As of today, the Bark for Kids app is no longer available in the Google Play Store. Google has changed its policies for all apps designed to monitor children's communications via text message. We don’t agree with the decision — it leaves families with Android phones exposed to the very dangers they hoped our monitoring service would help them to detect. But we are nonetheless ready with a solution that will keep your monitoring service up and running.
Bark for Kids will remain every bit as functional as it’s always been. We have simply created a new way for families new to Bark for Kids to download our app. It is extremely important for us to continue to monitor SMS/text messages, so we’ve ensured that those new families will not notice any difference in quality or coverage.
How Will This Affect Your Family?
Google’s new policy is affecting every app that requests access to texting/SMS/ features, not just Bark. Here’s how this new update will affect you: If you’re an Android user who already has Bark for Kids installed on your devices... Google is only removing the option for brand-new families to download the Bark for Kids app from the Google Play Store. This will eventually affect how you update the app, however. We’ll be sending out more information on how to do this soon. If you’re an Android user who has not yet installed the Bark for Kids app… Instead of downloading the Bark app from the Google Play Store, you’ll be downloading it for the first time from our website. We’ve created step-by-step instructions you can access here. Bark is always committed to keeping your children safer both online and in real life. And as the technology world changes, we’ll be putting the needs of your family first. Although this is only a small change, we wanted to assure you that we’re adapting with ease. If you have any questions at all, please reach out to our helpful support staff at help@bark.us.Read more
Bark helps families manage and protect their children’s digital lives.
