Finn Goes Online

What is Finn Goes Online – Cybersecurity for Children app?

Finn Goes Online plays like an adventure game where children aged seven and older guide Finn the fox after his spaceship crashes. He, and the user, are guided by his new friends that he quickly finds when he arrives on Earth.

As he learns about life on Earth and tries to repair his spaceship, Finn learns about cyberbullying, online safety, passwords, and more ways to stay safe when using modern technology.

What we love about Finn Goes Online.

As much as we love all new apps, whatever the genre, it is always welcome to see an app that addresses something few or no others do. This is the case with Finn Goes Online, which covers safety and security online.

Online safety is an increasingly important subject and one that children should learn but that few apps cover.

What skills does it improve?

Online safety is the main focus of this app. Players learn about the key topics to do with it. As the app is quite text-heavy, it also provides good reading practice.

What age is it appropriate for?

Finn Goes Online is designed for children aged seven and older. Users will need to be able to read or have a supporting adult play it alongside them.

Is Finn Goes Online easy to use?

The characters in the app guide the user through the app and its learning content in a way that feels natural and sticks to the app's theme. The controls are intuitive, and the 'fake' applications (Goosle maps and Hamstergram) used by the characters within the app reflect their real-life counterparts well.

How will students benefit?

Most other learning content regarding online safety is a very one-way process. There are some excellent written resources and videos available but few activities that actively engage children in the process.

Finn Goes Online ensures that children take an active role in the learning and so better absorb the crucial lessons the app contains.

How will teachers benefit?

Finn Goes Online provides an opportunity for teachers to enhance their teaching of online safety. Children can follow up taught material by using the app. Alternatively, teachers could use the app to structure their lessons, with the class as a whole playing it collaboratively on a shared screen.

How will parents benefit?

Parents often worry about keeping their kids safe online, but their efforts to educate their kids can seem like nagging. If they encourage their kids to use this app, and then talk to them about what they have learned, parents will know that their children know how to stay safe.

What Finn Goes Online can improve on?

The main way in which the developers could improve this app is by adding narration to accompany the text. At the moment, a cartoon-like babble sounds out written speech, which is fine for kids without literacy problems but not for those who struggle with reading but who should still learn the valuable lessons of this app. Admittedly this would add to the size of the app and maybe make it more expensive by adding to the development costs.

Any other criticisms of this app are only minor. If you tap the credits button, there is no way to break out of the credits until they end. This lack of an exit option is a little frustrating, especially if you have tapped the button by accident.

How much does Finn Goes Online cost?

Finn Goes Online is only available as a single-purchase app. There is no trial version nor in-app purchases. This makes it good value and safe for kids to use.

Is Finn Goes Online safe to use?

As you'd expect for an app about online safety for kids, Finn Goes Online provides a safe environment for kids to play and learn. It has no advertisements, external links, or social media content. It does simulate social media within the gameplay, but the app fully controls this.

Overall rating of the app.

Finn Goes Online is a well-made app that meets its aim of playfully teaching online safety to young kids. Its graphics, stories, and sound work well together and lead children through the different lessons. Online safety is a subject that few apps address, and it is pleasing to see one of this level of quality step up. Finn Goes Online would be highly rated even if there were many other apps of its type, but the rarity of such apps lifts it higher still. It has earned five stars in this review.

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You can download Finn Goes Online on your iOS or Android devices from the app stores. Download the Finn Goes Online app from the Apple App Store or the Google Play Store.