TextNow’s $150 Moto G Play Is Custom-made for Youngsters and Pairs Up With a $20 Month-to-month Plan
Low-cost provider TextNow is launching its first child-friendly cellphone on Tuesday, pairing a closely discounted Motorola handset with a software program portal that lets mother and father management who their child can name or textual content.
Yello is a custom-made Moto G Play that prices $150 — $100 lower than the usual mannequin’s present retail worth — and comes with a $20 month-to-month plan, with no different required contracts or service commitments.
The Android cellphone restricts entry to Google’s Play Retailer and doesn’t permit customers to put in further apps or providers. It’s designed primarily for calls and texts with parent-approved contacts, which oldsters can handle via a web-based portal that additionally lets them examine the cellphone’s GPS location. Youngsters can name or textual content these contacts from a menu of enormous icons harking back to Netflix’s profile choice display screen.
Different software program accessible on the cellphone consists of entry to the cameras — a 32-megapixel primary digicam and an 8-megapixel front-facing digicam — together with the calculator, clock and a climate app. Seven preloaded video games will be enabled, which embrace cellphone classics similar to Snake, Mines and Tic-Tac-Toe. Pictures taken on the cellphone can solely be shared with mother and father.
This extra restrictive method ought to let children keep in contact with authorized associates and coordinate pickups with mother and father whereas limiting distractions and entry to content material inappropriate for younger kids.
The 2026 Moto G Play is an efficient selection for Yello’s software program method. Once I reviewed the cellphone final yr, I favored its bigger 5,200-mAh battery as a result of it may simply get via two days of use. However its less-powerful processor, 64GB of storage and 4GB of reminiscence made it difficult to make use of as a media machine. Since Yello’s software program intentionally avoids that use, the Moto G Play ought to be greater than enough for calls and texts.
Regardless of the title, the Yello cellphone is obtainable in only one shade: the identical gentle blue on each 2026 Moto G Play that Motorola calls “pantone tapestry.”
Most US carriers provide their very own variations of child-friendly gadgets similar to Yello. AT&T, as an illustration, has repurposed the Samsung Galaxy A16 into the AmiGo Jr with comparable parental controls. There are additionally a variety of child-friendly smartwatches, which can be a greater choice relying on your loved ones’s wants for connectivity. However Yello does provide numerous flexibility, because it doesn’t require a dearer limitless knowledge plan or a minimal service dedication.
The Yello cellphone is now accessible on TextNow’s web site.
