Giving my kid musical autonomy

May 25, 2022 10:41 AM

We have Sonos speakers throughout our house and use Apple Music to play tunes from them (via the Sonos app). My kid is 5 and loves music. He is able to navigate the Sonos app very well from a parent's iPhone. I would like to let him have a way to access the Sonos app via some device of his own.

I'm basically trying to figure out what is the lowest-priced, most locked-down device that we might be able to buy for my son to pick music by himself when we aren't within arm's reach to hand over our phones. My dream would be a $30 Apple product that can run the Sonos app and nothing else (no need for camera, messaging, other apps, etc.). I think an Apple product would be the most intuitive to him since he's already used to our phones, but I'm sure he could pick something else up. Just curious if folks have ideas for something that is not super pricey and doesn't have tons of features that we really won't be using.

posted by Bebo to Technology (6 answers total)

First impulse, if you wanted to stay Apple-centric, would be to suggest a used iPod Touch, but that can be a dead end, as older hardware starts getting dropped from support on iOS updates and app updates. I have an old iPad 2 that still works great, but most of the apps I want to use just aren't supported because it's "so old".

If there is an Android version of the Sonos app available, you can get a cheap burner Android smartphone for $30-$40 from just about any drug store or supermarket. Without a data plan, it's basically a Wi-Fi device, and while I'm mostly an Apple guy, my last experience with Android is that there were decent parental controls available to lock out purchases or app installs. Especially if you removed all the cruft from the device and basically just had the Sonos app on the home screen, I'll bet your kid would adapt in no time.
posted by xedrik at 10:51 AM on May 25, 2022

You can put an iPad into "kiosk mode" so that it only runs a single app.
posted by Blue Jello Elf at 10:59 AM on May 25, 2022 [7 favorites]

one option could be to salvage and rehabilitate old musical tech - maybe boombox, maybe discman. then take kid to thrift store to forage through bins of cheap music disks used and discarded by pre-internet forerunner civilisation.

arguably even better could be ancient music tech that allows record as well as playback, as that can be gateway into creating rather than merely consuming. maybe boombox for cassettes? ... maybe drum kit ?

(please ignore if this isn't what you or your kid might be into. esp. drum kit)
posted by are-coral-made at 1:46 AM on May 26, 2022

You could buy an older iPhone (a 7, for example) on Swappa for less than $100 and lock it down to be a Sonos controller only. (You might also check out Jooki and Yoto —won’t run your Sonos but will allow your kid to put on music.)
posted by hungrytiger at 2:19 AM on May 26, 2022

I assume the $50 Sonos remotes and controls on Amazon don't have the functionality you require.

I'd consider a camera a plus. There have been several questions here on the green about cameras for kids.
posted by SemiSalt at 5:03 AM on May 26, 2022

2nding ipod touch, maybe in kiosk mode, but maybe also leaving the camera available (but no other apps)
posted by wowenthusiast at 10:28 AM on May 26, 2022