FBI Child ID Reviews

by Driver1969

The concept is good but the execution is amateurish. FBIChildID seems to have been designed by a committee of people who have never seen an iPhone. FBIChildID was not designed with data normalization in mind. There are too many ways by which a parent can enter information wrong because FBIChildID puts no constraints on data entry. Examples are birthdays can be numeric or alpha (MDY, DMY, YMD or whatever else you happen to tap in the field). Names are not in the "First M Last" format, guardian fields just say "Name". Addresses are just as undefined as names are, no field for "county", you need to enter the address multiple times. The guardian's address is just one field etc. etc.

Additionally, you can't add photos of identifying marks or the child's face in profile. The fields for things like hair and eye color or ethnicity don't have the standard names used by law enforcement, that would make it easier for them to do their job etc.

I don't think enough thought went into designing FBIChildID , but I hope somebody in the agency takes all the recommendations in the reviews and turns around an updated and improved app very soon.

Other poorly executed design elements include input fields that are blocked by the keyboard, and the option to add a child's photo only gives you the option to use a photo you snap at that moment, you can't use one already on your phone...ridiculous.

It's been over a month and no updates yet to take care of the glaring flubs in FBIChildID .

by Tltchaney

I entered all of my children’s personal information and our names, home address, phone numbers. I entered a password I commonly use and when I went to get back into FBIChildID it won’t open.

by Raissa Julissa

Don’t download!

by Tazzbjs

App does not work on my iPhone 12 Pro.

by K And E Reviews

I don’t like the idea of installing FBIChildID but I can say my child didn’t like it

by TrimbleJarrod

Why I’m the heck is there not a whole list of kids where you can see what they look like and u might stumble across a missing child and save there life but like everything the fbi does useless

by AndreasA1972

I had FBIChildID for a long time and liked the idea.
A wile back there was an update and after adding my child’s info and password protect it it won’t open back up. I have to droid it and re downloaded it, Ad loos all the data.

by Cbevans123

FBIChildID works the first time I open it and add my child. Any following tries to open FBIChildID , it glitches and closes. It’s such a poor functioning app, and it’s disappointing since it’s a false sense of security. Between this and the NCMEC app, they both glitch and are a waste of development and security.

by Meggers K

Just tried to open FBIChildID and it just keeps crashing. Never happened before. Idk what’s going on but I was a huge fan of FBIChildID until now. I was trying to go in and update my kid’s info and bam - crash, crash, crash! So annoying!

by Annelindsay

I really would have thought the FBI would come up with something much more intuitive to help find missing kids!
When traveling- the of user should be pinged and local alerts should be sent to user.
Far too many children go missing every day and this... is no solution.

by AV8VA

A great idea, but it’s poorly designed and executed. All the data apparently gets wiped out whenever there’s an update to FBIChildID or to iOS. What good is that?! I just tried to check the data on my three granddaughters and every bit of it’s GONE!
When I tried to put in a support complaint about this, I found that there is no support.
There’s no support in FBIChildID or through FBIChildID Store. When I clicked on the one Support link I found, all I got was a news article about how wonderful FBIChildID is. It isn’t.
All in all, a really half-assed job of designing, maintaining, and supporting FBIChildID by the FBI.

by Jim504

Good I dear but somethings missing. I put the information on my iPhone and it does not share the information with my iPad. This means you have to add everything including photographs on each of the devices.

by Sjworcester

Seems great idea but app won’t actually open

by Dr._Psycho_Siren

I have actually had to use this application for my autistic child but now since I upgraded to the newest iPhone and even on my husband‘s iPhone 10 FBIChildID doesn’t open. PLEASE PLEASE update FBIChildID. We have a special needs child who is an elopement risk!!!!!

by PMZ08

This is a good app, but the developers need to keep up with it. Just tried to update child info, and upon trying to launch FBIChildID , it just force closes. So I deleted it, and did a reinstall; which seemed to work as it did open when I clicked on the new install, but of course I lost all the info I have on my child. So I re-entered the info and closed out and tried to relaunch, but just forced closed again. Please fix!!!! Also, allow us to create an account so we don’t loose kids details if app is deleted due to issues and then re-install.

by StickChic

This seems like a great app and is a good idea but one huge thing is missing. FBIChildID isn't password protected. So if someone steals my phone they have easy access to all my kids' data including nicknames and where we live. Also a password would keep my kids from accidentally dialing 911 with those big red buttons on the emergency screen. I let them play with my phone all the time and an app that can do what this one does should be locked down. Also it would be cool if there was an easy way (or a tutorial maybe) to get a pic of my kids' fingerprints in there.

by Cjhill929

I was able to enter my info in the guardian 1 section, but when I went to put my husband in the guardian 2 section, the iPhone keyboard was in the way. FBIChildID would not scroll any further while the keyboard was up. I could only enter his name and phone number. No address, and also nothing in the last comment box under guardian 2. Would really like to complete the info, so please address this. And, as many have already stated, more pic uploads would be greatly appreciated.
Otherwise, great app. Hope I never need it, but glad to have it.

by Altairx98

I read the reviews and almost didn't install this. First off, any way a parent can consolidate all their children's info into one place that is obviously handy is a 5 for me.

There are now fields that address specific characteristics as well as a comment field.

It may seem elementary, however, in an emergency situation, that is what we resort to. Something simple is what is needed. Something that can easily be communicated with the critical information at your fingertips.

If nothing else, it encourages you to take a recent photo. I haven't looked too far into this, but I am assuming that you can take updated pictures of the child. Which as stated by authorities is one of thee most important things needed to help locate your child.

One update I would like to see, is an option to set a reminder to update your child's photo throughout the year. We all lead busy lives, and download many apps...this one is important and should have a reminder.

As far as kids playing on our iPhones...yes they do, but just tuck FBIChildID into "Mommy's" folder...not on the little ones game page!! Problem solved!

Thanks for creating an app that will help us help you!

by Churchy1078

I love FBIChildID, it is a great use for the iPhone and other devices. I think a great improvement would be to add a tab for entering notes about the authorities that may be handling the case, so you have one place to go to for all things about the child's case. Also making the text and number fields more user friendly would be nice. The boxes should default to capital letters and some fields could be defaulted to numbers. Otherwise FBIChildID is spot on for the FBIs first app. It is about time the government did something right!!

by Happyoutcome

A voiceprint would be a nice addition.

by IPhonalot

Very good app, but very badly needs syncing across devices: I didn't realize I'd have to re-enter all data on my iPad and my iPhone and on my wife's iPhone. We should be able to enter data ONCE and have it sync (a) across all of our synced iOS devices, and (b) to the devices of select family members who have also downloaded FBIChildID and whom we've allowed to sync, so that vital family members also have the same information handy and ready to submit in an emergency (without each having to enter and update it separately).

Also, the pictures don't "move and scale" properly -- it's very hard to do.

Finally, you can't cut-and-paste data into the data fields (e.g., repetitive addresses) -- you have to re-type the same information manually.

Otherwise, this is a good app, but I very much hope the developer reads this and corrects these flaws to make this truly worthwhile.

by Jmicue

This is a good app in theory but it needs to be improved in practice. Here is my list of needed improvements. 1. Password protect the application. 2. Allow information to be shared between users (i.e. Between parents or caregivers who both have iPhones). 3. Allow user to import image from file. 4. Allow user to list their address as the same as the child or children in FBIChildID . 5. Allow users to use the same contact information without having to re-enter it for multiple children.

by Mom2the3Ns

I give 5 stars for the idea, I agree though that some enhancements are in order - a password or pin, the ability to store SSN, Fingerprint image/ file, field specific for health/ medical concerns, and the ability to store "family" data, so you don't have to enter addresses, phone numbers and guardians for each child.

Love it!!! Provides a little more piece of mind and methodical checklist on what to do, to help you through a scary time when you won't be thinking clearly.