How Smalltalk works
A corded home phone for your child, and an app on your phone to run it. It works over your home Wi-Fi, on our own private network.
- A number of their own. Every phone has a 7-digit Smalltalk number.
- Anywhere in your home. Wherever there's Wi-Fi and an electrical outlet. No phone jack needed.
- Easy setup. A few minutes with the app.
Pick your child's phone number
Every Smalltalk phone has its own 7-digit number. Find one they'll love learning by heart. You can also pick it later in the app.
You choose who can call.
Every parent or guardian gets the app, their own number, and full access. Free, included.
-
Choose who can call
Nobody can call or be called without your approval first. You can also approve “priority contacts” who are able to call during downtime.
-
Downtime
Block the phone during bedtime, school hours, or homework. You control the schedule. Priority contacts you choose can still get through.
-
Activity
See a log of your child's activity — who called, when, and for how long.
-
Lock or unlock the phone
With one tap. Priority contacts still get through.
-
Call your child from the app
Their phone rings like any other call.
-
Recent changes
A plain record of what each parent changed.
-
More than one phone
Up to five phones in one family, with a view of them all.
Grandma doesn't need a Smalltalk phone. Just the app.
Up to ten people, on top of the parents, can call your child's Smalltalk phone from the free Smalltalk app. Each one gets their own 7-digit number, and they never pay.
Up to ten more people. Grandparents, aunties and uncles, a family friend. They come with the plan.
A number and a free app. Each person calls from the Smalltalk app on their own phone, and they never pay. There's nothing to install on your child's side.
Messages, too. People in your village can send your child a voice message from the app, and the phone won't ring. Your child listens with the message key.
More than one village. A grandparent with grandchildren in two families can be in both, with one number.
Friends with their own Smalltalk phone. Two families connect with one shared link and one approval, without either family seeing the other's details first.
Being in your village gives someone a number, not a way in. You still add them to each child's contact list yourself.
Invited to a village? The Smalltalk app is all you need.
What the keys do
No screen and no menus. A few keys do a little more than dial.
-
Top row, first two keys
Parent buttons
The first calls a parent, and the second calls the other parent, if there is one. They're set up for you, so there's nothing to program.
-
Top row, third key
The Village Station
A friendly voice answers, and your child chooses on the keypad: 1 for today's weather, 2 for a story, 3 for a kids' show. You choose the weather's place, or turn it off, in the app.
Hear one of the stories ↓ -
Keys 0 to 9
Speed dials
Put people from your child's list on the number keys. Your child holds a key for about two seconds and the call starts. A quick tap still dials the digit.
-
During a call
Three-way calls
Your child can add one more person, so three of you talk at once.
Who is checked. Your child can only add someone on their own list, and your lock and downtime still apply. If the person added has a Smalltalk phone, their family's rules apply too.
Who isn't. Whoever is already on the call isn't asked. A friend on the line has no say in who joins, and neither does their family's list.
-
Message key
Messages
If your child doesn't pick up, the caller can leave a message.
You and your village can also send one from the app, and the phone won't ring. Your child presses the message key to listen, whenever they're ready.
They can leave one on a friend's Smalltalk phone, too, when both families have messages on. You turn messages on or off for each phone.
The Village Station
A story where your child decides what happens
The third key in the top row calls the Village Station, where a friendly voice offers three things. 2 is for stories. Here's the first one. Press play, and when it asks, choose with the 1 and 2 keys.
There are three stories, all set in Maple Village. Each one stops twice so your child can choose, and every ending is a happy one. A story takes about four minutes.
New stories will appear from time to time.
1 is for the weather
Today's weather for your town, ending with what to wear. You choose the town in the app, or turn the weather off.
“Right now in Toronto it's 20 degrees. It'll get to 23 degrees today. You won't need a coat.”
The Runaway Letter
The recording didn't load here. The words are below, and the keys still work.
About emergency calls. On Village, Smalltalk Service runs on a private network with no connection to the public phone network, so the Smalltalk phone cannot call 911 or other public emergency numbers. Keep a phone that can reach 911 available in your home, and make sure your child knows where it is and how to use it.
More about emergency calls →