Caribu by Mattel
August 29, 2024
More About Caribu by Mattel
Families across 200+ countries and territories connect on Caribu for immersive and activity-rich kids & family video calls, encouraging fun and educational screen-time.
The Caribu Free Plan allows you to try Caribu video calls for kids risk-free before choosing to upgrade to the Unlimited Plan. Each Caribu Unlimited plan is a Family Plan - when you subscribe to Caribu Unlimited, access to all of our features (video calls, stickers, coloring books, learning games, storybooks, etc…) will be shared with your contacts.
KEY FEATURES
• Video calling for kids & family
• Read books and draw in coloring books with your kids or grandkids in an engaging video call
• Thousands of great and award-winning children’s books and many more added weekly
• Paint, color, and draw together without the mess
• Use digital stickers to create new stories or dress up Barbie
• Play learning games such as tic-tac-toe, word search, and learning puzzles
• Cook together and enjoy child-friendly recipes
• A wide variety of coloring sheets including everything from wild animals to learn the alphabet
• Books available in multiple languages (in order of quantity): English, Spanish, French, Portuguese, Creole, Chinese, Hebrew, and Hindi.
• Search by Categories like Age Group, Grade Level, Fairy Tales, Animals, Art, Cooking, and many more.
THOUSANDS OF STORIES TO READ TOGETHER
Hear giggles and share smiles when your little one sees their favorite characters, like:
• Thomas & Friends
• Daniel Tiger
• Barbie
• Wheels on the Bus
• Goldilocks and the Three Bears
• Highlights
• Slumberkins
• Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star
• Peter Rabbit
• Snow White & the Seven Dwarfs
• The Wizard of Oz
• AND MANY MORE
TURN VIDEO CALLS INTO FAMILY ACTIVITY TIME
Enjoy Caribu’s constantly updated interactive activities section where you and the kids can color unicorns, dinosaurs, puppies, and draw on blank canvases to calm the kids and make memorable art together over video calls. Paint family masterpieces without the mess and cleanup.
PLAY GAMES TOGETHER WITH THE KIDS
Check out the activities section for coloring sheets or to solve interactive word puzzles and compete in word searches and tic-tac-toe to strengthen memory and attention for kids, grandparents, and the whole family. Check out our digital sticker packs and use them to dress up Barbie or create new worlds and stories!
CELEBRITY READ ALOUD VIDEOS ON-DEMAND
When family and friends aren’t around for a virtual playdate, kids can watch celebrities read their favorite books in our Video section. The Read-Aloud videos are on-demand so kids can watch whenever they want. We have Kevin Jonas, LeVar Burton, former NFL Players, Television Actors, Puppets, and more.
Facebook: fb.com/caribu
Instagram: @caribu
Web: caribu.com
Caribu - Bringing Families Together In Virtual Playdates
If you have any feedback, we’d love to hear from you: ask.caribu@mattel.com
————————————————————
Terms & Conditions: https://shop.mattel.com/pages/terms-conditions
Privacy Policy: https://shop.mattel.com/pages/privacy-statement
Caribu Unlimited: Subscription automatically renews unless auto-renew is turned off at least 24-hours before the end of the current period. Users will be charged for renewal within 24-hours prior to the end of the current period.
Latest Version
4.1.2
August 29, 2024
Mattel
Education
Android
987,140
Free
com.caribu.Caribu
Report a Problem
User Reviews
A Google user
5 years ago
This app is a really neat idea, but some improvements would make it better. I've tried it a couple times now with my grandkids. I have 4 grandkids in one location and 3 in another. Ideally, I'd like to conference in both sets of grandkids so that I could read to them all at once! I would love it and so would the cousins. So far, one of the big problems is we can't play it on our larger laptops so that all the kids could see the screen at a time. As it is now, they tend to fight for screen time so I can see them, but they also fight to get closer to the screen so they can see it. Then the fun time turns into not so fun. I saw a response to one review that said Caribu is working on a Windows and/or MAC OS, but would like to know an expected date.
A Google user
5 years ago
This app works great on our iPad, however it does not work well on our Samsung phone (camera is solid black despite permission granted and call volume is like a regular phone call with no option for speaker phone). Hoping to be able to use this on multiple devices soon.
Kyle Earley
2 years ago
Bluetooth headphones don't work with this app. Wish there was a way to zoom in on the pages while reading. Adult should be able to have control of screen while child can't push random buttons. Great idea, just need more features and bug fixes. Also the desktop client is useless and won't work with calling and staying connected, have to use my cell phone.
Jacob Rathjens
5 years ago
This app is great when it works - sufficiently great that I'm giving it 4 stars despite all the bugs. My kid loves being able to talk to grandparents and aunts and uncles, but isn't the best at just talking on the phone. Being able to have them read or color together is a brilliant way for them to have actual quality time together. That said, most of the time, there's some glitch with the app, most commonly where one person's video only shows up as black. We can usually resolve that by hanging up and dialing back a few times, but sometimes we just have to go with it. Additionally, if both people try to call each other at once, one person will likely hear ringing continuing. Finally, there are times where one person or the other can't interact with anything on the screen, which can result in frustration for the kids, and weird things like the call not ending (even after the app has been force quit) for grown ups. That said, completely worth it. My kid has said that its their favorite app, and they love being able to play with their family.
Ezequiel Nicholson
5 years ago
Not a bad start! I couldn't get the audio to play through my galaxy buds. I think with all the activities and books being able to make a 3 way call or more would be nice. Lots of games and books with sound and video quality. However on my son's Samsung tablet a small part of top of the activity pictures are cut off by the colors and the screen will not rotate. Looking forward to future updates!!
A Google user
6 years ago
Once I figured out how to use it, Caribu has been a wonderful aid to maintaining my relationship with my distant grandchildren. We enjoy reading books together and discussing them. The documentation is not thorough enough, but eventually I got Caribu working. Technical support questions are answered quickly and courteously. I do hope the library of books will be expanded, because we plan to read a lot together. Thank you for producing this app for Android!
Emily Mecham
3 years ago
Developers. When you have someone create a password, you must apply the same parameters to the create a password field as to the actual password field. In other words, if someone creates a password it should fail to save as it would fail to log them in. It should not allow them to save it and then not allow them to log in, forcing the person to have to reset their password an ungodly amount of times. On that note. Please make your password reset links individual to each request.
Erica Lane
5 years ago
When this app works, it is WONDERFUL and my niece keeps requesting caribu calls with me. The android version of the app is worthless, however, and I haven't been able to use caribu except when I borrow my mom's iPhone. On my new android and on my 7 year old iPad, I am unable to sign in and the app crashes frequently, to the point of not being able to use it at all. Totally frustrating experience. You will love caribu if you have a new-ish apple device, otherwise don't bother downloading.
A Google user
5 years ago
Connecting issues... I'm unable to connect with family members. When we call each other it doesn't connect and when we do, the app closes. The concept of this app seemed really cool. Even tried uninstalling and installing it on different devices, which was a bit much but wanted to try. Waste of time.
A Google user
5 years ago
This app is unfortunately riddled with glitches. My spouse and I attempt to use it to read to our children while one of us is away, but it so rarely works. Usually we end up with a disappointed and crying child and frustration at an app that crashes, or won't let you answer the call, or doesn't ring at the other end. Attempted on android, iOS, and a mix, same results. It's good if it ever works, that's just so rare. We've contacted support, they can sometimes help, others not.
Maureen Suhendra
5 years ago
We love the idea of this app and we tried to make it work multiple times, but it was such a frustrating experience! Our calls kept getting dropped, we weren't able to see the library or activities (just the loading Thomas train), and the search function is super buggy. We made sure internet connections were good on both ends. Very disappointing.
Cheryl Bennett-Honea
4 years ago
I was so excited when I heard about this app. I haven't seen my grands in a year due to COVID so I thought this would be a great way to connect with my 3 year old grandson. We did the trial version and it worked great so I purchased a year. We use it once a week for Nana time but it's got major issues. We have to call back multiple times during the hour due to freezing or the content not loading. He loves to color but it's takes multiple tries to get the colors working. Many times he says he can't hear me so I have to call back. The idea of this app is amazing - the use of it is very frustrating. I see where you say you've upgraded it recently but it hasn't improved these issues.
Meredith Stone
4 years ago
Caribu started off as an answer to grandparent connection in a pandemic, and I recommended it a lot. However, recently, it drops calls multiple times in a single 30-minute window -- we're talking every 5 min or so it drops the call, until we give up and switch to zoom. I think it's become too popular and isn't able to keep up with the bandwidth as it has grown and become more publicized. It needs to be acquired by a big SW company that can fix quality issues stat!!!
Shanti Fitch
1 year ago
It's a great idea, cute stories, and mostly user-friendly. But the amount of dropped calls (sometimes over and over) is having us searching for a better app. When you spend half an hour starting a call and then disconnecting over and over again, every single time you use the app, it makes the experience frustrating. Grandparents, parents, and kids are usually grumpy by the end. Not worth it.
A Google user
5 years ago
The big problem here is a lot of the content fails to render in a useful way, even the featured books like Thomas and the Dinosaur render each page separately, so text is a on one page, and an important illustration on the next. Landscape mode which could be ideal, is even worse, with text off screen. Either improve the app, or curate the content better, dissappointed.
Ashe Haphey
2 years ago
Needs improvement for a paid service app. Major: -Calls are tricky to connect sometimes and the app freezes a lot -books absolutely need filters (language, religious, age, brands) (EDITED, categories exist on the home screen) Minor: -Love the touch indicator, but it does not work on the last page of a book -display is not optimized for screen: on our tablet the call page never fully shows -in full screen video call, own video won't display. Best: one paid account let's lots of family join!
A Google user
5 years ago
It a good ideal . I can't call my gson with it unless he already had his app open which he doesn't, he could call me. I have a Samsung 8plus. I had signed up for yr. Subs. After checking several times to fix it. They say my version is 8 versions behind, but its the one I just downloaded and shows no updates. I got a refund. I had found (cancel subscription) but it does not refund what has not been used, It just stops auto renewal? THEY DID TAKE CARE OF ME. Always replied and helpfully.
Mark S. Barnes, Jr.
3 years ago
This app is great when it works, but it's been super inconsistent. It's very buggy, which makes it a challenge to connect with less techy grandparents. Takes ages to register clicks, lots of bugs when trying to call out. Tried to set up a story time with the grandparents this evening, and the "read together" button wasn't appearing. Feeling some buyer's remorse for getting the subscription.
Paula Lowe
4 years ago
There is good and bad news. The good news is my long distance 3 year old granddaughter loves the app. She asks to read books on line with us all the time. It has really helped us feel connected. The app itself is not great. It doesn't always load. Our voice will go in and out so my granddaughter doesn't hear us. It is a bit tricky to find books and games in her age range. With more refinement this could be excellent. I love it and find it frustrating.
Nicole Shuster
4 years ago
Great when it works. Unfortunately, even with a subscription we find major issues. Often my 5-year-old cannot see his grandparents, just a white square. Games and books get stuck on the loading screen. It's a shame, as when it works it's great. But it's so spotty, I probably won't renew my subscription unless it's on sale again or they fix all the bugs.
