As Halloween approaches, technology companies are offering parents new ways to keep track of their children during trick-or-treating excursions. A range of apps and devices from companies like Life360, Verizon, Apple, and TickTalk allow parents to monitor their children's locations, set virtual boundaries, and receive alerts about nearby incidents, including reported crimes.
Verizon's Gizmo Watch 4, introduced in July, provides parents with GPS location sharing and boundary alerts. The smartwatch connects to the Verizon Family app, enabling parents to manage tracking and safety features. It also notifies parents if the watch is removed from a child's wrist.
Apple offers a similar solution with its "Watch For Your Kids" feature, which allows parents to use the Find My app to track their children's whereabouts and receive notifications when they arrive at or leave designated locations. This feature can be configured through a parent's iPhone, allowing children to communicate without needing their own iPhone.
TickTalk has launched its TickTalk 6 smartwatch, targeting children aged 3 to 12. The $169.99 device includes GPS tracking, calling, messaging, and emergency SOS functions, while restricting access to social media and the internet. Parents can review their children's routes through a companion app. TickTalk has been promoting the device specifically for Halloween.
Life360, a family safety app, features a "Safety Incidents" function that alerts parents to serious events, such as weapon-related crimes, thefts, and fires, reported within a mile of a family member's location. These alerts are based on reported incidents in the vicinity and do not indicate that a specific child is in danger. The feature, launched in April 2026, has displayed approximately 2 million safety incidents across more than 100 cities. While available in the U.S., free users are limited to viewing three incident details per 24 hours, with further access requiring a subscription.
Samsung and Bark have also introduced the Bark Watch, built on the Galaxy Watch8. This device combines GPS tracking with software that monitors messages for potentially harmful content.
These technological tools are gaining traction as parents become more comfortable with electronic monitoring for holiday activities. A survey commissioned by Verizon indicated that a significant majority of parents planned to use location-sharing apps and wearable devices with location capabilities for monitoring their children during Halloween.
Kati Morton, Life360's family dynamics expert, noted that these technologies can support children's growing independence while providing parents with a safety net. "While families could agree on a route, a check-in plan, and a time to be home on Halloween, technology like Life360’s Safety Incidents feature can help support that independence, acting as a digital safety net so parents can act if their child is near a situation they’re concerned about,” Morton stated.