Facebook is launching a new app called Messenger Kids, which allows children to use messaging software to chat with friends and family, Sputnik reported.
The Messenger Kids application is designed for kids ages six to 12. It does not require the child to have a Facebook account, as per federal law users younger than 13 cannot legally sign up for Facebook.
The tech giant has announced that there will be no ads on Messenger Kids and no in-app purchases.
Currently the new app is only available in the US, but Facebook plans to expand the messenger’s availability beyond iOS to the Amazon App Store and Google Play Store in the coming months.
The Messenger Kids is designed to provide kids with video and text chatting, along with some funny masks and filters, similar to the ones on the Snapchat app.
The new messenger will have a library of kid-appropriate and specially chosen GIFs, frames, stickers, masks and drawing tools, which will allow the children to design and decorate content and express their creativity.
Parents will have the ability to control a child’s contact list, while the home screen will show pre-approved friends that are online and preexisting one-on-one chats and group threads.