A user can ‘Meet New People’ to chat with strangers or they can search for public groups on different topics such as gaming, art or food. However, the search results include groups, which use very explicit imagery as their profile picture and share pornographic content. There are prominent adverts at the top of the app including adverts for 18+ apps.
Kik has no parental controls but its safety settings include the ability for a user to decide who can send them chat requests. A user can prevent people from using their phone or email address to find them.
*Despite the Terms of Service suggesting the minimum age is 13, to create an account, a user needs to give an 18+ date of birth.
