A messaging app for families
Private chat that
moves together.
Shoal is encrypted messaging built for the way families actually talk — including the youngest ones, the ones with three devices each, and the ones split across two homes.
Why Shoal
A messaging app that takes families seriously.
- 01
Strong encryption, by default
Every message is encrypted with a family key the server never sees in plaintext. Your conversations are yours.
- 02
Structural oversight for kids
Admins can see children's conversations because the cryptography is built that way — not because of a back door. No surprises, no surveillance creep.
- 03
Designed for real families
Multiple families per account. Cross-family connections that need approval on both sides. Devices for kids without email. Sane defaults.
Features
Built feature by feature, with care.
Every feature in Shoal earns its place. Here's what's in the app today.
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Strong encryption, explained honestly
Messages are encrypted on the sending device and decrypted on the recipients'. Almost everything else we store is encrypted at rest. We're upfront about the one architectural caveat that's worth knowing.
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Admin oversight, by design
Family admins can see children's conversations because the cryptography is built that way — not because of a back door.
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Time limits and schedules
Set the hours when chat is available — different rules for weekdays, weekends, and school holidays — so screen time has a clear beginning and end.
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Cross-family connections
Two children can chat across families — when both sets of admins say yes.
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Optional moderation
Block links, block or flag specific words — set per child, off by default. A second layer alongside admin oversight, only when you want it.
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Message statuses you can trust
Queued, sent, received, read. Every message tells you exactly where it is — whether you're online, your recipient is online, or you're both on different trains.
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Voice notes
Record a message, send it like any other. Transcription is optional and happens on your device — our servers never see decrypted audio or text.
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Kids without an email address
Children don't need an email or a password to use Shoal. An admin adds them to the family, and they appear in the picker on every family device.
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Family devices
An admin signs in on a shared phone or tablet, marks it as a family device, and the children in the family can use it to chat.
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Multiple families, one account
Belong to as many families as your life requires. Switch between them with a tap.
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Magic-link sign in
No passwords. No "what was my password" tickets. No password reuse risk.
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Install on any device
Shoal is a Progressive Web App. Install it, get push notifications, work offline. No store required.
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Real-time push notifications
Get notified when it matters. Without any of your messages passing through a third-party push service in plaintext.
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Works when the internet doesn't
Read your last conversations, write new messages, send them when you're back online. Shoal stays useful through tube journeys, school Wi-Fi blackspots, and that bit of the kitchen where the signal dies.
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Sessions you can revoke from anywhere
See every signed-in device on your account. If a phone is lost, stolen, or just sold, lock it out — open connections close the moment you revoke, offline ones can't reconnect.
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Leave or delete, on your terms
Leave a family. Delete a family. Delete your whole account. Each one is a few taps, an email confirmation, and — where it matters — a clear warning about anything that can't be undone.
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Security
Encryption that still lets you parent.
Messages are encrypted on the sending device with AES-256-GCM, and almost everything we store on our servers is encrypted at rest. Admin oversight of children's chats isn't a back door — it's a deliberate part of the encryption model: another wrapped key, distributed at conversation creation, and removable.
Made for these moments
Whose conversations is Shoal for?
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Parents delaying the smartphone
A smartphone-free childhood, without skipping the messaging
For parents delaying the first smartphone — turn an old phone into a kid-safe Shoal device.
See the story -
Parents of children stepping into independence
First steps of independence
When they start walking home alone, going to the corner shop, or spending an hour at home before you're back — they can reach you, and only you.
See the story -
Parents of young children
A first messaging app for young kids
A safe, simple chat for the youngest member of the family — without an email address or a phone number.
See the story
Start using Shoal with your family.
It's free during preview. Sign in with a magic link, create a family, and invite the people who matter.