What is Locket?

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A young software developer named Matt Moss missed his girlfriend, so he created an app for her to send random pictures to his iPhone screen throughout the day. It's a good, positive origin story. Next, he created a TikTok explainer video, launched it to the App Store in January 2022, and MILLIONS of downloads later, he has a positive app.

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How Does Locket Work?

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Locket Widget claims to be a safer version of Snapchat. And in many ways, they're correct. It's features are very simple, utilizing the widget feature on iPhones and Androids to send pictures or videos back and forth to friends directly to their home screen. Similar to the calendar app, which shows you today's date on the app without you needing to tap into it (that's what we mean by "widget feature").

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It's an app that allows instant, picture and video driven communication with friends. The "instant" part of that is important, which you'll see below.

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Key Privacy and Safety Risks for Locket:

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Although the app puts itself up against Snapchat, Locket has few of Snapchat's risks. Unlike Instagram, there's no public feed (less content risk), no public map (less predation risk, unlike Snap Map), and it's limited to 20 friends. But Locket leverages a little of what teens love about Snapchat and Instagram: instant, easy, unpolished pictures and videos, right on their screen. For some parents, this has been a refreshing alternative, in a complicated, algorithm-fed digital world.

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But parents need to go into this decision knowing Locket still has risks:

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• ‍No Preview or Decline Option: Photos and videos sent by a "friend" appear instantly on the recipient’s home screen widget. There is no way to approve, decline, or filter incoming images beforehand, meaning kids can be exposed to inappropriate or unwanted content immediately. This makes Locket different from iMessage on an iPad or iPhone, where Communication Safety can filter explicit and violent images and videos.
• ‍No "Unsend" Feature: Once a photo is taken and sent inside the app, it cannot be deleted or retrieved from the other person's device or history. We call this "digital permanence," which can weaponize an impulsive decision. This, along with privacy concerns, might be Locket's most significant risks.
• Broad Privacy & Content Rights: The terms of service give Locket "a broad, worldwide license to use content shared through it." In other words, they can do whatever they want with the photos, including the right to host, store, reproduce and distribute it for as long as that license runs. Although there hasn't been news indicating data abuse, Common Sense Media gave Locket a "warning" due to these broad content rights.
• ‍No Age Verification: Locket is rated 13+ on the App Store and Teen on Google Play, and like most apps, age eligibility is a "check the box" without any true check. However, there is no real age verification process or built-in parental control panel.‍
• No Parental Controls: Parents don't have a dashboard. The only way to review Locket activity is by picking up a child's phone (which is what we want parents doing anyway). ‍‍
• ‍Social Pressures & Exclusion: Similar to streaks on other platforms, real-time photo sharing can create social stress, FOMO (fear of missing out), or pressure to keep up daily interactions within tight-knit friend groups.‍
• Comments on Photos: While there's no chat feature, user can reply with text and emojis on the media sent to them and will be tied to the image or video they are replying to, as shown in the image below, with the arrow.

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How to Make Locket Safer:

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To lower the risks of Locket's features, these steps are important.

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‍Check the Friend List: Regularly review who your child has added to their Locket widget, ensuring they only connect with real-life friends and family members. If you allow Locket, make "review the friends list" a regular, weekly activity.

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Be VERY Clear About Appropriate Content & Digital Permanence: Talk with your child about what types of photos and videos are safe to take and share, and remind them to come to you immediately if an uncomfortable or inappropriate image pops up on their screen (because you'll never be mad if they do! Don't forget to say that). Remind them of digital permanence, because once a photo or video is sent, it CANNOT be retrieved.

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Engage the following device-level controls, which we teach in our popular parent presentations:

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1. Require approval for all app downloads.
2. Follow the 7-Day Rule
3. Enable in-app controls and settings

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We explain each of them briefly below. If you’ve already set up approvals for downloads and have used the app, please skip to the In-App Controls & Settings.

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Require Approval for App Downloads

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You can control app stores by requiring permission for apps to be downloaded. This ensures your child doesn’t have access to an app without your knowledge. Here are the steps (for Apple and Android users):

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For Apple Devices:

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To require permission to download an app, you’ll need to set up Screen Time and Family Sharing (Apple’s Parental Controls). We explain this process step-by-step in our Complete iOS Guide.  

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Once Screen Time and Family Sharing are established, here’s how to require permission to download apps on an Apple device:

1. Go to your Settings app.
2. Select your Family.
3. Select the person you want to apply this setting to.
4. Scroll down to “Ask to Buy” and enable.

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For Android Devices:

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You’ll have to use Family Link (Android’s parental controls) to ensure you retain control over what apps are downloaded. We explain this process step-by-step in our Android Guide.

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Once Family Link is established, here’s how to require permission to download apps on an Android device:

1. Go to the Family Link App
2. Select the person you want to apply this setting to.
3. Select “Google Play Store”
4. Select “Purchases & download approval” and set it to “All Content.”

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Follow the 7-Day Rule

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This is our tried-and-true method of determining whether a specific app is safe for your specific child.

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Before you let your child use it, download the app and use it for 7 days.

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Create an account with your child’s age and gender and use it for 7 days. Play through a few levels, review the ads, see if anyone can chat with you, and poke around like a curious child.

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After a week, ask yourself, “Do I want my child to experience what I did?”  Even if you decide to allow them to download the app, now you have a basis for curious conversations about the app when you check in.

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Enable In-App Controls & Settings

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There isn't much to control because of its minimalistic features. Whether an app has parental controls or not, we're big fans of using device-level controls, like Bark, to convey a culture of monitoring in your family. According to Bark's website, their software can:

• Block Locket Widget entirely, if needed.
• Manage when your child can use Locket Widget throughout the day.
• Receive an alert if your child tries to download Locket Widget.

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Bottom Line: Is Locket Safe for Kids?

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Although Locket has a low risk of porn and predators, and no algorithm, there are privacy and digital permanence concerns, which are important. We still don't want it used in middle school. Please keep junior high as analog as possible. But when teaching teens about how to interact with friends online, while also delaying traditional social media, many parents of high schoolers have chosen to try Locket. And if you do, always be a parent who is ridiculously engaged and informed.

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. If you have more questions: Order 5 Habits of the Tech-Ready Family, Chris's debut book (or audiobook)! Supported by science, built on deep experience, biblical truth, and proven by thousands of success stories, 5 Habits of the Tech-Ready Family will help readers raise wise kids in a wild digital world.
2. Stay up to date: Subscribe to our tech trends newsletter, the PYE Download. Monthly, we’ll share what families need to know, what the PYE team is up to, and a message from Chris.

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