Freckle opens preorders for a $199 kids' phone built for outdoor exploration
Founder Sam Terris is bringing his second venture to market after SIMULATE, the company behind NUGGS, was acquired in 2024.
By Ryan Merket · Published
Primary source: X
Why it matters
Freckle is testing whether families will pay for a child's first connected device to encourage offline independence, not just restrict internet access. Its December shipment target and privacy commitments are still ahead of the preorder.
On September 30th, Sam Terris (@samterris) opened preorders for Freckle, a phone for children that limits calls and texts to parent-approved contacts and replaces open internet access with tools for offline exploration. Freckle says the first units are due to ship in December 2026.
https://x.com/samterris/status/2105327145085968646
Terris is building around a problem he says he knows from both sides: as a child exploring outdoors in Concord, Massachusetts, and now as a parent. In his launch thread on X, he argues that many products marketed to parents prioritize surveillance and control. Freckle's pitch is that a connected device can help children gain independence without giving them unrestricted access to the web or social platforms.
The hardware is listed at $199. The preorder page currently takes a $25 deposit, with the remaining $174 due when the device ships. One month of Freckle Wireless is included; the service then costs $25 a month. Those charges make the phone a recurring service relationship as well as a hardware sale, and put the cost beyond the initial deposit that a customer sees at checkout.
Freckle runs its own software, ClayOS. The phone is designed for ages 7 to 13 and has no web browser, app store, social media apps or YouTube, according to Fast Company. Parents approve contacts and can use location tracking or set safe zones that trigger an alert if a child leaves them. Terris told Fast Company that parents could choose to track a child's movements continuously or rely on alerts instead.
The child-facing features are meant to give the device something to do beyond calling home. A Discovery Camera identifies bugs, birds and plants and adds them to a digital sticker book. Parents can assign quests, such as finding kinds of insects at a park; two Freckle devices can connect in walkie-talkie mode, and a parent-loaded wallet supports tap-to-pay. Those features turn the phone's limited software into the product's central argument: the screen should point a child toward an activity or another person, rather than toward an endless feed.
That is a different emphasis from many existing child-focused phones. Gabb, Pinwheel and Troomi also restrict web access and social media, while other products lean more heavily on tracking or parental monitoring, as Fast Company noted. Freckle is betting that families will pay for a device that treats independence itself as a feature. The challenge is making that promise credible to parents while giving children enough reason to carry and use a device that deliberately excludes familiar smartphone attractions.
Terris brings experience in consumer products, though not in phones. He co-founded SIMULATE, the plant-based food company behind NUGGS, and Forbes lists him as a Brandeis University graduate. SIMULATE raised a $50 million Series B in 2021, according to Forbes, before being acquired by Ahimsa Companies in 2024 in a cash-and-equity deal at an undisclosed valuation, according to Nosh. Freckle has also received investment from Alexis Ohanian (@alexisohanian) and his venture firm Seven Seven Six, Fast Company reported. Freckle has not announced the investment amount or terms.
The product's privacy commitments are also part of its sales pitch. In its privacy policy, dated September 30th, Freckle says it will not sell children's information or use it to train AI models, and that it will seek verifiable parental consent before collecting a child's information. The policy also says the phones have not shipped, the parent app is not yet available, and the full children's privacy notice will be published before activation. Freckle says it is undergoing review under the kidSAFE Seal Program's COPPA safe-harbor process.
That leaves the launch with clear milestones: deliver the first units in December, make the promised parent app available, and put the full child-data notice in place before activation. Freckle is asking parents to preorder before they can evaluate a shipped phone or its privacy practices in use. Its proposition depends on getting both sides of that exchange right: enough freedom to make the phone feel different to children, and enough control and trust to make parents willing to buy it.