The iPhone has a mode called Assistive Access. It’s meant for older people or those with cognitive impairments, but could work well for children as well. It changes the UI, limits the apps available, and simplifies those apps, so they just have very basic features.

You could set it up on a cheaper or hand-me-down iPhone (if you have one).

https://support.apple.com/guide/assistive-access-iphone/welc...

I have a https://sleke.io/ phone and it is a refurbed Pixel and doesn’t allow unrestricted web browsing or social media but you can install Beeper and Whatsapp and Google Suite. Nice community too.

Something like this may be useful for very old people, or in other words, you may want to search also for phones designed for old people.

i use google family link - which allows me to limit any apps/websites my child could view. i paired this with nextdns to auto-block obvious blacklisted sites (porn, etc) for a child. Works really well.

My nephew had a Gabb watch for a bit. Would not recommend.

+1 for people who want no spying modules and need the phone to serve connectivity (tethering, hotspot).

I was very upset to find FB and similar on recent Nokia products.

Just give em a smart phone. It's like critical in todays world. For any age.

Why not a Volte feature phone?

For the phone, a good candidate is the Commodore Callback. Runs Linux, deliberately blocks all social media, operates like a semi-dumb phone.

What ages?