An iPhone version is in the works.
What parents should know.
Egolino Kids is made for children. Here is what's in it and what isn't, honestly and in short.
Egolino Kids / For parents
Today I sat on a real chair for the first time!
A real sentence from his diary in the app.
WHAT'S NOT IN IT
No ads
No ad software in the app, no ad tracking, no videos to unlock things.
No strangers
No messages to or from other people, no contact with strangers.
No account
No sign-in, no email address. The game is saved on the phone.
MONEY
The app is free. Marbles, the game's currency, come from playing, and in the game they buy toys, furniture and new Egolinos. There are no prices in euros and no buy buttons with real money in the game.
Grown-ups can buy marble packs. That only works behind the parent gate, which asks for a number written out in words. Payment runs through Google Play.
NO PRESSURE
No hunger meter, no countdown, no daily streaks. The Egolino never dies. Nothing is lost when a child doesn't play for a while, and he never asks to be looked after.
THE PARENTAL GATE
ONLINE
Online games are switched off until a grown-up opens them behind the parent gate. The choice ends after 15 minutes. There is no chat with other players and no names.
TALKING TO THE EGOLINO
Children can write to the Egolino or say something to him, and he answers. The language model for this runs only on the phone. Nothing a child writes or says leaves the device, and nothing is stored. The chat needs no internet.
The model only comes onto the phone when a grown-up loads it in the area for grown-ups, behind the parent gate. Until then the Egolino answers with fixed sentences. The child's voice he can read aloud with is also loaded only there. The chat is on at first and can be switched off completely in the same area.
On sensitive topics he always answers with fixed, pre-written sentences; those messages never reach the model. Everything else the model says is checked before it is shown. If an answer still doesn't fit, a grown-up can report it after the parent gate.
Children can also dictate with the microphone. Speech recognition runs on the device too, and no recording is stored or sent. The microphone is only available on phones that recognise speech without the internet (Android 13 and later).
QUESTIONS
Is Egolino Kids free?
Yes. The app is free and has no ads. Marbles for the shop come from playing. Grown-ups can buy marble packs, but only behind the parent gate.
Can my child chat with strangers?
No. There is no way to write to other people in Egolino Kids. In online games, children only see the other Egolino play, without names and without messages.
Does it need an account or an email address?
No. There is no account and no sign-in. The Egolino, the house and the marbles stay on the phone.
Can the Egolino starve or die?
No. There is no hunger meter and no countdown. He gets tired, sleeps and wakes up again. Nothing is lost if nobody plays for a while.
Does it work offline?
Yes. The house, the shop, the games against the computer and the chat with the Egolino work without internet. A connection is only needed for online games, which a grown-up has to open first, and for loading the chat's language model and voice once, which only a grown-up can do.
Is there an iPhone version?
Not yet. Egolino Kids is for Android, on Google Play. An iPhone version is in the works.
Can my child talk to the Egolino?
Yes. Children can write to him or say something, and he answers. The language model for this runs only on the phone: nothing a child writes or says leaves the device or is stored, and the chat needs no internet. The model only comes onto the phone when a grown-up loads it in the area for grown-ups, behind the parent gate. Until then the Egolino answers with fixed sentences. On sensitive topics he always answers with fixed, pre-written sentences. The chat can be switched off in the same area.
