What parents need to know about Marco Polo, the family video messaging app, including indefinite storage, group invite risks, and why 'safer than DMs' is only partly true.
Marco Polo is a video-messaging app where users send short recorded video clips back and forth, like a video walkie-talkie, used to stay in touch.
Official age
13+
We recommend
13+
Developer
Joya Communications
Risks
4
Marco Polo is an asynchronous video messaging app marketed at families and close friend groups. Instead of texting or video-calling, users record short videos and send them to a contact or group. Recipients see a stack of waiting videos and reply when convenient. There is no public feed and no algorithm. For families separated by distance - grandparents, deployed parents, university-age siblings - it can feel warmer than text and easier to schedule than a live FaceTime. The trade-offs are that every video is stored on the company's servers indefinitely so the recipients can rewatch them, the audience of a group chat can grow when another adult invites someone new, and recipients can take a screen recording or download the video file.
Children typically use Marco Polo to talk to grandparents, cousins, and friends who have moved away. Many enjoy the freedom to record a long video without an adult standing next to them, which is the same freedom that means a child can over-share - school name, address, friend's surnames, what is visible in the bedroom behind them. In multi-family groups, a child's videos can be seen by extended family members or family friends they barely know, and any of those adults can re-share. Because the app is positioned as wholesome, some parents drop the level of supervision they would apply to a Snapchat or iMessage chat with the same people.
Profile and Contact Discovery
Location: Profile -> Settings -> Privacy
Set to: Restricted to people you have invited
Stops the app suggesting your child to people in other contact books who happen to have their number.
Group Membership Notifications
Location: Profile -> Settings -> Notifications
Set to: On for member changes
Sends a notification when a new person is added to a group your child is in, so you can review who is now seeing their videos.
Camera and Microphone Access
Location: Device Settings -> Apps -> Marco Polo -> Permissions
Set to: Only when in use
Standard device permission setting that prevents background access to the camera and microphone.
Linked Phone Number
Location: Profile -> Settings -> Account
Set to: Parent's number for under-13 accounts
Marco Polo links to a phone number. For a young child, using the parent's number keeps the account tied to an adult and removes the need to give the child a SIM.
Set up the account on the parent's device and decide together which family members are added, before any videos are recorded
Time: 20 minutes
Agree to be added to every group your child is in so you can see the membership change notifications
Time: 10 minutes
Talk about what is visible behind your child when recording - school uniform, address signs, school books with names on them
Time: 10 minutes
Explain that videos are stored on the company's servers and can be rewatched by recipients at any time
Time: 5 minutes
In immediate danger: call 999. For non-emergency police matters, call 101.
Concerned about a child but it's not an emergency? NSPCC helpline 0808 800 5000. Childline for young people 0800 1111.
Myth: Marco Polo is just a free video-messaging app for family, so there's no in-app spending to think about.
Fact: Marco Polo offers an optional paid tier (Marco Polo Plus) with extra features on top of the free app. If your child has access to a payment method saved on the device, it's worth checking the same purchase settings you would on any app that offers in-app purchases.
Myth: My child would find out if a video got saved or shared outside the app, the way Snapchat flags a screenshot.
Fact: Marco Polo has no screenshot or screen-recording alert — a recipient can save, screen-record, or forward a video without your child or you ever being told. There is a setting that can block others from downloading or forwarding a child's videos, which is worth switching on, but treat anything recorded as potentially permanent and shareable beyond the group regardless.
Myth: Because it's video and my child is clearly recognisable on screen, the app must check who people really are before they can join a group.
Fact: There is no identity verification on Marco Polo — an account just needs an email or phone number and a self-declared birthday, so anyone, including someone posing as a relative, could set one up. Verify a new 'family member' request through another channel, such as a text or call to the actual relative, rather than trusting the name shown in the app.
At this age Marco Polo should run entirely on a parent's own account and device, with you deciding together who is in the family group before your child records anything. Think of it as a video letter you're helping them write, not an app they use independently yet.
Many children this age enjoy recording their own videos for grandparents and cousins, so it's worth agreeing on a quick habit of checking who is currently in a group before they hit record, since another adult in the family can add someone new at any time.
This is a good age to talk directly about what's visible in the background of a video — school uniform, house number, a school book with their name on it — since older children often record more freely and for longer without a parent standing nearby.
Most teenagers have moved on to WhatsApp, Snapchat, or iMessage for their day-to-day contacts by now, so if they're still using Marco Polo it's usually for a specific relative — a good moment to check the group membership hasn't quietly grown to include people they don't really know.
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