The app may be for health care or other services where you would expect this functionality, but other apps unexpectedly allow live chat with adults, so we give you a warning.

Many apps allow sharing of photos, videos, audio and text or other types of files. While these features enable legitimate and healthy exchanges between friends, they can also give children access to inappropriate content.

Generally apps with this warning contain written, audio or images of graphic sex, violence, drug use, dark humour, adult themes and profane language. Apps vary widely in the amount, intensity and ease of finding such content. Pinwheel’s warning labels will provide more information, along with whether the app has any internal parental controls to block this content.

Child development experts generally recommend avoiding apps with ads for children. Ads in apps are united and unregulated and usually cannot be blacked. They may contain violent or sexual images, or advertise adult products and apps.

If an app requires a subscription or has in-app purchases, you’ll have to download it from the Google Play store or sign up on the developer’s site for a subscription. You’ll see a warning when an app allows external purchases using real money, such as the Amazon app.

Apps designed solely for entertainment, such as games and vide streaming apps may use addictive design techniques to manipulate users into using it frequently and for extended sessions. Children, particularly those with impulse control challenges, may have difficulty self-regulating usage.