I have a friend who has a six year old who’s birthday is coming up, as it is the six year old is constantly asking the mother for her phone to use to plays spotify songs or whatever. So they are looking for some/any easy to use alternatives, and he (the father) doesn’t want to get his son sucked into any eco system (I don’t believe he even agrees with him having access to her phone, but that’s another story), if he can avoid it, as he is also slowly working on his own opt out project.
Are there any relatively cheap devices alternative to the amazon dot echo that may be more applicable to a child than home-assistant?
The child has a lenovo tablet (I don’t know anything else about the tablet), but I guess too bulky to use as a carry around option or like echo dot type device (which they seem set on).
Even if there are any kid/privacy safe devices in existence?
TIA.
The most private seems like a small media player. It would make music more personal, but that also may not be ideal in this situation.
I’d probably just get an old phone that can run LineageOS, strip it of any apps I don’t want the kid having access to and put a simple launcher on it so they only have the apps I want them to have access to. Bam, cheap locked down music streamer. If the kid asks why it can run Spotify but not access the internet, I’d say it’s because it’s a music player not a phone, or something of that nature.
That’s not a bad idea, I will suggest that to him, although I doubt that he will be able to put lineageOS on it and he is in another country from me, so might be able to help him strip it down anyway.
in lineageOS, with ‘app pinning’, the old phone can easily become a simple pod
I will try and get him on to the lineageOS option.
For a 6 year old I would honestly just get a cheap DAB radio. I know it’s not the same as Spotify on demand but they are 6 and it requires very little input from everyone.
I know very little about DAB radio other than they initially flopped. Can the child ask to play x,y and z songs?
Two options, in increasing order of complexity:
https://au.yotoplay.com/yoto-mini
The parents would need to “burn” the required songs, obtained through entirely lawful and respectable methods, onto a blank Yoto Card. Each card supports up to 100 tracks or 500 MB. The player downloads the card contents and can then play them offline.
It is portable, screen-free, simple, and made for children. However, it is not an Echo Dot replacement. The child must choose from the music that the parents place on each card. OTOH, it DOES have inbuilt streaming and kid friendly podcasts.
(There’s a larger version, with more capacity / battery life also - check the page yourself)
For actual Echo Dot-style functions, there is the M5Stack Core2:
https://shop.m5stack.com/products/m5stack-core2-esp32-iot-development-kit
It is a small ESP32 device with a touch screen, microphone, speaker, battery, Wi-Fi, and Bluetooth. The touch screen can provide large child-friendly controls for music, volume, playlists, and other functions.
The Core2 is development hardware, so it does not provide a complete assistant from the box. The father would need to install suitable software and connect it to a local server. However, once set up, it should be exactly what you want.
Eg: Server could run Home Assistant, Music Assistant, and Navidrome. Navidrome would hold the family music library. Music Assistant would connect that library to voice commands and playback.
With that setup, the child could ask for an artist, album, song, or playlist. The Core2 could also provide touch controls and spoken replies, so it’s pretty much a 1:1. It just needs elbow grease. The main limits would be the setup work and the Core2 speaker (which may not match an Echo Dot for room-filling music, but could be pared with bluetooth speaker if really had to)
Second the Yoto. Turnkey. The cards are a bit clunky, it’s not a voice activated radio, more like a smart speaker pretending to be a cassette player
Thanks, they both seem like great options, I am going to throw them at him verbatim, and see what he thinks.
If dad is working on his own opt out project, maybe suggest he build playlists and such for the kid offline? Something he could load on an old iPod or something similar? I apologize, I don’t know the newest tech for playing music now, but I think the only way to keep them away from the home assistants and Spotify is building your own.
Thanks, yep, I should clarify. The dads brother is working on an opt out project and he is trying to learn, but in very early days yet. I think it is because of his son that he would like more privacy but he is fairly backward about it. For example he says he wants to do it and is going to start, but afaik he hasn’t even done any basics, but he is definitely going to start more as he is also getting nudges from me, his brother and another friend of ours.
I suggest a radio or a cd player
The Pine64 PineVoice comes to mind, but it sounds like this is meant to be portable. Is there a reason they can’t use a standard bluetooth speaker?
That looks like a nice little device, I am not sure how portable, maybe just in the house… I will find out. I will forward that device for sure, and I have no idea why a standard bluetooth speaker can’t do it, maybe it just wasn’t thought of. Speaker with microphone hooked to his Lenovo wouldn’t be bad.
