Bark Kids vs dumb MESSAGE
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
Bark Kids
This app helps parents manage their child's device usage and online safety. It allows for screen time management, web filtering, and real-time location tracking. Children can also connect their accounts for enhanced privacy.
- Screen time management
- Web filtering
- GPS location tracking
- Check-ins for arrival confirmation
- Personal account connections
- Device usage monitoring
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Bark Kids is the free child companion app for both Bark and Bark Jr. To use it, you’ll need to have an established Bark account and install Bark Kids on your child’s device. Here are the features this app enables: SCREEN TIME MANAGEMENT Families can set healthy time limits and create schedules for when their children’s devices can connect to the internet (through both cell service and Wi-Fi). WEB FILTERING Our web filter lets you select which websites your child can access on their devices. You can allow or block specific sites — or even whole categories like streaming services, online gaming, sexual content, and more. GPS-POWERED LOCATION TRACKING Bark’s robust location tracking enables you to track your child in real time on a map. You can even find out if they’re stationary, walking, biking, or moving in a car. CHECK-INS Check-Ins are an easy way for families to get peace of mind when their kids are out and about. Rather than sending a "Did you get there?" or "Where are you?" text, you can rely on a GPS-based location confirmation from your children to verify that they've safely arrived at their destinations. It can even give you step-by-step directions via Google Maps so you can meet them where they are if necessary. PERSONAL ACCOUNT CONNECTIONS The Bark Kids app allows kids to connect their own accounts to Bark’s monitoring service (not available with Bark Jr). By allowing them to connect directly to our monitoring service, they get more privacy without having to share their usernames or passwords. HOW BARK KIDS WORKS WITH THE BARK PARENT APP Download the Bark Parent companion app to manage your child’s entire digital world - Monitor texts, apps & social media - Create custom screen time schedules - Block websites & apps - Get insights into online activities - Track location WHAT PARENTS ARE SAYING - "My wife and I LOVE Bark. We've had some tough but productive conversations with our 13-year-old son. It's proving to be extremely valuable." — Josh L. - “It’s just another set of protections we as parents give our kids for the digital environment (or as my 10-year-old calls it, a “cell phone seat belt”). My oldest is a 9th grader, and while I trust her, I’ve come to realize through the alerts that some of her friends aren’t truly her friends. It’s led to some amazing conversations about choosing friends wisely and recognizing toxic people. While she wasn’t for Bark at first, she’s since said she’s grateful that I saw those messages because it reaffirmed what she was feeling but didn’t know how to verbalize without sounding sensitive.” — Bark Parent - "Bark notified me that my young daughter had unknowingly revealed her phone number to strangers on Twitter. The fact that Bark notified me was impressive and led to an informative discussion with her the same day." — Jon B. - “Since Bark alerted us to the suicidal language used in the Google doc that was being used in a chat document with a friend, we have seen both a pediatrician and a licensed counselor. We are hopeful for a positive outcome. Thanks to Bark for letting us peek into our child’s mind!” — Bark Parent - “This app is a lifesaver! It has allowed us to catch so many “red flags” in the content my kids have accessed on their devices and in their interactions with friends and other people online that I wouldn’t have ever known about otherwise. The big difference between Bark and other “Parental Control” software is that Bark allows your kids to have so much more privacy. It doesn’t show you everything they do, but sends an instant alert regarding any activity that might be concerning. Highly recommended!” — Bark Parent With Bark, you can help keep your kids safe both online and in real life. Try it out for seven days absolutely free! Our Family Online Safety Specialists are standing by to help answer any questions you might have. Email help@bark.us or visit help.bark.us to get answers and advice from the Bark Team.
dumb MESSAGE
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The future was supposed to be simpler. dumb MESSAGE is one shared pixel canvas. You draw. Your friends draw. Everyone sees the same thing at the same time. No feed to refresh. No followers to impress. No typing bubble making you anxious. No color because frankly, you’ll cope. There is no feed. There is no typing indicator. There isn't even color. HOW IT WORKS • Start a canvas and get an ID you can say out loud, like MINTFOX42 • Send the link. Friends open it and their ink shows up next to yours • One finger draws, two fingers pan • Point the camera at anything and stamp it as dithered 1-bit pixels • Or talk — dictation turns your words into pixel type on the canvas • DAY mode is reflective gray. NIGHT mode glows green
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is rating: dumb MESSAGE at 5.0 against Bark Kids's 1.3. dumb MESSAGE also leads on update cadence (every 2 days vs every 9 days). Bark Kids's advantage is ratings volume (9.5K vs 1). On price, ads, in-app purchases and device support there is nothing between them.
Scored on Price · Rating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings · Update frequency · Ads · In-app purchases · Monetization · Best chart rank · Devices · Requires iOS
Both are free to download. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.
dumb MESSAGE holds the better App Store score, 5.0 against 1.3. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Bark Kids has 9.5K ratings behind it against 1, so its average is the more settled of the two.
Bark Kids ships an update every 9 days, dumb MESSAGE every 2 days. The most recent releases landed on October 26, 2026 and October 24, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | Bark Kids | dumb MESSAGE |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 1.3 (9.5K ratings) | 5.0 (1 ratings) — better |
| Positive reviews | 12.9% of reviews | — |
| Number of ratings | 9.5K — better | 1 |
| Update frequency | Every 9 days | Every 2 days — better |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | No | No |
| Monetization | Free | — |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad | iPhone, iPad |
| Requires iOS | 16.0 — better | 17.0 |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 68 MB | 1 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | Bark Technologies, Inc. | Matt Jakob |
Bugs and requests
Bark Kids
Reported bugs
2 issues- Persistent VPN issues causing internet connectivity problems
- Incompatibility with certain apps and device functionality
Requested features
4 requests- More customizable alert settings
- Improved filtering and classification of content
- Better integration with family devices and accounts
- Gradual relaxation of restrictions as child matures
dumb MESSAGE
Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.
In-app purchases
Bark Kids
No in-app purchases
dumb MESSAGE
No in-app purchases









