Should a kids' app send your child notifications?
JarSave will not ping your child to come back. Here is the research behind that choice.
Most apps want your child back as often as possible, and notifications are how they do it. We decided JarSave would not. This post explains what the research says and what JarSave sends instead.
What researchers found in children's apps
A 2022 study of apps used by young children found manipulative design in most of them: only 19.6% had none (Radesky and colleagues, JAMA Network Open).
Among the patterns the researchers counted as manipulative were messages that make a child feel guilty for being away, and rewards for coming back tomorrow.
A phone at night costs sleep
A 2016 review of studies covering 125,198 children and teenagers linked having a device in the bedroom at night to poorer sleep, even when the device was not being used (Carter and colleagues, JAMA Pediatrics).
What European guidance says
Guidelines the European Commission published in 2025 for protecting minors online list push notifications that are "turned off by default and are always off during core sleep hours" among the protections platforms should put in place (EU guidelines). They are written for online platforms, but we use them as our benchmark.
What JarSave sends to your child
On a child's own phone, nothing, unless a parent turns on two messages: when coins land, and when a wish gets an answer. Both only react to something a parent did. Neither arrives between 20:00 and 07:00 or during school hours.
No streaks, no countdowns, and no "Jars misses you".
And what it sends to you
Parents hear right away about things that need them: a wish to decide, practice to confirm, a paper to approve, or a new device on your child's account.
Everything else waits for one evening summary. In a two-week trial, people who received their notifications in batches a few times a day felt more attentive and less stressed than people who got each one as it arrived (Fitz and colleagues, 2019).
JarSave is coming to iPhone. Join the waitlist.
