Get FlashDroid on both phones

FlashDroid is two apps: one on your phone, one on your child’s. Install yours first, then set up theirs.

Step 1

FlashDroid — on your phone

The parent app — the one you create your account in and pair your child’s phone from.

FlashDroid is not published on Google Play yet, so there is nothing to install from there. Set up the child’s phone below in the meantime — this step turns into a Play link on its own once the listing goes live.

Step 2

FlashDroid Kid — on your child’s phone

FlashDroid Kid is not on the Play Store, so it installs from a file you download here. It stays visible on your child’s phone, with its own name and icon — there is nothing secret about it, and that is deliberate.

The download is not ready yet — we are still finishing the setup app for the child’s phone. This step turns into a download button as soon as it is live. The steps below are what you will do when it is.

Setting up your child’s phone

About five minutes, on their phone rather than yours.

  1. Open this page on your child’s phone. That is where the file needs to end up, so it is easiest to start there — send yourself the link if you are reading this on a laptop.
  2. Tap download, and allow the install. Android asks whether to allow installs from your browser, because the file did not come from the Play Store. You can switch that permission back off afterwards.
  3. Open the file and tap Install. The small app you just installed is called FlashDroid Kids Wizard. It downloads FlashDroid Kid, installs it, and then you can remove the wizard — two names, one setup.
  4. Open FlashDroid Kid and pair the phones. It shows a pairing code to scan from your own FlashDroid app, which is what links the two phones to your family.
  5. On Android 13 and newer, unlock the restricted settings. Android locks a couple of permissions for apps installed this way. Open Settings → Apps → FlashDroid Kid → ⋮ → Allow restricted settings, then grant what the app asks for. FlashDroid Kid explains each one as it goes.