Fun new Relay features kids love: Say hello to animal friends

Our Relay kids have loved playing on the Echo channel—Relay’s fun voice-changing feature. We built Relay to be fun for kids as much as we built it to be freeing and safe, so we’ve been working to add even more fun features for Relay kids to use.

Every Relay is given a unique animal name when it’s activated: witty cat, eager octopus—we even have unicorns! And when two Relays bump each other, they use NFC (near-field communication) to make fun animal noises! Curious about how it works? We have a Relay kid here to explain! Watch our Feature Friday video below to learn more.

Sarah: Hey guys, welcome back to Feature Friday! Today I’ve got my friend Ian to show us the latest Relay feature.

Ian: Hey everybody.

Sarah: Hey Ian, what’s with the mask?

Ian: It’s a unicorn. It’s my favorite animal.

Sarah: So, speaking of animals…today we’re going to explore Relay’s animal side. When you activate your Relay, it’s automatically assigned a random animal name.

Ian: Know how you find out your Relay’s animal name?

Sarah: No, but can you show us?

Ian: Sure! If you press your Relay’s power button, on the left, one time…your Relay tells you its animal name.

Relay: Smart Monkey is on Relay

Ian: Mine’s Smart Monkey. These animal stickers came with my Relay, so I put the monkey sticker on mine.

Sarah: Cool!

Ian: Let me hear yours.

Relay: Eager Dog is on Relay

Sarah: Mine’s Eager Dog.

Ian: Smart Monkey is cooler.

Sarah: Didn’t you have a mask on? …Yeah, you’re right. Other Relays could be named Amusing Panda, or Talented Cat. There are 16 animals to choose from.

Ian: Even a unicorn?

Sarah: Yup, even a unicorn. The animal name is how you identify your Relay. It’s also how parents can keep track of which Relay is which on their app. Even the app gets its own name… like Cool Rabbit. And here’s something really fun…when you touch your Relays back to back…they each make the animal sound. Should we show them?

Ian: Yup!

Relays: [Animal sounds]

Ian: Mine barked, and yours made a monkey sound!

Sarah: I know, it’s like they’re talking to each other.

Ian: Let’s do it again!

Sarah: Well this is awesome! Ian, thanks for coming and showing these great animal features with me.

Ian: No problem!

Sarah: Thanks for watching guys. We’ll see you next time for Feature Friday!