Who is Orbit for?
Any family. Two parents and a child. A single parent and a teen. Adults across two homes. Grandparents in the group chat. Step-siblings, foster families, partners without children at all. Orbit is the same private space for any of those, and the safety features for children are there if and when you need them.
Can I read my child's messages?
That's up to you. It's set by the supervision level you choose for each child, and you can change it at any time as they earn more trust. At Guarded, you see your child's entire chat history. At Standard, you see who they're talking to and any alerts from Mack, our AI safety guard on the phone, but not every message. At Open, it's a fully private account with no monitoring. The key thing: even when you can read every message, we can't. Messages are end-to-end encrypted and your phone is inside the family's lock-and-key circle, so you read them on your own device, and our servers only ever see the scrambled version. How supervision levels work →
Is this safe? How do I know?
Short answer: we designed Orbit so the technical guarantees match the promises on this page. We don't ask you to take our word for it. We explain how it works. See the full security breakdown →
How is this different from iMessage or WhatsApp?
Those apps are built around individuals. Anyone with a phone number can message anyone else. Orbit flips that: your family is the unit, and you decide together who's allowed in. No stories, no feeds, no ads trying to keep anyone scrolling.
What if someone in the family loses their phone?
Cut the lost phone off from your account and it's out of the conversation. No new message is ever delivered to it again, and our servers throw away its keys and anything that was waiting for it. What was already on the phone stays behind the phone's own passcode and encryption, like any other app. Make a fresh sign-in code (or sign in again) and the person is back up on a new phone.
Is Orbit free?
Yes: Starter is a real free plan, not a trial. It fits a one-child household, two parents welcome, with end-to-end encryption, Mack on the phone, the crisis safety net, screen time, themes, and chat toggles all included. Beyond that there are three paid plans, Orbit, Galaxy, and Universe, each fitting a different family shape, with more capacity for more children, more parents, more grandparents, and more outside-family connections. Safety is never paywalled. No ads, no selling data, ever. Full breakdown on the features page.
What if my child gets a message that upsets them?
They can tell you, without anyone else knowing. A child can press and hold any message they've received, tap "I don't like this message", pick a reason, and add a note if they want. You get an alert with the message and their note, readable only on your phone. The friend who sent it is never told, nothing changes in the chat, and the other family isn't involved, so your child can ask for help without the social fallout. It works on every plan, with every setting, even if you've turned Mack's filtering off.
What phones does it work on?
iPhone and Android today. A web view for parents is on the way.
Mack is on the phone Beta