What's new in Ping

• Create your own avatar — Build an avatar that really looks like you. Choose the hair, eyes, glasses, beard and colours, and change them whenever you like. Everyone in the family can make their own.

• Reply to a message — Press and hold a message to reply to it directly.

Moving a child account to a new device now works the way it should.

We found a few bugs hiding in that flow and cleared them out, along with the usual small fixes and polish to keep Ping running smoothly for your family.

• Stickers and drawings for grown-ups too — In chats between grown-ups, you can now send stickers and drawings, in addition to photos and voice messages. You'll find them all behind one button now, with a fresher look.

• New icons and familiar faces — The parent navigation bar is cleaner, and each of your children now appears there with their own avatar.

• Six new sticker categories, hand-picked and child-friendly. They appear first in Stickers mode, and each category now uses one of its own stickers as its icon — so it's much easier to see what's inside.

• Share photos straight from your Photos app: tap Share, pick Ping (tap "More" if Ping isn't in the list yet), then choose a friend or a group to send it to. Done.

• If Ping can't access photos or the camera, children now get simple instructions on how to fix it — or can ask a grown-up for help with a single tap. Parents get a step-by-step guide too, so nobody has to guess.

• Photos have their own button — When you've enabled photo sharing, the photo button now sits right in the chat, next to stickers, voice messages and drawings.

• Start wherever you like — Adding family or friends, connecting a device — your child's card now shows both options at once, so you can start with whichever suits you.

• Ping now speaks Spanish — Ping is now available in Spanish too. ¡Hola!

The icons in the kids' navigation bar have a new look — rounder, warmer and easier for younger children to recognise at a glance.

• Shared media in every chat — you can now see everything shared in a chat — drawings, voice messages, and photos — all in one place. Just tap the name at the top of any chat.

• Treasures — a place for the little things worth holding on to. Kids can save their favourite drawings, voice messages, and photos to their own Treasures, a private collection just for them. Parents get a collection for each child too, so everything their child sends them can be kept together.

You can now sign in to Ping with your Google account.

• Sign in with Google — faster sign-up, no password to remember.

• We've streamlined the first few steps, so you can get your family set up more quickly.

• If a confirmation email doesn't arrive, it's now easier to correct your address and try again.

• And we've polished lots of little details behind the scenes.

Getting your family connected is now easier than ever.

• After you create your child's profile, you can invite the people they'll chat with — grandparents, relatives, friends — right away.

• Each child's card now shows you what's left to set up, so nothing gets missed.

• Clearer, friendlier wording throughout, and lots of small improvements.

We've given the chat a colourful refresh! Each way to send a message — stickers, voice, drawing and writing — now has its own colour and a clearer label, so it's easier for kids to find what they're looking for.

A few stubborn bugs had made themselves at home in Ping. We've shown them the door — everything should run a little more smoothly for your family now.

You can now connect your children directly with children from other families. Send an invitation by email or share a link, and each family chooses which of their children to connect — with no need to add each other as trusted adults first. Simple, and safe by design: every connection is parent-approved on both sides.

How parent-approved connections work →

Got a promo code? You can now redeem it directly in the app. We've also made it easier for grandparents and other trusted adults to choose a profile photo — so children recognise who they're talking to at a glance.

Walkie-talkie is here. Children can start a session with a friend or family member and talk back and forth — voice messages that auto-play in sequence, just like a real walkie-talkie. Tap the radio icon in any chat to begin. As always, parents can turn it on or off for each child individually.

See how Ping's features work →

A round of behind-the-scenes fixes and polish to keep Ping running smoothly for your family. Nothing your children will notice — which is exactly the point.