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.



