We built Relay to solve a problem: parents need a way to stay in touch with their children before they’re old enough for smartphones. It had to do two things: one, get kids off screens—and two, make their lives more fun.
Arguably, no one has more fun than our friends here in Raleigh, The Holderness Family. They’re just like us—they have a desire for more unplugged family time, but admit it’s hard to break from the allure (and subsequent problem!) of screens.
After finding Relay, they’re embracing the lifestyle change by getting outside, exploring and playing—all while staying connected to each other without screens.
Check out the video below that nails the purpose and spirit of Relay!
“We want to be in touch, but a phone is too much—don’t need apps, just want to know they’re okay!”
https://blog.relaypro.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/05/holderness02.jpg300695bsharnakhttps://blog.relaypro.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/02/relay_blog.svgbsharnak2018-05-30 17:10:202021-04-02 11:25:22The problem we’ve solved with Relay
Your kids are growing every day—going to school, sports practice, and wanting to roam a little more freely. Many of their friends might have cell phones already, and you can’t deny it would give you some peace of mind to know where your kids are, if they’re safe, and that you can get in touch with them.
But is your kid old enough for a smartphone? Do the negatives—namely screen addiction, social media and predatory ads—outweigh the positives? If you want the freedom that comes with a phone for your kids but aren’t crazy about the side-effects of screens, Relay might be a good solution for your kids. We did the numbers and will show you why.
4G LTE
✔
✔
Screen time
✔
✘
Locator
✔
✔
Content
✔
✘
Fun level
✔
✘
Durability
✔
✘
Cost
✔
✘
4G LTE.
When it comes to communication, both Relays and smartphones are reliable. Both smartphones and Relays access WiFi where available and use 4G LTE when it’s not. That gives them a virtually unlimited range, so you can use them at home, on the go, wherever. When your kids can reliably reach you, it can also teach them a degree of responsibility, or “device etiquette,” as one of our Beta testers put it.
“Using Relay to add independence or encourage cooperative play went perfectly, even better than giving my kid a phone does.” – Sascha Segan, PC Mag
Screen time.
You’ve seen those kids—babies playing with smartphone cameras, toddlers fluently using apps on their tablet… with eyes for nothing else. Maybe you don’t want your kids to be those kids. With a smartphone, parents have to set limits on how much screen time is allowed. And they have to monitor those limits (often through considerable resistance from their kids.)
Relay doesn’t have a screen. No screen, no screen addiction. Without screens, kids can explore and use their imaginations without having to worry about falling into the “infinite scrolling traps” and addictive apps that are so common today. Getting comfortable with a screenless device lets kids learn responsibility without having to juggle all the worries that hide behind screens.
“[Relay] lets my daughters or wife keep up with each other without the temptation to hop online and scroll around.” -Kirby, Relay Beta tester
Locator.
Location is a big part of safety: you should know where your kids are… But strangers should not. Smartphones use location services, but you’d have to install a separate “locate my phone” app to keep track of your kid. And more often than not, you have to manually disable location history if you don’t want it recorded by Google or Apple.
With Relay, location is built-in. You can locate your child in real-time via the Relay app. It’s also an opt-in feature to give you control over your kid’s privacy, and unlike many smartphones, your location history is for your eyes only—we don’t store it on our servers. And your location data isn’t shared with anyone.
“It’s been a hit with the kids and parents who have seen it. It’s given my kids some more freedom to roam and it’s given me peace of mind.” -Alicia, Relay Beta tester
Content.
When you give your kid a smartphone, they have a camera to access and view (and share) across the internet, including social media apps and picture messaging. And that can be a little scary. You can manually install parental controls on a smartphone to block social media and certain websites, but some media can slip through the cracks. For instance, YouTube has parental controls, but you may not always agree on the meaning of age-appropriate content. Even with the YouTube Kids app, there have been concerns with inappropriate content slipping through.
Relay doesn’t have a screen, so there’s no chance your kids will view anything inappropriate. For many parents who worry about text messages, in-app purchases, and kid-focused ads, removing the screen removes the problem.
“To me, no camera and no screen is a major plus for any parent […] With the Relay kids can make mistakes, say something stupid, and not have it forwarded or stay on the internet forever.” -Bill, Relay Beta tester
Fun level.
Of course, your kids are going to have fun with any device you give them. But what kind of fun will they be having—the active, healthy kind of fun? Or the sort of fun that limits human interaction and creativity? Smartphones stop creativity and imaginative play in their tracks. Their brand of fun can keep kids indoors and hypnotized for hours. It lets them interact with friends, but through texts and apps instead of face-to-face.
When you take away the screen, that playtime roadblock disappears. Relay gets your kids playing outdoors with friends. It makes a great addition to playtime with its fun echo channel, which repeats your words in funny voices, and there isn’t much incentive to sit on a couch and stare at it for hours on end. Soon Relay will also play music and let kids access a smart assistant for more on-the-go activities.
“I literally handed [the Relay] to my son when he got off the bus from school, told him to push the button and talk to me, he said ‘this is awesome!’ and ran off to play.” -Catherine, Relay Beta tester
Durability.
Kids will be kids… Their tech will inevitably get dropped and tossed around, left in their backpack overnight, and probably rained on. So it’s best to be prepared. Some smartphones are water-resistant, but they still require careful handling and a case/screen protector to prevent scratches, dings, and shattered screens. Relay is different. It’s water-resistant, has a long battery life, and can survive being dropped or thrown. It’s built for kids, no extra armor required.
“I’ve loved [Relay’s] durability. None of them has been thrown, but have been accidentally dropped a few times and it hasn’t harmed them at all.” -Julie, Relay Beta tester
Cost.
We all want the best for our kids, but “best” doesn’t have to mean “most expensive,” especially if your kids are the adventurous, outdoors type. Replacing a smartphone can be a huge hassle, not to mention pricey. Even the most economical smartphone options cost around $100, and in the event of an accident, physical damage won’t be covered by your manufacturer warranty. You can get your Relays for $49.99 apiece with service costs at $9.99/month: and no contracts! Sometimes the best option for your kid is also the best option for your budget.
“I didn’t want to pay full price for a phone with data and then have to pay more on top of that to put limits and parental controls on it.” -Bill, Relay Beta tester
When you tally up the score, it’s clear that Relay comes out on top for kids and parents alike. While smartphones get points for coverage and location tracking, they fall short when it comes to keeping kids active and ensuring online safety (not to mention cost and durability!) If you won’t take it from us, take it from the folks at Android Central, who wrote a little bit about us.
Ready to put childhood back in motion? Relay is available for purchase and you can get yours by clicking the link below.
https://blog.relaypro.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/05/stacked_by_creek_lite-1.jpg300695Victoria Senghttps://blog.relaypro.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/02/relay_blog.svgVictoria Seng2018-05-21 18:06:592021-04-02 11:25:28Kids cell phone versus Relay: Which is best for your family?
We built Relay for families. As parents ourselves, we understand wanting to keep your family’s information secure and private, especially in the internet age of targeted ads, location tracking, and social media. I know reading over long, complicated privacy policies can be a daunting prospect. However, our policies are full of valuable information that’s entirely worth knowing. On top of that, they’re a pretty easy read and aren’t trying to trick you with legal-ese. We promise. As a preview of what you’ll find there, this is the run-down on our privacy policy, the things we do, and the things we won’t do.
Protecting kids and putting parents in control.
We all want to protect our children, and we took several measures to make sure that your kids’ data stays private and safe. We created Relay to be COPPA-compliant with that in mind. That means that we are in-line with the federal Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act, which provides privacy regulation for kids under 13 years old. We are dedicated to protecting your children’s privacy and keeping you, the parent, informed and in charge. If you’d like to learn more about COPPA, you can read about it on the Federal Trade Commission website.
Relay is an evolving product; we will be releasing new features and channels. We are adopting an opt-in approach for these new channels—the account owner has the power to enable and disable specific channels for specific Relay devices through the Relay app. So if a channel is right for your older child but maybe not for your younger child, you can add the channel to one and not the other. To help parents make decisions about these channels, we will always provide privacy information for each new feature to help parents make informed choices about what is right for their families.
We do everything we can to make sure that you are in control of all of your personal data with Relay, and there are things you can do to preserve your family’s privacy as well. It is worth keeping in mind that much of Relay’s content comes from communication between people. We don’t have control over what people say through Relay, nor who to whom they say it. With that in mind, we urge parents to help their kids practice internet safety at all times, such as avoiding disclosing personal information to anyone except a trusted adult. You can learn more about internet safety for kids in theRelay Neighborhood.
The data we see.
Of course, we have to know some information about you, the account owner, so that we can provide you with your Relay, your account, and your service. You provide this information to us; it’s not something we collect on our own. We know the email address you signed up with—that’s how we communicate with you. We have to know certain billing information so that we can provide you with Relay service. Only authorized agents are allowed to see that information, and only for business purposes. We don’t keep any personal information about your kids or other users on the account without your permission—that’s off-limits.
There is some information, like cell signal, WiFi connectivity, and the amount of use Relay gets, that we do collect and use. But your name, account, and all personal information is disassociated from this data; it’s completely anonymized. This anonymized data is like our progress report for Relay. It lets us know what we can do to make a better product and improve our technology and our user experience.
And the data we don’t see.
We have done several things to improve data security through Relay, and that’s important for families. But we also deliberately exclude some practices so that your family can feel safer using Relay. We do not keep your messages recorded anywhere in our system—there is no record of your conversation, your voice, or your family’s voices. As well, we do not keep a record of your location history. If you enable the GPS feature on a Relay, only the last known location is saved in our system so that we can share that information with your Relay app. The current location overwrites all previous location data, and we do not share your location information with anyone but you. If GPS is turned off, no location information is stored in our system and we’ll delete what we have.
This is a summary of some of our important privacy information—your family’s safety and peace of mind are important to us, and we will always be honest and transparent about what’s happening to your family’s data. We highly encourage you to learn more and stay informed by reading our full privacy policy and children’s privacy policy.
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Relay is an innovative new device that gives families a safer way to stay in touch. It’s as simple to use as a walkie-talkie, but works everywhere a cell phone works, includes location tracking, and will have other fun features such as music, games, and voice assistant functionality in the upcoming months.
If you’re wondering why we built Relay, this is our story.
It all started with Republic Wireless, the WiFi-first mobile carrier we launched in 2011 with a mission to provide remarkably simple and affordable ways for families to stay in touch. Since then, we’ve saved our members over $500 million on their cell phone bills. But more recently, we saw a need emerging that even the most affordable smartphones couldn’t solve. Young families, like many of our own, needed simpler and safer ways to communicate. That’s why we expanded our mission and decided to build Relay. Read on to learn more details of how all this came to be.
Our first focus
Republic’s first chapter focused on addressing the “remarkably affordable” side of the equation since we hated the absurdly expensive, contractually restrictive cell phone plans that the Big 4 carriers forced everyone to pay back then. We thought that with our expertise in software and network, we could do something about it.
Our technology introduced a new concept into the marketplace—using WiFi in a smart way with cellular to save people money. WiFi is free. It’s all around you. And if you use it whenever possible (and cellular when it’s not) for calls, messages, and data, you can have the lowest cell phone bill possible.
To bring this vision to life, we built a robust technology platform that seamlessly handles the transitions across networks and devices. Over the last 6 years, in addition to over $500 million in savings for our members, it’s helped us earn numerous awards and recognition such as being ranked the #1 prepaid carrier by Consumer Reports for three consecutive years.
As Republic grew, we saw things in the market begin to change for the better. Have you noticed that cell phone service from the Big 4 is a lot less expensive now than it was in 2011 and that they no longer require contracts (just like us, who never did)? We believe Republic Wireless had a hand in this positive change.
Seeing an unmet growing need
Changes were happening throughout the cellular industry, but we saw a new need beginning to emerge in the market, and, quite frankly, in our own families. A need for not only simpler and more affordable communication solutions, but for safer ones as well.
You see, we love technology, and celebrate the benefits smartphones bring to our lives. But it became hard to ignore the dangers that phones and screens can create―especially for a company that’s all about phone-life balance™! Our phones are designed to call out for our constant attention. When kids have their own phones, they’re exposed to cyber-bullying, screen addiction, the risk of “stranger danger,” and more―all part of a world they’re not ready to handle.
Sure, there are flip phones and kid trackers out there. And yes, there are parental controls to block social media apps. But they leave the problem only half-solved. Any device with a phone number, a screen, or the trappings of traditional cellular communication will continually bring dangers and risks that can’t be completely avoided.
But what other choices do parents have?
Smartphones have become these insanely “smart” mini-computers, but the irony is that communication is still “dumb.” Phone communication has been stuck in the old “if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it” rule for some time now. But we began to see that, especially for children and families, it is broken—with very few companies even attempting to fix it.
The vast majority of the market’s focus and phone innovation has gone into capturing your attention away from the real life (and real people) around you. On our phones, the ads are more personalized, Netflix streams faster, and the camera’s resolution is sharper, tempting us to view the real world through more and more screens and filters. Big carriers even offer discounted family plans to get more screens into your home. But does this really fit the needs of your children, your family, or your lifestyle?
Expanding our mission to design something new
In 2014, we decided to do something about it and set out to design a simpler, safer way for families to stay in touch. We challenged ourselves to stop thinking about adding features to “kid-proof” a phone, or stripping away features until it was “safe-enough.”
Instead, we started from scratch. We designed “kid-up” vs. “parent-down,” with safety woven into every facet of the product.
In the process, we began to question everything we thought we knew about how communication should work. For example, why are there so many steps to make a simple call? If your focus is communicating with your family, do you need phone numbers at all? Does a call really need to ring? Do all calls need to be 2-way calls? Would kids prefer to talk in a more back-and-forth fashion, similar to the way text messages work? And the most controversial question of all: can we build a solution so simple that it eliminates the need for screen, as that would eliminate screen dangers as well?
For four years we designed, tested, and redesigned again. We created countless prototypes as we searched for the best solution.
Our drive to develop Relay was rooted in our need as parents, and the valuable freedom we remembered from our own childhoods that we wish our children could have now. We wanted to create a device that would empower our kids’ minds, imaginations, and childhoods without commandeering their attention—unlike the smartphones we saw endangering them. We also wanted to create a simpler solution for our elderly parents, where peace of mind could come with the push of a single button. So we put all our tech and talents to work and built the solution we found missing in the market—and in our lives. And now, we’re delighted to share Relay with your families as well.
Chris is the Co-Founder and CEO of Republic Wireless and Relay. But his most important role is being a loving husband and father of four young children, whom he’s eager to provide with technology that safely empowers their childhoods, instead of distracting from it.
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2019 Update: Kidstown season is over, but summer fun is not! Visit our blog for fresh and fun unplugged play ideas.
If you’ve ever come to a First Friday event at the Republic Wireless pop-up shop in downtown Raleigh, attended one of our screen-free dining events, or even taken a look at our website, then you’ve probably noticed that Republic is very different from a typical phone company. We don’t proliferate smartphone addiction—we champion activity that emphasizes outdoor play and empowerment through healthy technology habits.Through its screenless design, Relay encourages active unplugged play, the kind that reminds you of the childhood we had, biking with your best friends, playing hide and seek until your parents called you home (and by called, we mean shouted down the street!) Growing up today is different. It has challenges and complexities we didn’t have to think about as kids, like screen addiction and a rising fear of letting kids play outside by themselves. In fact, when we surveyed parents, we found that 87% believe that the world is more dangerous for children today than it was when they were growing up¹, with 64% being very nervous about letting their kids play outside on their own². But new technology also gives us access to tools that help us navigate this new era of digital parenting and teach our kids to balance unplugged play with modern day tech. That’s the kind of helpful technology we want Relay to be—the screenless alternative to your kid’s first phone, something that inspires and enables freedom and play.“We are all about facilitating meaningful childhood experiences and helping families use technology in helpful and productive ways,” says Barbara, our Director of Marketing. “As we work on Relay, we wanted to do something special in our Raleigh community where we have 200+ employees and many customers.” So what kind of summer fun are we setting up in the Raleigh community? Imagine enjoying a summer afternoon at home with your family. The kids are playing in the front lawn, you’re taking a moment to relax while they amuse themselves while keeping a watchful eye out, then suddenly your child tells you:“I’m bored—what can I do noooow?” It’s every parent’s dreaded summertime question. While we want kids to play outside and enjoy being kids, Mom, Dad and other caretakers are all too often expected to be the “ringleaders of fun.” And that can sometimes be challenging, especially when the kids have completed a whirlwind tour of all the activities you had planned and there’s still three months till school’s back in session. With summer just around the corner, Republic partnered with Triangle Today’s Kids Town, a website featuring detailed guides of where to find local family fun, as well as a list of the best summer camps to keep kiddos happy and engaged. Relay offers parents the peace of mind to let kids be kids. And as parents ourselves, we understand the challenges of planning all the summer fun, and we love the idea of helping lighten the load for fellow parents. Triangle Today’s Kids Town offers a wealth of helpful digital information that enables real-world activities in the Raleigh area. You can search by county and peruse a scrollable database of family activities for the coming weekend. We especially love the “Did you know?” section for family-relevant news. Did you know the North Carolina Zoo had an Earth Day celebration on April 21st? Or that the best wind strength for flying a kite is 5-25 mph? From our products through to our sponsorships, we want to empower parents and make their lives easier. Now when you embark on a family activity—perhaps one you read about on Triangle Today’s Kids Town—you can give your 6-11 year-old children Relays so you don’t have to worry if they wander off around the corner. Maybe you could even enjoy a conversation with a friend, knowing it’ll be ok if you don’t constantly keep your eyes glued on the kids since they’re always in ‘shouting distance.’Relay may work like a walkie-talkie, but it’s WiFi and 4G LTE-enabled. It works in the other room, around the corner, down the street and even across the country—anywhere a cell phone would work. While Relay packs some powerful tech underneath the hood, it is designed to be fun for kids and hopefully evoke the nostalgia and freedom of the endless summers we experienced. So the next time your kids ask the dreaded summertime question, we hope you’ll feel empowered by the technology available to help you and your kids unplug, play, and spend time as a family.1-2:Nationally representative online survey of 1,270 U.S. parents of kids aged 6-11 conducted by Republic Wireless; November 2017
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