Smartwatch for kids TickTalk has announced a new update which allows the TickTalk 5 to send and receive SMS text massaging to and from any cellphone. The update also supports sending and receiving voice memos, talk-to-text, emojis, and GIFs.
“At TickTalk, safety has always been our top priority. With the new SMS update, grandparents, trusted friends and extended family can communicate with the TickTalk 5 user hassle-free, just in time for the holidays. We feel this is the perfect season to release this feature,” said Ying Gong, Co-Founder and CEO. “However, parents don’t need to compromise on safety – even with this update, they can rest assured that only pre-approved contacts can message or call their child’s watch.”
The new SMS feature offers several ways to stay in touch:
- Two-way text messaging between TickTalk 5 watches and smartphones allows for quick and easy exchanges.
- Voice memos provide a personal touch, perfect for sending quick messages.
- Emojis and GIFs add a fun and expressive element to conversations.
- Talk-to-Text lets kids dictate voice messages that are instantly converted to text making messaging even easier for young kids.
- Parents must add all trusted contacts within the TickTalk app before anyone can send or receive SMS messages with the watch. This ensures that only verified family members and friends can connect with the user.
While an app is no longer needed to send or receive messages from the watch, parents still use the app to manage their child’s experience. The TickTalk app gives parents peace of mind with 50+ parental controls. In addition to the convenience of SMS messaging, families will still be able to use in-app messaging if preferred, or use the TickTalk app for group chats.
To get access to the new SMS feature, parents should follow push notifications to update their watch, then begin adding approved contacts. Parents remain in control through the parent app, with options to allow or deny any contact from calling or messaging the watch.
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