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app-icons-Yubo

Yubo

Yubo (previously called Yellow) is a free social network that lets you connect and chat to new people. Users can swipe right on someone else’s profile to ‘like’ them, and swipe left to pass on to see other people’s profiles. You can direct message, video chat and livestream. You can also introduce your friends to others by using a profile sharing feature.

13+

Official age rating

18+

Net Aware age recommendation

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Our safety ratings

Overall safety rating:

Our overall rating for Yubo

Poor

Yubo has a number of features and settings available that can help keep your child safe on the app. They also use a tool to ensure 13-17 year olds and users who are 18+ can’t communicate with one another.

However, you should be aware that the main focus of Yubo is to connect with others around the world, predominantly by live streaming. It also uses features that are very similar to those used on adult dating apps, such as swiping people you like. Therefore, there is a high risk your child could speak to someone they don’t know and/or come across something inappropriate. There is also a feature that lets you share your location and connect you to people locally.

Yubo recently introduced in-app currency, YuBucks, which can be purchased as one-off individual amounts or a monthly subscription. YuBucks can be used on Spotlights (to feature at the top of the online section), Boosts (to push a live stream to the top of the lives feed) and Turbos (to boost your user profile on Swipe for 30 minutes). These functions give a user greater visibility in order to meet more people.

Safety features

When signing up for Yubo you have to enter a date of birth, your gender and telephone number. You then have to enter your location and agree to the Community Guidelines. As part of the sign-up process Yubo uses your photo to verify your age using the Yoti service via Yoti's Age Scan service. If your account is flagged as suspicious, you can download the Yoti app to verify your age and therefore receive a yellow 'tick' on your account profile.

There are no parental controls or safety features available on Yubo. However, they do have information for parents in Settings.

Privacy & location

Other users can see your nickname, age, profile picture and gender. Additionally, users can turn 'use my location' and 'hide my city' off within Settings.

The Swipe feature is used to accept/reject new friends, in the style of the adult dating app Tinder. Users can choose to hide their profile data:

  • Go to profile
  • Click on settings
  • Manage swipe.

 

Reporting & blocking

You can easily block other users on Yubo. However, there is no way to report individual pieces of content. This means it’s harder for moderators to remove content that breaks their community guidelines.

Content

We didn’t come across any inappropriate or harmful content while exploring the app. Yubo use a combination of filters and human moderators to help remove inappropriate content from being shared on the app. They also say they use AI to detect things such as nudity or inappropriate clothing within live streams, however it is not currently possible to review the effectiveness of this technology.

There are a number of reports online likening Yubo to a dating app. For this reason, we think there would be a high risk your child could come across something inappropriate on the app and don’t recommend for under 18s.

O2 Guru top tip

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On Yubo location settings

Show your child how to report or block other users if they see anything inappropriate. Remind them they can talk to you about anything online.

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Safeguarding tips

Yubo lets you connect with people you don’t know on the app. They do have a separate community for 13-17 year olds to make sure they aren’t speaking to adults.

However, we don’t think this feature is suitable for under 18s because it means they could be at higher risk of being sent something inappropriate and talking to people they don’t know.


Take your child through Childline’s staying safe online page so you can talk about the risks and how to stay safe.

If you do decide to let your child use Yubo, we recommend exploring it together.

Talk about what you think is appropriate and what worries you but also listen to what your child thinks about the app. Be open and honest and take the time to listen.

You can also take this time to create some rules for using the app so that you both feel comfortable.

Your child might receive upsetting or negative things from other users on Yubo. If this happens, they might want to report or block them.

Yubo has specific guidance on how to block and report

And remember to let your child know that they can always talk to you about worrying things they see online

Help your child think about what they share online and who sees it. Compare it to what they would be happy to share offline.

Use examples that are easy for them to understand: “You shouldn't give your number to somebody you don't know on the street. Is somebody online you don't know any different?”

Listen to their answers. And be positive and encouraging.

Remind them that they shouldn’t share private things, such as:

  • personal information, like names, emails, phone numbers, location and school names
  • other people's personal information
  • links to join private group chats
  • photos of themselves
  • photos of their body, such as sexual photos or videos.

Yubo has a section of their website dedicated to the safety tools they offer Take the time to read these and discuss them with your child.

Yubo also has information on how parents can report concerning content relating to their child.

Explain that you understand the internet is a great place to play, create, learn and connect. But remind them they can talk to you if anything upsets or worries them.

Reassure them that you won’t overreact – you’re just looking out for them.

It’s important to remind your child that they can talk you, another adult they trust, like a teacher, or Childline about anything they see online.

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Talking to your child

Having open, regular conversations with your child will help you to really understand and explore the online world together. Our tips and advice can help you start these conversations.

Talk about staying safe online

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