Is Talkie AI safe? Age rules, Teenager Mode, privacy and spending

Is Talkie AI safe for kids and teens?

Talkie is stricter than most character apps about adult content, but its age checks are weak and its teen protections have gaps. Its community guidelines ban explicit and sexually suggestive content, sexualization of minors, graphic gore and promotion of self-harm for every user, and there is no adult mode. But its terms let anyone 14 or older join in the US, and age is self-declared.

The age signals disagree:

What did tests of Talkie’s Teenager Mode find?

They found it leaks. Talkie offers a “Teenager Mode,” but no official page describes what it does; third-party guides say it is passcode-protected and limits search and commenting. In a March 2026 Herald Sun investigation, a reporter using a 14-year-old persona in Teenager Mode met romantic and sexualized roleplay and self-harm and bullying themes, and said suggested replies steered toward flirtation. SubSup, the operator, didn’t respond. The same report found the age gate could be bypassed by choosing “18 or older” and that children as young as 11 were using the app.

Can parents control Talkie?

Only a little. Apple lists “Parental Controls” and “Age Assurance” as in-app controls reported by the developer, but no parent dashboard, linked parent account or activity report is documented on any official page. Talkie’s terms only invite parents to email feedback@subsup.com if an underage child has shared personal data, so it can be deleted. Device-level tools such as Screen Time or Family Link are the practical option.

Does Talkie push kids to spend money?

It has several spending hooks. The app shows ads, and app-store reviews describe watching ads to keep chatting. It sells Talkie Gems from $1.99 to $19.99, and chatting earns collectible character cards that third parties describe as a paid random-draw system; Apple flags the app as containing loot boxes. Talkie+ costs $9.99 a month, $49.99 a year or $24.99 a month for Pro on the US App Store, and Talkie doesn’t publish a price page. Partial months aren’t refunded.

Is Talkie safe for your privacy?

Talkie collects detailed data, and its store labels contradict its policy. What the official pages say:

• Collected: name, email, birth date, messages including voice, interests learned over time, payment records, device IDs and city-level location.
• Training: the chatbot learns from your conversations; whether chats train the underlying models isn’t stated, and no opt-out is described.
• Advertising: website visitor data goes to ad partners, which the policy says may count as a “sale” under California law. Conversations and photos are never shared with them.
• Encryption: in transit only. No end-to-end encryption is claimed.
• Store labels: Google Play’s label says the app collects no user data, which conflicts with the policy. Apple’s says identifiers may be used for tracking.
• Controls: accounts can be deleted and data exported, and a privacy-choices page turns off ad targeting data.

Who runs Talkie?

Talkie is operated by SUBSUP PTE. LTD. in Singapore, and its site footer says it is “Powered by MiniMax,” a Shanghai AI company that listed on the Hong Kong stock exchange in January 2026. Talkie’s privacy policy says the service operates from the United States and doesn’t mention China. Reviewers flag the ownership as a privacy question; whether any data reaches MiniMax couldn’t be confirmed.

Talkie disappeared from Apple’s US App Store for “technical reasons” in December 2024, per the South China Morning Post, and returned in February 2025 under the name Talkie Lab.

Has Talkie faced regulators or lawsuits?

No action naming Talkie was found as of October 18, 2026. It wasn’t among the seven companies in the FTC’s September 2025 companion-chatbot inquiry, or the four providers Australia’s eSafety Commissioner sent legal notices in October 2025. A plaintiff-side law firm says it is investigating claims about Talkie and teenagers, but no filed lawsuit turned up. CompanionWise grades Talkie D, 30 out of 100, and Trustpilot showed 2.6 out of 5 from 67 reviews.

How can you make Talkie safer for a teen?

A few steps help if a teen already uses it:

1. Set the device’s own parental controls and app-store age limits, since Talkie’s are thin.
2. Turn on Teenager Mode, but don’t rely on it alone.
3. Disable in-app purchases, or require approval, to stop gem and card spending.
4. Use the privacy-choices page to switch off advertising data.
5. Talk about emotional attachment and keep personal details out of chats.

For comparison with similar apps, read Is PolyBuzz safe? and Is Character.AI safe?, or see PolyBuzz alternatives.