Zello Walkie Talkie

This walkie-talkie app has a number of good things going for it: It's easy to set up, its sound quality is good, and it has password-protected parental controls. Setting up new channels is a snap, and a channel search function lets you find channels for anything from hurricane search-and-rescue to Hello Kitty.

Though there are plenty of iffy channels to find, it's no sweat for parents to set up a PIN to prevent kids from accessing them. Good as the app is, its limits become immediately apparent at times when it could be of most use. You'd think Zello Walkie Talkie would be your go-to during natural disasters or other crises when internet service becomes unavailable; unfortunately, without an internet connection, the app doesn't work. However, for people with just enough connectivity, it has proved extremely useful to go on to search-and-rescue channels to request help. Also, it's interesting to be a part of an audio chat room instead of a text-based one, as hearing someone's voice does add to the experience. For teens, though, there are still some risks, as it's easy for adults to join kid-oriented channels and for teens to share too much information. If parents want to let kids download this app, they will probably want to use the parent controls and talk to kids about what information they shouldn't share.