid plan is introduced, it will be purchased through the App Store and any purchase or restore screen will sit behind Parent Access.
How do I delete our data?
Open Settings → Delete my account and data, or visit data deletion. This removes the parent account, all child profiles, friendships, groups, assigned devices, notification registrations and call records.
Where's my data stored?
See our Privacy Policy. Short version: stored on managed cloud infrastructure, encrypted in transit, no advertising, no ad tracking, no selling personal information.
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