Maily – The Email App for Four Year Olds

By: Kuljit Grewal  |   August 7th, 2012   |   Apple, Living, Mobile Apps, Tablets

There is a start-up from Belgium named Maily that believes that children should embrace technology at a young age and use it to keep in touch with parents, grandparents as well as friends through the use of something their parents use consistently; email.

 

In fact, they released an iPad app late last month that is created for just that purpose. In fact, Maily targets children four and up exclusively, making an application that is intuitive and rich in graphics and images. The images ensure that even if children struggle with reading, they will be able to navigate and use the app.

 

Created by Raphael Halberthal and Tom Galle, the app allows children to send and receive messages, access a list of contacts as well as receive notifications of new emails. One of our favourite features is the ability to add stamps and stickers along with personal drawing done using markets (and finger tips). The app also allows the email owner’s picture to be taken and used within emails thanks to the iPad’s front facing camera.

 

According to Mashable, the app was created with an important concern for many parents, the safety concerns with having young children communicating on the internet. Parents receive their own account with an activity dashboard to monitor all of their children’s’ activity.

 

The idea of an iPad app rather than a website might have to do simply with the change in times. Mobile devices are more readily available than ever, and young children with tablets at home have shown to be extremely quick and eager to adopt the technology. According to a Neilsen study, 70 per cent of children below the age of 12 who live in a house with a tablet use the device.

 

According to Tom Galle the vision was “to ‘re-invent’ the concept of email for kids from four years old, some of those kids can’t even write or read yet. With Maily, we offer them tools that allow them to create messages in a strong visual and creative language – adapted to their needs.”

 

Check out a video about how the App works below.