Parents' Guide to

Zello Walkie Talkie

Zello Walkie Talkie Poster Image

Common Sense Media Review

By Neilie Johnson , based on child development research. How do we rate?

age 15+

Real-time voice messenger app requires internet connection.

Parents Need to Know

Why Age 15+?

Any Positive Content?

Parent and Kid Reviews

age 7+

Based on 1 parent review

age 7+

Great for my teen

This app is the best!! My teen uses it and she loves it so much, you can’t join random peoples walkie talkie sessions like the other apps because each line has a password and in order to talk to them you have to enter it in. Overall I am very happy with allowing my teen to get it.

Privacy Rating Warning

  • Unclear whether personal information is sold or rented to third parties.
  • Personal information is shared for third-party marketing.
  • Personalised advertising is displayed.
  • Data are collected by third-parties for their own purposes.
  • User's information is used to track and target advertisements on other third-party websites or services.
  • Unclear whether this product creates and uses data profiles for personalised advertisements.

Is It Any Good?

Our review:
Parents say: (1 ):
Kids say: Not yet rated

This walkie-talkie app has a number of good things going for it: It's easy to set up, its sound quality is good, and it has password-protected parental controls. Setting up new channels is a snap, and a channel search function lets you find channels for anything from hurricane search-and-rescue to Hello Kitty.


Though there are plenty of iffy channels to find, it's no sweat for parents to set up a PIN to prevent kids from accessing them. Good as the app is, its limits become immediately apparent at times when it could be of most use. You'd think Zello Walkie Talkie would be your go-to during natural disasters or other crises when internet service becomes unavailable; unfortunately, without an internet connection, the app doesn't work. However, for people with just enough connectivity, it has proved extremely useful to go on to search-and-rescue channels to request help. Also, it's interesting to be a part of an audio chat room instead of a text-based one, as hearing someone's voice does add to the experience. For teens, though, there are still some risks, as it's easy for adults to join kid-oriented channels and for teens to share too much information. If parents want to let kids download this app, they will probably want to use the parent controls and talk to kids about what information they shouldn't share.

App Details

  • Devices: iPhone , iPod Touch , iPad , Android
  • Pricing structure: Free
  • Release date: September 30, 2013
  • Category: Social Networking
  • Publisher: Zello
  • Version: 3.41
  • Minimum software requirements: OS 8.0 or later; Android varies with device
  • Last updated: September 15, 2017

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