What is LiveIn?

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LiveIn “LivePic” Widget allows you to send photos and drawings to your friends’ home screens, just like the TikTok sensation Locket Widget app. More details about its features are below.

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What else do parents need to know about LiveIn?

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• LiveIn lets you send pictures (called moments) straight to the home screen of any smartphone (works on both iPhone and Android devices) to unlimited friends. It’s brilliant and hits on what teens love about Snapchat: instant, easy, and fun.
• It leverages a seldom-used little piece of software: widgets. Delivering a little surprise – an unpolished, “in the moment” picture – from a friend or loved one. It’s so simple, and I think that’s what makes it so attractive in a complicated, algorithm-fed digital world.
• In addition to sending pictures, LiveIn also lets users send hand-drawn notes and doodles, which sets it apart from Locket Widget.
• The World Feed operates like a public feed of moments. You can tap on any picture in the World Feed and follow that person. There is no way to make your profile private. However, when you share a moment there is the option to share it to “World,” “Followers,” “Friends,” or “Only me.” If you do not share it to the World, then strangers would not be able to find you that way. There is a search function for user names (so you could add random people or be randomly added this way). You are able to block or report friends/followers.
• LiveIn gives you the ability to like and/0r comment on any moment (and therefore others can like and/or comment on your moment). This in combination of the public World Feed gives LiveIn an Instagram-like feeling.
• There is an option to create a friend video on LiveIn. A slideshow of moments sent between friends is created, which can be shared to other platforms like TikTok, Instagram, Messenger Kids, email, etc.

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Does LiveIn have any risks? Here are 5 to keep in mind:

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• Risk – LiveIn asks for access to contacts, but claims they don’t keep them.
• Risk – a friend could send an inappropriate picture straight to your home screen.
• Risk – the terms & conditions say that LiveIn owns and has rights to all pictures! Concerning. PYE contributed to this Washington Post piece about this app and Locket Widget, which is similar.
• Risk – ability to have random followers or to follow strangers.
• (Low) Risk – LiveIn allows your photos to be shared with “the World,” which is a public feed.

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The bottom line: is LiveIn safe?

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The PYE Research Team scrolled the World Feed for a few minutes and did not see any porn, but there are privacy and potential predator concerns. Since the Locket Widget doesn’t have the “World Feed,” we prefer the features of Locket Widget better, but now make an informed decision!

What if I have more questions? How can I stay up to date?

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Two actions you can take!

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1. Subscribe to our tech trends newsletter, the PYE Download. About every 3 weeks, we’ll share what’s new, what the PYE team is up to, and a message from Chris.
2. Ask your questions in our private parent community called The Table! It’s not another Facebook group. No ads, no algorithms, no asterisks. Just honest, critical conversations and deep learning! For parents who want to “go slow” together. Become a member today!

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