How to set up the Kid-Safe Phone (or Tablet)
Designed in collaboration with Samsung, the Safe Surfer Kid-Safe Experience is designed to provide your child with a remarkably safe and clean digital experience. This guide will take you through the full installation process as a parent/caregiver. If you're setting up a Kid-Safe device for the first time, it will take around 30 minutes for the full installation, or one hour for the entire guide. **Please read through each step carefully, as we'll take you through different protection features aFeaturedHow can I purchase a Kid-Safe Smartphone or Tablet device?
| You can find the latest version of the purchasing guide on the official Safe Surfer Kid-Safe Smartphone website.PopularHow can I hide inappropriate content inside the Google Play Store for a Kid-Safe device?
Play Store parental controls help hide Play Store content listings that contain sexually suggestive and/or sexually explicit content. ||| IMPORTANT: Please note that if the Play Store tells your child that an app they want to download is not available, this is caused by the Play Store parental controls, rather than us. You can simply change the available apps inside the Play Store, as follows in this guide. Enable Play Store parental controls | Apps already installed that are affected by thFew readersCan I allow a specific app on the Essentials profile for my Kid-Safe device?
The Kid-Safe experience features three profiles: Essentials (calls, texts, and built-in utility apps) Explorer (all Essentials features, along with app stores, where all newly downloaded apps need to be approved on the Safe Surfer dashboard) Empower (all Explorer features, but newly downloaded apps don't need to be approved) To allow a specific app on the Essentials profile (for example, downloading a specific app via the Google Play Store), you will need the physical device with you,Few readersInstall additional features for the Kid-Safe experience
| We've moved this content into the Kid-Safe setup guide. You can go there by clicking this link.Few readersHow can I remove or uninstall Safe Surfer from a Kid-Safe Smartphone or Tablet?
If you wish to stop using the Safe Surfer Kid-Safe Experience on a Kid-Safe Smartphone or Tablet device, you can find out how to discontinue use in this article. This will also cancel the subscription for the Kid-Safe device in question. | Please note that this guide is not applicable for devices protected by Safe Surfer through the Google Play Store (that is, for non-Kid-Safe devices). If the device was protected by Safe Surfer through the Play Store, you can find out how to uninstall Safe SurFew readersHow to install the Kid-Safe Experience on an existing Samsung device
For customers in New Zealand and Australia, Safe Surfer supports installing the Kid-Safe Experience on used Samsung smartphones and tablets. We recommend purchasing a brand new device in accordance with the purchasing guide, but if you would like to install the Kid-Safe Experience on a used device, there are a few steps you'll need to take: On the device that you would like to use, open the Settings app > About [phone/tablet] > Software information. YFew readersHow does the Location tracking feature work on the Kid-Safe Phone (or Tablet)?
The Safe Surfer Kid-Safe Experience supports a feature called Location tracking. When enabled and an internet connection is active (either mobile data or Wi-Fi), the Safe Surfer app will periodically send the device's general location to your Safe Surfer account (in accordance with the frequency set within the Safe Surfer app). You can see the latest location updates by opening the Devices menu, clicking the More info button on the applicable device listing, aFew readersDoes the Kid-Safe Phone (or Tablet) require a Samsung account?
The Kid-Safe experience doesn't require a Samsung account to use. If you are asked to sign in to a Samsung account, you can tap the Cancel or Skip option, or back button (at the bottom of the screen) to ignore a prompt to do this. | To use a Samsung account, the device user needs to be 18 or older to do so.Few readersHow can I approve or monitor apps for a Kid-Safe device?
To approve an app for a Kid-Safe device, you can do this on the Safe Surfer dashboard by visiting the Devices menu. Once you're on the Devices menu, click the name of the applicable device. Inside the device listing, click the "App approval" button.  experience. With regard to the Knox software solution, we can provide the following functionality in addition to our normal experience for all Android phones: Force disable the factory reset features of the device (insiFew readersWhy are there two Messages apps on my Kid-Safe device?
Samsung devices feature two Messages apps (that is, for texts and messaging) built-in to the device: Google Messages (being the default on most Samsung devices) Samsung Messages When changing settings for a Kid-Safe device, you might spot two Messages apps. You can find the difference between the two by hovering over the View link on each app listing. Google Messages is com.google.android.apps.messaging Samsung Messages is com.samsung.android.messaging | We usually suggest usFew readersHow can I block an app on my Kid-Safe device?
There are two ways you can block an app for a Kid-Safe device. You can do this on the Safe Surfer dashboard by visiting the Devices menu > click the More Info button on the applicable device listing for the Kid-Safe device > click the Blocking link to go to the Blocking menu. Once you've done this, there are two things to keep in mind: Safe Surfer covers a lot of apps under its list of content categories. For example, if you block the Dating category, thisFew readersHow to move calls, texts, and apps from an old device to a Kid-Safe Phone (or Tablet)
To transfer calls, text, and apps from an old device to a Kid-Safe Phone (or Tablet), you can do this with the Samsung Smart Switch app. | To use the Smart Switch app, you'll need the device in question to be on either the Explorer or Empower profile—you can manage this on the Safe Surfer dashboard's Devices menu > click More info on the applicable device listing > select either the Explorer or Empower profile > wait for the device to apply the profile, thenFew readersDoes the Kid-Safe Phone (or Tablet) require a Google account?
The Kid-Safe experience doesn't require a Google account to use. If you are asked to sign in to a Google account, you can tap the Cancel or Skip option, or back button (at the bottom of the screen) to ignore a prompt to do this. | To use a full Google account, the device user needs to be 13 or older to do so. If the user is younger than 13, they might be asked to use the Family Link system by Google (with a child account). This system is outside the scope of Safe Surfer, and won't affect the SaFew readersHow does the Nudity detection feature work on the Kid-Safe Phone (or Tablet)?
| You can find out how this feature works in another article by clicking this link.Few readersWhy can't I see the Power off (and Restart) menu when holding down the power button on my Kid-Safe device?
Some Samsung devices come with a voice assistant feature called Bixby, which we disable on Kid-Safe devices. There are two ways you can bring up the Power off menu: To open the Power off menu, hold down the Volume down and Power buttons for two seconds, which will bring up the Power off menu. Alternatively, to set the device to require only the power button to bring up the Power off menu, navigate to the Settings app > Advanced features > Side button, and under the Press and holdFew readersHow can I block spam texts for a Kid-Safe device?
Kid-Safe devices come with Google Messages built-in, which has a feature that can detect and hide spam texts. You can enable this by going through the following steps: Enable spam protection Tap the Google Message app. Tap the profile icon on the right-hand side. Tap the MFew readersWhy does my Kid-Safe device report that it was "unable to enrol device" and "couldn't connect to service"?
If you're installing the Kid-Safe Experience on a "bring your own" Samsung device, you might get a message on your Kid-Safe device that it was "unable to enrol device" and "couldn't connect to service". This can happen if you entered the serial number and/or IMEI incorrectly during the setup process on the dashboard. | You can resovle this by leaving the setup process on the Safe Surfer dashboard (by going back to the Devices menu), and on the Samsung phone goiFew readersHow to enable the Data saver feature for a Kid-Safe device
By default, Safe Surfer attempts to send any potential content detections immediately (through the Text and social media monitoring feature, along with the Nudity detection feature), even over mobile data if it is available to be used. If the device user has a mobile plan with a small amount of data available, or if you want to avoid consuming data unnecessarily, you can turn on the Data saver feature, which will delay sending detections for up to a day (to give the device a chance to connect toFew readersHow can I update the Kid-Safe Experience?
On occasion, Safe Surfer will update the Kid-Safe Experience technology. These updates will be made available approximately every several months. You can find out how to update in this article. | For Kid-Safe devices using Safe Surfer app updates released in mid-2025 (version 3.8.12 and newer), they will automatically receive new Safe Surfer updates through Samsung Knox. If your child sees a message saying that an update is available, it will have two options: Update now, and Update overnight.Few readersWhy can't some apps be used that I allowed for a Kid-Safe device on the Essentials profile?
Safe Surfer uses the Samsung Knox technology to provide the Kid-Safe Experience. To force hide apps on the Essentials (that is, the default) mode, we hide apps that might come built-in to the phone/tablet. A few examples are the following: Google Chrome Google Maps Spotify If you temporarily switch out of the Essentials profile, download/update any of these apps, and switch back into Essentials, you might not see these apps available. This is because they're being blocked by the SamsungFew readersHow does the Social media monitoring feature work on the Kid-Safe Phone (or Tablet)?
| You can find out how this feature works in another article by clicking this link.Few readersWhy does the "Almost there" menu appear on a Kid-Safe device?
In some cases (for example, switching the device mode after we've released an update to the Kid-Safe technology), the Safe Surfer restriction technology (which is unrelated to the network filtering) might stop incorrectly. We've designed our Kid-Safe devices to detect this and avoid issues wherever possible. If this is the case, you can simply re-enable it. Re-enable Safe Surfer restriction technology | If you take more than a moment, the Safe Surfer app will automatically return you to theFew readersHow can I remove Pro Surfer and keep only Kid-Safe devices?
If you accidentally signed up to Pro Surfer (that is, for the normal Safe Surfer app solutions), and you're only wanting to protect a Kid-Safe device, you can switch to having just a Kid-Safe subscription. ||| IMPORTANT: For the following instructions to be available, you will need to make sure that you have deleted all normal devices (that is, device listings that are not Kid-Safe devices) from your Devices menu. In addition, you will need to make sure thatFew readers