SAN FRANCISCO -- The social media giant is launching a messaging app for children to chat with their parents and with friends approved by their parents.

The free app is aimed at kids under the age of 13, who can't yet have their own accounts under Facebook's rules, though they often do.

Messenger Kids comes with a slew of controls for parents. The service won't let children add their own friends or delete messages, only parents can do that. Kids don't get a separate Facebook or Messenger account; rather, it's an extension of a parent's account.

Messenger Kids came out Monday in the U.S. as an app for Apple devices: the iPhone, iPad and iPod Touch. Versions for Android and Amazon's tablets are coming later.