Waffle: phones without apps or social media that get children talking

Waffle makes phones without apps for children aged 5 to 12. Children use them to make calls and leave voice messages, without ever typing a line of text. No social media, no internet browsing, no scrolling: the brand has built its range around these three absences. The range consists of two devices, the Waffle Home and the Waffle Go. Parents set them up from their own smartphone, through the Waffle Hub app.

A psychologist on the team

Waffle operates under the name Just Waffle. Its team includes Dr Brad, a psychologist. He is the author of a book titled The Tech Diet for Your Child & Teen, a title that speaks for itself.

This background shapes the project. At Waffle, a child’s first phone is defined first by what it leaves out. The rest of the range follows from that choice: a device with no apps, voice-only communication, and a circle of contacts set by adults.

Two devices, two settings

The Waffle Home is the phone for the house. Inside the box: the device, a charging cable, a quick-start guide and access to Waffle Hub.

The Waffle Go is built for being out and about. It includes GPS and shares the child’s location using GPS and mobile data. This is the one feature the Waffle Home does not offer. Its packaging mirrors the Home’s — device, charging cable, quick-start guide, access to Waffle Hub — with a wrist strap added.

The range targets children aged 5 to 12, an age when they start calling a grandparent, meeting up with a friend, or walking home from school alone. The Home covers everyday conversations from the house. The Go follows the child outdoors and gives parents a way to know where they are.

Design by subtraction

On a Waffle phone, voice is the only way to communicate. Children make calls or send voice messages; there is no provision for typing text. There is no feed to scroll, no social network, no browser.

Incoming calls follow the same logic. Only contacts approved by the parents can reach the child. An unknown number therefore has no way of reaching the device, and the list of contacts stays the one the family has chosen.

For the child, using it comes down to a few gestures: speak, listen, leave a message. For the parent, it means a device whose every function is known in advance, since they are all limited to conversation.

Parents in control

Everything is set up through Waffle Hub, the brand’s parental app. It works on iPhone and Android, covering both major smartphone families.

This is where parents approve the contacts allowed to call. It is also where they set time windows: the app lets them define when the devices can make or receive calls. School hours or night-time can stay quiet, depending on each family’s choices.

Pairing a device with the app takes under 30 seconds. According to the brand, full setup takes less than five minutes.

With the Waffle Go, Waffle Hub is also used to track the child’s location, sent via GPS and mobile data.

What Waffle promises

The brand makes two clear commitments to families. Waffle promises never to sell their data. It also promises never to show children advertising.

Both promises follow on from the rest of the range. A device with no feed to scroll and no social network leaves little room for advertising, and Waffle states this as a principle.

The brand also states that thousands of conversations pass through its devices every day, highlighting what it sees as the central use of its phones: talking to each other.

Two launches in August

Summer 2026 saw the range go online. The Waffle Home went on sale on the brand’s online shop on 15 August 2026. The Waffle Go followed on 19 August 2026, four days later.

The two devices arrived almost together, just before the start of the school year, both controlled through the same app.