We all adore YouTube. We enjoy the vast digital content selection it offers us. But at times the content can be only shown to mature audiences, which is why the online video juggernaut has unveiled a new application for children.
The new app – called YouTube Kids – will feature original episodes of kid-friendly television shows, including “Sesame Street” and “Thomas the Tank Engine,” and videos from channels geared towards children that are already featured prominently by the Google-owned website.
YouTube Kids will run on smartphones and tablets. Unfortunately for Apple owners, the latest app will only be available for mobile devices running Google’s Android mobile operating system. This means the app won’t run on the iPad. It remains unknown as to when an iOS version of the app will be made available to the general public.
It will be free and will operate as a separate entity from the main YouTube mobile app. The app will maintain a kid-friendly design, including minimal scrolling, gigantic icons and colors. The app will provide safeguards – for instance, if a child types in the word “sex” then a message will pop up informing the user to “Try something else.”
Also, it will offer an array of features for parents, such as a time to monitor and limit how much content kids consume so when the child exceeds the limit the app will shut off automatically.
“Parents were constantly asking us, can you make YouTube a better place for our kids,” said Shimrit Ben-Yair, the project’s group product manager, in an interview with USA Today. “(Year over year) we’ve seen 50% growth in viewing time on YouTube, but for our family entertainment channels, it’s more like 200%.”
It’s a smart move, says one media analyst, who alludes to the fact that children go through their parent’s smartphone all the time.
“Kids are now going online through their own personal devices and it is difficult for parents to control what they have access to,” Ian Maude, online media analyst at Enders Analysis, told CNBC. “They are acknowledging that kids want YouTube and parents want their kids to be safe. It is a smart move.”
The app, which has been rumored for more than a year now, will launch Feb. 23.
