Key Takeaways
- The new Verizon Family app is here to take over for the old Verizon Smart Family app, providing parents with real-time location tracking, call/text history, and notifications.
- The relaunched app offers a Safe Walk with SOS feature for emergency situations, enhancing family safety.
- The service is free for Verizon postpaid customers, but additional features are available for $15 per account.
Whether they’re asking to go trick or treating on their own for the first time or just want to walk to a friend’s house, letting your child leave the nest alone can be nerve-racking. If you’re a Verizon customer, however, there’s a better solution than pacing the floor thanks to the newly revamped Verizon Family app. It offers location tracking, history for calls and texts, plus notifications to know when they’ve arrived at a specified location.
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Verizon announced its new app in a press release, though it’s technically a replacement for the existing Verizon Smart Family app. The new app has a different icon, tweaked name, and new feature set, but it can be found at the same Play Store URL as the old one, and it shares the same package name, so it’s probably best to think of this as a rebrand and relaunch more than an app that didn’t exist before.
In rolling out the new app, Verizon noted that, unsurprisingly, 63% of parents surveyed feel anxious when they don’t know their loved one’s location. Verizon Family is an app available for both Android and iOS and its free tier is available to all Verizon postpaid customers. Anyone using one of the best Verizon plans, excluding prepaid plans, can download and use the Verizon Family app.
Keep track of your family in real-time with Verizon Family
See your kid’s location in real time on a map
If you’re the type to stare at a map in an app waiting for your Uber Eats or Amazon order to arrive, Verizon Family should feel familiar with a map showing your kid’s real-time location. That way you can see if they’re on the way to where they should be, or have deviated from the path.
The app can be set to send you an alert when they’ve arrived at a specified location, so you don’t have to stare at your phone the whole time either. This can be helpful if you just want to know they’ve made it to school safe and sound without staring at your phone. You can also share their location with designated emergency contacts.
This is more than a one-sided tracking app and another new feature called Safe Walk with SOS can be used to share real-time location information to a designated emergency contact if the walker is feeling unsafe. It also allows for a direct means to contact emergency contacts if they’re feeling unsafe. Of course, Verizon notes that 911 should be used in the event of a critical emergency.
Verizon claims that parents are more likely to grant their children freedom if they have access to real-time location information and SOS tools are available if there’s trouble. Chief executive officer of Verizon Consumer Group, Sowmyanarayan Sampath, said, “Family safety and security is paramount, for Verizon and for me personally. Our mission is to power and empower how people live, work and play, and with Verizon Family, we’re empowering parents with knowledge and tools, helping them foster a healthy relationship between their children and technology. The Verizon Family app provides parents (including me) with peace of mind, knowing they can easily stay in touch with their loved ones and help keep them safe.”
The app also allows parents to see call and text history so they can identify issues without being too intrusive. Keep in mind that this does not include chat apps like iMessage, Google Messages, or WhatsApp.
How much will it cost?
The Verizon Family app is free for all postpaid customers with location monitoring, one location alerts, Safe Walk with SOS alerts, and call and text activity The app is available to download on Android and iOS. If you want some more features, Verizon Family Plus comes in at $15 per account, so your whole family is covered by a single subscription.
Features like this can be a good reason to stick with a postpaid carrier. This upgrade comes with multiple locations and location alerts, parental controls to monitor screen time, roadside assistance, and Driving Insights for Family. Driving Insight can show you aggressive acceleration and braking so you know if your kids are driving safely.
Don’t forget, if you’re not a Verizon customer, you can still keep track of your family members with other apps like Google Find My Device, or Apple’s Find My.
An earlier version of this story reported that this app was new, but since it shares the same package name and Play Store listing as the old Verizon Smart Family app, we have corrected the page to reflect that it’s more aptly a rebranded, relaunched app.
Verizon
Verizon family plans now come with access to the fittingly named Verizon Family app, allowing parents to stay a bit more connected to their children’s lives.
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