Google Maps – WISE Score & Parent Review | Screenwise

Google Maps

Name: Screenwise
Author: Screenwise

app2012

58%

WISE Score

4.7

App Store

The world's go-to navigation app that's incredibly useful for getting around—but surprisingly risky for unsupervised kids.

Google Maps

app

Everyone, 2012

58%

WISE Score

4.7

App Store

The world's go-to navigation app that's incredibly useful for getting around—but surprisingly risky for unsupervised kids.

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Where to Find

App Store

Google Play

Screenwise Verdict

Google Maps is genuinely useful—probably the most useful app on this list. It teaches real skills, builds independence, and helps you actually function in the world. Street View is legitimately cool for armchair exploration.

But here's the problem: it's not designed for kids, and it shows. Multiple parental safety organizations are now warning that kids are stumbling onto pornographic images and adult business listings through regular searches. A kid looking for a smoothie shop could see explicit user-uploaded photos. There's no content filtering, no age-gating on searches, and user-generated content is completely unmoderated.

For families: this is a tool older kids need to learn, but not one to hand to a 7-year-old unsupervised. Use it together until they're mature enough to handle unexpected content without freaking out. The life skills it teaches are worth it, but eyes-open about the risks.

Age Fit

Best for ages 10+ with supervision, or 13+ independently. Younger kids can use it with a parent for navigation practice, but the lack of content filtering makes unsupervised use risky. Teens who need to navigate independently will find it essential, but they need to know inappropriate content can pop up.

WISE Breakdown

Wholesome

Google Maps is a neutral utility tool that helps users navigate the world. It doesn't actively model behavior or relationships, but it does facilitate independence and real-world exploration. The core function is wholesome - getting from point A to B, discovering local businesses, planning trips. However, web search reveals kids are accessing inappropriate content through business listings and photos (porn, vape shops, adult venues showing up in searches), which undermines the wholesome nature when used by children unsupervised.

Imaginative

Google Maps offers some genuinely cool exploratory features - Street View lets you virtually wander cities, Immersive View shows landmarks in 3D, and the ability to preview areas before visiting encourages spatial thinking and planning. Kids can explore the world from their couch, which has imaginative potential. But it's fundamentally a utility app, not designed to spark creativity or open-ended play. You're consuming geography, not creating anything.

Safe

This is where Google Maps gets problematic for kids. Web search reveals a significant safety issue: kids are finding pornographic and inappropriate content through business listings, photos, and reviews. Bark (a parental monitoring service) explicitly warns about this. Additionally, the app collects extensive location data, and while there's a kids mode available, the core app has no content filtering for business searches. A child searching for 'ice cream' could stumble onto adult businesses or explicit user-uploaded photos. No ads in the traditional sense, but the lack of content moderation for a tool kids increasingly use independently is a real concern.

Enriching

Google Maps teaches valuable real-world skills: spatial reasoning, route planning, understanding public transit systems, reading maps, and navigating independently. It builds confidence and practical life skills. The ability to explore different neighborhoods, read reviews, and make informed decisions about where to go is legitimately enriching. It's also genuinely useful - this isn't edutainment, it's a tool that helps you function in the world. But it's not teaching deeper cognitive skills or building empathy.

Parent Info

✓

Why It Might Be Great

Teaches real navigation skills and spatial reasoning that kids actually need in the real world
Street View and Immersive View let kids virtually explore cities, landmarks, and neighborhoods from the couch
Builds independence and confidence in planning routes, using public transit, and finding places
Genuinely useful life skill tool that adults use daily—learning it young makes sense
Offline maps feature means you can navigate even without cell service

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What to Watch For

Kids are finding porn and inappropriate content through business listings, photos, and user reviews—this is a documented problem
The app tracks location constantly, which is the whole point, but creates obvious privacy implications
No content filtering for searches—a kid looking for pizza could stumble onto adult businesses or explicit photos
User-generated content (reviews, photos) is completely unmoderated for age-appropriateness
Best used with supervision until kids are old enough to handle unexpected content maturely

Conversation Starters

"Want to plan our route to the park together? Let's see which way is fastest."
"Can you use Street View to show me what your friend's neighborhood looks like?"
"If you see something weird or inappropriate while searching, close it and come tell me—the app doesn't filter stuff for kids."
"Let's look up reviews for this restaurant. How do you decide which reviews to trust?"

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