Posts Tagged: Kids

Bipartisan Senate group reintroduces a revised Kids Online Safety Act

US Senators Richard Blumenthal (D-CT) and Marsha Blackburn (R-TN) reintroduced a bill today that would put the onus on social media companies to add online safeguards for children. The Kids Online Safety Act (KOSA) was first introduced last February (sponsored by the same pair) but never made it to the Senate floor after backlash from advocacy groups. The revamped legislation “provides specific tools to stop Big Tech companies from driving toxic content at kids and to hold them accountable for putting profits over safety,” said Blumenthal. It follows a separate bill introduced last month with a similar aim.

Like the original KOSA, the updated bill would require annual independent audits by “experts and academic researchers” to force regulation-averse social media companies to address the online dangers posed to children. However, the updated legislation attempts to address the concerns that led to its previous iteration’s downfall, namely that its overly broad nature could do more harm than good by requiring surveillance and censorship of young users. The EFF described the February 2022 bill as “a heavy-handed plan to force platforms to spy on young people” that “fails to properly distinguish between harmful and non-harmful content, leaving politically motivated state attorneys general with the power to define what harms children. One of the primary fears is that states could use the flimsy definitions to ban content for political gain.”

The rewritten bill adds new protections for services like the National Suicide Hotline, LGBTQ+ youth centers and substance-abuse organizations to avoid being unnecessarily harmed. In addition, it would make social platforms give minors options to safeguard their information, turn off addictive features and opt out of algorithmic recommendations. (Social platforms would have to enable the strongest settings by default.) It would also give parents “new controls to help support their children and identify harmful behaviors” while offering children “a dedicated channel to report harms” on the platform. Additionally, it would specifically ban the promotion of suicide, eating disorders, substance abuse, sexual exploitation and the use of “unlawful products for minors” like gambling, drugs and alcohol. Finally, it would require social companies to provide “academic and public interest organizations” with data to help them research social media’s effects on the safety and well-being of minors.

The American Psychological Association, Common Sense Media and other advocacy groups support the updated bill. It has 26 cosponsors from both parties, including lawmakers ranging from Dick Durbin (D-IL) and Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI) to Chuck Grassley (R-IA) and Lindsey Graham (R-SC). Blackburn told CNBC today that Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) is “a hundred percent behind this bill and efforts to protect kids online.”

Despite the Senators’ renewed optimism about passing the bill, some organizations believe it’s still too broad to avoid a negative net impact. “The changes made to the bill do not at all address our concerns,” Evan Greer, director of digital rights advocacy group Fight For the Future, said in an emailed statement to Engadget. “If Senator Blumenthal’s office had been willing to meet with us, we could have explained why. I can see where changes were made that attempt to address the concerns, but they fail to do so. Even with the new changes, this bill will allow extreme right-wing attorneys general to dictate what content platforms can recommend to younger users.”

The ACLU also opposes the resurrected bill. “KOSA’s core approach still threatens the privacy, security and free expression of both minors and adults by deputizing platforms of all stripes to police their users and censor their content under the guise of a ‘duty of care,’” ACLU Senior Policy Counsel Cody Venzke toldCNBC. “To accomplish this, the bill would legitimize platforms’ already pervasive data collection to identify which users are minors when it should be seeking to curb those data abuses. Moreover, parental guidance in minors’ online lives is critical, but KOSA would mandate surveillance tools without regard to minors’ home situations or safety. KOSA would be a step backward in making the internet a safer place for children and minors.”

Blumenthal argues that the bill was “very purposely narrowed” to prevent harm. “I think we’ve met that kind of suggestion very directly and effectively,” he said at a press conference. “Obviously, our door remains open. We’re willing to hear and talk to other kinds of suggestions that are made. And we have talked to many of the groups that had great criticism and a number have actually dropped their opposition, as I think you’ll hear in response to today’s session. So I think our bill is clarified and improved in a way that meets some of the criticism. We’re not going to solve all of the problems of the world with a single bill. But we are making a measurable, very significant start.”

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/bipartisan-senate-group-reintroduces-a-revised-kids-online-safety-act-212117992.html?src=rss
Engadget is a web magazine with obsessive daily coverage of everything new in gadgets and consumer electronics

Fitbit is reportedly working on a game-changing wearable for kids

Fitbit and Google are reportedly working on a wearable code-named Project Eleven that’s designed to help kids with phone and social media usage.
Digital Trends

The best phones for kids in 2022

Finding a cell phone for your kid is challenging. Check out our selection of the best cell phones for kids, so you can find the right device for your child.
Digital Trends

Samsung’s rugged Galaxy Tab A7 Lite Kids Edition launches on AT&T for $7 monthly

Just in time for the holiday shopping season is Samsung’s Galaxy Tab A7 Lite Kids Edition which, as you can probably guess from the model name, is aimed at kids. That being said, it retains the ability to be useful for grown-ups who can toggle out of ‘kids mode’ and use it like a normal […]

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Choosing my kid’s first phone came with serious consequences

When my daughter was born 13 years ago, I never thought that choosing her technology platform would become one of those potentially life-altering decisions.
Mobile | Digital Trends

Which kids apps collect the most data?

Many kids use apps on a daily basis, but how much data are these apps really collecting — and which kids apps collect the most data? We find out.
Mobile | Digital Trends

Why kids are getting addicted to digital media

A new study found that children’s media use has grown more in the last two years than in the four years prior.
Mobile | Digital Trends

The best tablets for kids in 2022

Tablets aren’t just for adults. Here’s our list of the best tablets for kids for education and entertainment — which also allow you control over the content.
Android | Digital Trends

Best StoryTime Apps for Kids in 2020

I think we can all agree that storytime with your kids provides great opportunities for bonding and fostering a love for literacy in your child’s life. What isn’t always a great time, however, is reading the same story countless times over. If you’re looking to put a fresh spin on storytelling, we recommend checking out […]

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FDA approves first automated insulin system for kids

Testing blood sugar frequently and administering insulin as needed throughout the day isn’t easy, especially if the individual with diabetes is a young child who can’t do it on their own yet. Now, there’s an FDA-sanctioned device that could make thin…
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Xbox Family Settings app sets limits on your kids’ game time

Microsoft is doing more to keep tabs on your kids’ digital habits. It just released the preview version of an Xbox Family Settings app for Android and 10,000 iOS users that manages what, when and how children play on Xbox consoles. You can set time l…
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YouTube Kids is now on Apple TV

YouTube’s dedicated app for kids is now out for download from the App Store on Apple TV, so long as it’s available in your region. It works on both the 4K and the HD versions of the device, and you can use the Siri Remote to fire it up by saying “Hey…
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Better protecting kids’ privacy on YouTube

Last September, we announced a series of changes to better protect kids and their privacy on YouTube and to address concerns raised by the U.S. Federal Trade Commission (FTC). Specifically, that all creators will be required to designate their content as made for kids or not made for kids in YouTube Studio, and data from anyone watching a video designated as made for kids will be treated as coming from a child, regardless of the age of the user.

In November, we released a setting in Studio to make it easier for creators to designate their content. And today, we will begin to roll out these changes globally. We wanted to outline what you will start to see in the coming days.

What is made for kids content?

According to the FTC, a video is made for kids if it is intended for kids, taking into consideration a variety of factors. These factors include the subject matter of the video, whether the video has an emphasis on kids characters, themes, toys or games, and more.

To help us identify made for kids content, in November we introduced a new audience setting in YouTube Studio to help creators indicate whether or not their content is made for kids. Creators know their content best, and should set the designation themselves. We also use machine learning to help us identify this content, and creators can update a designation made by our systems if they believe it is incorrect. We will only override a creator designation if abuse or error is detected.

An updated experience for made for kids content

YouTube now treats personal information from anyone watching children’s content on the platform as coming from a child, regardless of the age of the user. This means that on videos made for kids, we limit data collection and use, and as a result, we need to restrict or disable some product features. For example, we no longer serve personalized ads on this content or support features such as comments, live chat, notification bell, stories, save to playlist, and others.

Many creators around the world have created quality kids content for their audiences, and these changes will have significant impact. We’re committed to helping creators navigate this new landscape and to supporting our ecosystem of family content. We’ll share more in the coming months. In the meantime, we continue to engage on this issue. For example, we participated in the FTC’s public workshop and submitted our comment on COPPA, where we discussed the importance of clear guidelines that help creators live up to their legal obligations and support access to quality kids content.

Continued investment in YouTube Kids

We still recommend parents use YouTube Kids if they plan to allow kids under 13 to watch independently. In fact, tens of millions of people use YouTube Kids every week, and recently we saw an all-time high of weekly viewers since the app’s launch. Starting today, you will see a YouTube Kids promotion across all made for kids content. We also continue to improve the product. For example, we recently launched signed-in support for YouTube Kids on the web and connected devices  such as smart TVs  so parents can now access and control their child’s YouTube Kids experience across even more surfaces.

Responsibility is our number one priority at YouTube, and this includes protecting kids and their privacy. We’ve been significantly investing in the policies, products and practices to help us do this. Today’s changes allow us to do this even better and we’ll continue working to provide children, families and family creators the best experience possible on YouTube.

— The YouTube Team


YouTube Blog

Amazon bolsters its ecosystem for kids and parents with new Kids Edition tablets and FreeTime on Fire TV

The Kids Edition tablets have always been a pretty important part of Amazon’s lineup, but that’s getting turned up to 11 with today’s announcements. Not only did Amazon announce some refreshed regular Fire tablets, but they revealed a Kindle Kids Edition and Fire HD 10 Kids Edition, and announced that FreeTime will be coming to […]

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An update on kids and data protection on YouTube

Responsibility is our number one priority at YouTube, and nothing is more important than protecting kids and their privacy. We’ve been significantly investing in the policies, products and practices to help us do this. From its earliest days, YouTube has been a site for people over 13, but with a boom in family content and the rise of shared devices, the likelihood of children watching without supervision has increased. We’ve been taking a hard look at areas where we can do more to address this, informed by feedback from parents, experts, and regulators, including COPPA concerns raised by the U.S. Federal Trade Commission and the New York Attorney General that we are addressing with a settlement announced today.

New data practices for children’s content on YouTube

We are changing how we treat data for children’s content on YouTube. Starting in about four months, we will treat data from anyone watching children’s content on YouTube as coming from a child, regardless of the age of the user. This means that we will limit data collection and use on videos made for kids only to what is needed to support the operation of the service. We will also stop serving personalized ads on this content entirely, and some features will no longer be available on this type of content, like comments and notifications. In order to identify content made for kids, creators will be required to tell us when their content falls in this category, and we’ll also use machine learning to find videos that clearly target young audiences, for example those that have an emphasis on kids characters, themes, toys, or games.

Improvements to YouTube Kids

We continue to recommend parents use YouTube Kids if they plan to allow kids under 13 to watch independently. Tens of millions of people use YouTube Kids every week but we want even more parents to be aware of the app and its benefits. We’re increasing our investments in promoting YouTube Kids to parents with a campaign that will run across YouTube. We’re also continuing to improve the product. For example, we recently raised the bar for which channels can be a part of YouTube Kids, drastically reducing the number of channels on the app. And we’re bringing the YouTube Kids experience to the desktop.

Investing in family creators

We know these changes will have a significant business impact on family and kids creators who have been building both wonderful content and thriving businesses, so we’ve worked to give impacted creators four months to adjust before changes take effect on YouTube. We recognize this won’t be easy for some creators and are committed to working with them through this transition and providing resources to help them better understand these changes.

We are also going to continue investing in the future of quality kids, family and educational content. We are establishing a $ 100 million fund, disbursed over three years, dedicated to the creation of thoughtful, original children’s content on YouTube and YouTube Kids globally.

Training our teams

Championing the protections we have in place for children is a shared responsibility across the company. To that end, we are introducing new, mandatory annual training for our teams about our requirements in this area.

Today’s changes will allow us to better protect kids and families on YouTube, and this is just the beginning. We’ll continue working with lawmakers around the world in this area, including as the FTC seeks comments on COPPA. And in the coming months, we’ll share details on how we’re rethinking our overall approach to kids and families, including a dedicated kids experience on YouTube. I have the privilege of working alongside parents who deeply care about protecting kids. We know how important it is to provide children, families and family creators the best experience possible on YouTube and we are committed to getting it right.

Susan Wojcicki


YouTube Blog

NASA starts accepting kids’ name suggestions for its Mars 2020 rover

If you're a student who's been mulling over names for the Mars 2020 rover, it's now your time to shine. NASA has started accepting short essays from K-12 students who want to give the robotic explorer a proper identity. You'll have until November 1…
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Nike rolls out a subscription service for kids’ sneakers

Whether for streaming, productivity software, health-tracking apps, clothing or deliveries, companies are increasingly adopting a subscription model to keep customers hooked and bring in revenue. The latest to join the fray is Nike, which on Monday u…
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New tools for parents and content for older kids in the YouTube Kids app

We believe that no two families are the same — and that their needs are ever-changing as they grow up. That’s why we are committed to building YouTube Kids in a way that offers kids the content they love and grown-ups the tools to customize the app as they see fit. Today we’re excited to launch two updates we think families will really enjoy: parent-approved content and a new experience for older kids.

First, we’re following up on our April announcement and sharing that we’ve launched parent-approved content. This highly requested parental control allows parents to handpick every video and channel available to their child in the app. It is available today globally on Android and coming soon to iOS.

For parents who want to enable this feature, open settings, go to the child’s profile and select “approved content only.” Now they’re ready to start picking videos for their kids.

Parents can choose any video, channel or collection of channels they like by tapping the “+” button. Parents can also search for a specific creator or video. If parents choose to enable this mode, their kids will not be able to search for content on their own.

What’s more, YouTube Kids is growing up with our users. We have launched a new experience geared toward 8-12 year olds that includes additional new content, like popular music and gaming videos. If parents think their kids are ready, they can pick this “Older” version when setting up a new profile or updating an existing profile. The “Younger” version is the default content experience and will continue to have a wide selection of sing-alongs and age-appropriate learning videos. Parents can change between “Younger,” “Older” and parent-approved content at any time. We’ve started to roll out the new older experience in the U.S. with plans to expand globally.

We work hard to make videos in the app family friendly, but no system is perfect. It’s always possible that a parent may find something they don’t want their child to watch in the “Younger” or “Older” experiences. If this happens, we ask that parents block and flag the video for review by our team. This makes YouTube Kids better for everyone.

As we continue to receive feedback from parents and turn that feedback into improvements to the YouTube Kids app, we hope that all families and kids can create the experience they want!

Happy watching from our family to yours,

James Beser, Product Director for YouTube Kids, recently viewed “Water Bottle Flip 2” from Dude Perfect


YouTube Blog

Amazon Fire HD 8 and Fire HD Kids Edition announced

Amidst some of the big smartphone announcements being made this time of year, Amazon has announced a couple new products as part of their portfolio. “New” might be a bit of a stretch though as the new Amazon Fire HD 8 and Amazon Fire HD 8 Kids Edition really just represent a refresh of existing […]

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Introducing new choices for parents to further customize YouTube Kids

When we launched the YouTube Kids app three years ago, our goal was to give kids around the world a place to access videos that were enriching, engaging and allowed them to explore their endless interests.

Since then, our team has continued to work to improve the app experience for kids and families around the world. One area of focus has been building new features that give parents even more control around the content available in the YouTube Kids app so they can make the right choice for their unique family and for each child within their family.

We are excited to announce that throughout the year, we will be rolling out three new options in YouTube Kids:

  • Collections by trusted partners and YouTube Kids: Starting this week, our partners and the YouTube Kids team will offer collections of trusted channels on a variety of subjects from arts & crafts and music to sports, learning, and so much more. This makes it easy for parents to select only the channel collections and topics they want their kids to access. Just go into Profile Settings, and select from available collections such as Sesame Workshop and PBS KIDS. We will continue to add more partners over time.
  • Parent approved content: Parents know better than anyone what they want their children to watch. For those parents who want even more control over the videos and channels in the YouTube Kids app, we’re rolling out a feature later this year that will allow parents to specifically handpick every video and channel available to their child in the app.
  • Improved search-off control for an even more contained experience: Parents have always been able to turn search off within the YouTube Kids app, but starting this week turning search off will limit the YouTube Kids experience to channels that have been verified by the YouTube Kids team. This means that search off will not include recommendations from the broader YouTube Kids corpus.

For parents who like the current version of YouTube Kids and want a wider selection of content, it’s still available. While no system is perfect, we continue to fine-tune, rigorously test and improve our filters for this more open version of our app. And, as always, we encourage parents to block and flag videos for review that they don’t think should be in the YouTube Kids app. This makes YouTube Kids better for everyone.

It is our hope that these additional options will allow every family to have the experience they want in the YouTube Kids app.

James Beser, Product Director for YouTube Kids, recently watched “Photosynthesis for Kids” on the Kids Learning Tube channel with his 2nd grade daughter.


YouTube Blog

5 ways we’re toughening our approach to protect families on YouTube and YouTube Kids

In recent months, we’ve noticed a growing trend around content on YouTube that attempts to pass as family-friendly, but is clearly not. While some of these videos may be suitable for adults, others are completely unacceptable, so we are working to remove them from YouTube. Here’s what we’re doing:

  1. Tougher application of our Community Guidelines and faster enforcement through technology: We have always had strict policies against child endangerment, and we partner closely with regional authorities and experts to help us enforce these policies and report to law enforcement through NCMEC. In the last couple of weeks we expanded our enforcement guidelines around removing content featuring minors that may be endangering a child, even if that was not the uploader’s intent. In the last week we terminated over 50 channels and have removed thousands of videos under these guidelines, and we will continue to work quickly to remove more every day. We also implemented policies to age-restrict (only available to people over 18 and logged in) content with family entertainment characters but containing mature themes or adult humor. To help surface potentially violative content, we are applying machine learning technology and automated tools to quickly find and escalate for human review.
  2. Removing ads from inappropriate videos targeting families: Back in June, we posted an update to our advertiser-friendly guidelines making it clear that we will remove ads from any content depicting family entertainment characters engaged in violent, offensive, or otherwise inappropriate behavior, even if done for comedic or satirical purposes. Since June, we’ve removed ads from 3M videos under this policy and we’ve further strengthened the application of that policy to remove ads from another 500K violative videos.
  3. Blocking inappropriate comments on videos featuring minors: We have historically used a combination of automated systems and human flagging and review to remove inappropriate sexual or predatory comments on videos featuring minors. Comments of this nature are abhorrent and we work with NCMEC to report illegal behavior to law enforcement. Starting this week we will begin taking an even more aggressive stance by turning off all comments on videos of minors where we see these types of comments.
  4. Providing guidance for creators who make family-friendly content: We’ve created a platform for people to view family-friendly content — YouTube Kids. We want to help creators produce quality content for the YouTube Kids app, so in the coming weeks we will release a comprehensive guide on how creators can make enriching family content for the app.
  5. Engaging and learning from experts: While there is some content that clearly doesn’t belong on YouTube, there is other content that is more nuanced or challenging to make a clear decision on. For example, today, there are many cartoons in mainstream entertainment that are targeted towards adults, and feature characters doing things we wouldn’t necessarily want children to see. Those may be OK for YouTube.com, or if we require the viewer to be over 18, but not for someone younger. Similarly, an adult dressed as a popular family character could be questionable content for some audiences, but could also be meant for adults recorded at a comic book convention. To help us better understand how to treat this content, we will be growing the number of experts we work with, and doubling the number of Trusted Flaggers we partner with in this area.

Across the board we have scaled up resources to ensure that thousands of people are working around the clock to monitor, review and make the right decisions across our ads and content policies. These latest enforcement changes will take shape over the weeks and months ahead as we work to tackle this evolving challenge. We’re wholly committed to addressing these issues and will continue to invest the engineering and human resources needed to get it right. As a parent and as a leader in this organization, I’m determined that we do.

Johanna Wright, Vice President of Product Management at YouTube


YouTube Blog

Introducing kid profiles, new parental controls, and a new exciting look for kids, which will begin rolling out today!

After talking to parents all over, we know that kids who love the YouTube Kids app are getting older and want a platform that’ll grow with them. Whether kids are watching Monster High, DC Kids, LEGO, learning their ABCs, or picking up the latest tricks in Minecraft, we want YouTube Kids to help. Here’s what’s new with YouTube Kids:

When you sign in with your Google account, you get:

  • Kid profiles to customize your kids’ experience: Now you can create a profile for each of your kids. Even better, kid profiles work across all different devices!
  • App design tailored to your kid’s age: When you enter a date of birth on the kid profile, YouTube Kids changes the way the app looks. Younger kids will get less text, while older kids will get more content on the home screens.
  • A new setup process: The new app parent setup process will give you detailed information to help you make the right choices for your family before your kids use the app.
  • Passcode for kids: Kids can set a secret passcode to get into their profile (and keep their brother or sister out). Don’t worry, you can always override their passcode.

Remember, our systems work hard to filter out more mature content from the app. But no system is perfect. If you find a video that you think should not be in the app, you can block it and flag it for review. This helps make YouTube Kids better for everyone.

YouTube Kids is now live in 37 countries, has more than 70 billion views in the app, and more than 11 million weekly active viewers.

We’re looking at ways to build an even better experience for families. Coming soon, we’ll give parents the option to have more content available in the app experience for their child. Our team is working to identify the most relevant content categories for tweens to make the app even more awesome.

*Not available in all markets. Kid profiles are available in the following markets: Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Canada, Chile, Colombia, Ghana, India, Jamaica, Japan, Kenya, Malaysia, Mexico, Nepal, New Zealand, Nigeria, Pakistan, Peru, Philippines, Singapore, South Africa, South Korea, Sri Lanka, Tanzania, Uganda, United States, Zimbabwe.

Balaji Srinivasan, YouTube Kids Engineering Director, recently watched Can you solve the magnet riddle? ft YouTube CEO Susan Wojcicki.


YouTube Blog

‘Coding Jam’ uses musical blocks to teach kids programming concepts

Last year, Osmo expanded its iPad-based children's learning system with a program that teaches kids to code by linking tangible tiles with on-screen commands. Now the company's expanded its platform with Coding Jam, an add-on that assigns musical ton…
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The YouTube Kids app is now available on even more screens!

Love using the YouTube Kids app on your phone and tablet? Well, we’re excited to announce that now you can enjoy your favorite videos on select smart TVs too!

Since launching just over two years ago, the YouTube Kids app has become the go-to destination for families around the world with more than 30 billion views and over 8 million weekly active viewers. Starting today, the YouTube Kids app will be available on LG, Samsung, and Sony smart TVs in the 26 countries where the app is currently launched*.

We’ve heard from families that they love watching videos on all their devices so bringing the entertaining and enriching content of YouTube Kids to the biggest personal screen (your TV!) seemed like the perfect fit.

The YouTube Kids app is the first Google product built from the ground up with kids in mind. The app makes it easier for kids to find videos on topics they want to explore. Whether it’s searching for science experiments, watching a favorite cartoon, or simply watching your favorite creator’s new videos, there is something for everyone!

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The YouTube Kids app will be available on the following television sets: all 2015 – 2017 LG webOS TVs via the LG content store, all 2013 – 2017 Samsung Smart TVs and Blu-Ray Players that have access to the Samsung App Store, and after a firmware update on 2016-2017 Sony TVs (with the exception of Android TV, which will be available soon). Happy viewing from our family to yours!

*Countries where the YouTube Kids App is available: United States, United Kingdom, Ireland, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Argentina, Colombia, Mexico, Chile, Peru, Spain, Brazil, Russia, Nigeria, Kenya, South Africa, Ghana, Uganda, Zimbabwe, Tanzania, Malaysia, Philippines, India, Singapore, and France. The availability of the YouTube Kids app in these countries is dependent on the individual television manufacturer

AJ Crane, Product Manager for YouTube Kids, recently watched “Kings of Atlantis” on YouTube Red


YouTube Blog

Victory for parents! Amazon to refund $70M of in-app purchases made by kids

Following several years of legal wrangling, Amazon has finally agreed to reimburse customers for unauthorized in-app purchases made mostly by children. The payout could total a whopping $ 70 million.

The post Victory for parents! Amazon to refund $ 70M of in-app purchases made by kids appeared first on Digital Trends.

Mobile–Digital Trends

‘Family Link’ app gives kids their own child-safe Google accounts

For some time, child-proofing your tech meant using kid-specific login profiles to wall-off your progeny into the most harmless corners of your tablet. That's hardly a delicate or complex safety setup. Google has released an app, Family Link, that le…
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YouTube Kids turns 2 and there’s lots to celebrate!

Since launching two years ago, YouTube Kids has grown up a lot and become a go-to destination for families around the world. With over 30 billion views in the app to date and over 8 million active viewers enjoying the app each week, it’s been exciting to see kids fall in love with the storytelling and videos from our amazing global creators. From DIY tutorials and language learning to science experiments, magic tricks and animated shows, there truly is something for every family to explore!

Our Original Content team under Susanne Daniels is adding four new Original series to YouTube Red, created especially with the YouTube Kids app in mind. These new series will feature top creators: DanTDM , Joe and Cody of TheAtlanticCraft, popular tween music act L2M, and Fruit Ninja. This marks the first time YouTube Red has invested in creators who are producing original programming for family audiences. These series will debut starting in the spring. Additional shows are in development and will premiere throughout 2017.

The first of the new original series launching starting this spring include:

  • Hyperlinked: This series is inspired by a true story and stars music sensation L2M. It follows five girls as they come together to create their own website by girls for girls. They also must navigate everyday tween issues involving friends and relationships.
  • DanTDM Creates A Big Scene: Catch DanTDM and his lively group of animated friends as they battle mayhem and misadventure to keep their brand new live show on the road. Each episode follows their behind-the-scenes exploits as they learn new skills, overcome challenges and find that putting on an epic show isn’t quite as easy as it looks. …
  • The Kings of Atlantis: “The Kings of Atlantis” is an epic animated series that follows two young monarchs —Cody and Joe— in the vast underwater city of Atlantis as they seek to overthrow the brutal usurper of their kingdom, reclaim their birthright, and protect their people from his cruel reign.
  • Fruit Ninja: Frenzy Force: Four Fruit Ninjas set up a juice stand as a front for the messiest secret service in the world. The new Fruit Ninja characters—Seb, Niya, Peng and Ralph—come together to fight the evil forces of Durian Grey and the Deep Fried Samurai. They will use their Juice Jitsu skills (and perhaps some help from their own samurai) to prevail.

But the fun doesn’t stop there … YouTube Kids is coming soon to Smart TVs. Parents and kids often enjoy watching their favorite family programming on a big screen, so it’s a natural next step for the app to be available directly from the big screen in your home! The YouTube Kids app will be available soon for download on a number of internet-connected LG and Samsung Smart TVs.

As kids continue to grow up, we’re excited to grow up with them. It’s important that kids are able to explore what they love in the app, while we also continue to put parents in the driver’s seat to choose what is right for their family.

From engaging new shows to being able to watch in your living room, our 2nd birthday is shaping up to be a memorable one. We’re looking forward to all the other new things 2017 will bring. From our screen to yours. …

Malik Ducard, YouTube’s Global Head of Family and Learning, recently watched “A Pep Talk from Kid President.”


YouTube Blog

More parental controls available in YouTube Kids starting today

Since we launched YouTube Kids less than two years ago, we’ve seen families across the globe download the app tens of millions of times and rank it consistently among the top 5 apps in the App Store and give it an overall 4+ ranking on Google Play.

Along the way, we’ve also received helpful feedback from parents on how we can make the app even better. Parents have told us they want more control over how their kids watch content in the YouTube Kids app. Today, we’re rolling out a new feature that continues to put parents in the driver’s seat so they can decide what content is right for their family.

Let’s say you don’t want your little one watching a DIY video that shows them how to make gooey slime, or maybe you want them to take a break from watching certain sing-a-long videos. Well, now you can block videos or channels from their experience by signing into the app.

Block videos using the 3 dot menu next to any video or channel

To sign in you will be asked to send yourself a parental consent email.


send-email-ipad.jpg

And the best part is that because you’re logged in, the videos and channels you block in YouTube Kids will remain consistent across all your devices. And as a parent, if you change your mind, you can unblock all restricted videos or channels at once. It’s that easy! This update will be available in: the United States, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Argentina, Colombia, Mexico, Chile, Peru, Brazil, Nigeria, Kenya, South Africa, Ghana, Uganda, Zimbabwe, Tanzania, Malaysia, Philippines, India, and Singapore.

This new feature follows other ways families can already customize their YouTube Kids experience:

  • Learn how the app works: When parents open YouTube Kids, we explain upfront how our systems choose and recommend content and how to flag videos. We also prompt you to make a choice about how broadly you want your child to explore—turn search on to access millions of family-friendly videos, or turn search off to restrict your child’s experience to a more limited set.
  • Timer: Let the app be the bad guy with a built-in timer that lets you limit kids’ screen time. The app alerts your child when the session is over, so you don’t have to.
  • YouTube Kids on the big screen: Watch YouTube Kids as a family on your big screen. Now YouTube Kids is available on your TV, using Chromecast, Apple TV, game consoles or a smartTV.
  • Age-based customization: When you first open the app, you can select from three general age groups (preschool, school age or all kids) making the initial home screen reflect videos that may interest children in that age range.

Stay tuned for more to come and in the meantime happy viewing!

Balaji Srinivasan, father of two girls and YouTube Kids Senior Software Engineer, recently watched “Hexaflexagons.”


YouTube Blog

Amazon’s Kindle for Kids bundle offers children’s books for $99

To offer kids a way to read via Kindle, Amazon is back with another $ 99 bundle. The Kindle for Kids offer combines the latest e-reader with a cover and a "2-year worry-free guarantee." It's meant to boost reading habits for children complete with too…
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The Egger is an interactive AR projector made just for kids

This is what learning in the 21st century looks like. Meet the Egger, a new interactive augmented reality projector that promises to “inspire creativity, imagination, and benefit early childhood development.”

The post The Egger is an interactive AR projector made just for kids appeared first on Digital Trends.

Cool Tech–Digital Trends

YouTube Kids now works with YouTube Red

Back in October we launched YouTube Red, a paid membership that makes everything you love about YouTube even better, with benefits like videos free of paid ads, offline videos, and background play. Since then we’ve heard from families that they’d love the option of these features in the YouTube Kids app. So today we’re excited to say it’s here – the YouTube Kids app now works with YouTube Red in the U.S., Australia, and New Zealand!

Parents who sign up for YouTube Red enable a whole new set of features for the family to enjoy, including:

  • Ad-free videos: Let your kids learn and laugh along with their favorite characters without paid ads.
  • Offline videos: In the car or on grandma’s couch—automatically have videos when you need ‘em, even if you don’t have a connection.
  • Uninterrupted music: Keep family sing-alongs going while you use other apps on your phone.

To get started, all parents need is the YouTube Kids app and a YouTube Red membership. Then, just sign in to your YouTube Red account from the parental controls section of the YouTube Kids app and follow a few simple steps. Once that’s done, your little one’s ready to sing and play along with Mother Goose Club or go on an adventure with Talking Tom and his gang.

And we’ve got even more updates to YouTube Kids on the way. Over the next few months we’ll be making some changes to the app that’ll give parents more choice on how to customize the content that appears or doesn’t appear in their YouTube Kids experience.

Until then, we hope you and the family enjoy YouTube Kids with YouTube Red benefits in the U.S., Australia, and New Zealand.

If you haven’t already, take YouTube Red for a spin with this free 30-day trial.

A.J. Crane, Product Manager, recently watched “Beat the Heat Hacks | LIFE HACKS FOR KIDS” on DreamWorksTV.


YouTube Blog

Forget the grown-ups! Here are the best wearables for kids

Seems like the adults are always the ones having fun with technology. Forget ’em! From safety to fun, here are some of the best smartwatches, fitness trackers, and other wearables for kids.

The post Forget the grown-ups! Here are the best wearables for kids appeared first on Digital Trends.

Wearables–Digital Trends

Sphero’s SPRK robot for kids can now withstand more abuse

Nearly two years ago, Sphero decided to turn its robot ball into more than a toy. The company launched SPRK, an educational program for kids to build up their coding skills, as a complement to its charming connected device. Then, in 2015, it followed…
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Put this smart thermometer in your kid’s ear to get advice on how to combat her fever

The Kinsa Smart Ear Thermometer uses an app to help you track your health data and get advice based on your symptoms. There’s also a Groups feature that lets you know when there’s a flu outbreak at your kid’s school.

The post Put this smart thermometer in your kid’s ear to get advice on how to combat her fever appeared first on Digital Trends.

Cool Tech–Digital Trends

Forget counting steps: Reveal fitness tracker records stressors for autistic kids

Awake Labs has started an Indiegogo campaign for the Reveal, a fitness tracker aimed at tracking emotional triggers for autistic children. What this means is that these children and their caretakers can prevent meltdowns before they even happen.

The post Forget counting steps: Reveal fitness tracker records stressors for autistic kids appeared first on Digital Trends.

Android Army–Digital Trends

Nest’s co-founder is releasing a smart kids’ go-kart

Nest co-creator Tony Fadell isn't focused solely on making intelligent thermostats and smoke detectors. He recently unveiled Actev Motors, a company whose inaugural Arrow Smart-Kart promises to give kids a taste of what smart cars are like. The ele…
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Obama wants your children’s opinions in the new Kids Science Advisors program

Over the course of his presidency, Barack Obama has made clear his dedication to STEM education. Now, the leader is proving just how much faith he has in the innovative minds of America’s posterity by forming the Kids Science Advisors.

The post Obama wants your children’s opinions in the new Kids Science Advisors program appeared first on Digital Trends.

Cool Tech–Digital Trends

99check wants to keep your kids safe with nothing more than a selfie

Meet 99check, described as “a simple utility for on-demand, selfie-based location-sharing between parents and kids.” With nothing more than a selfie, the smartphone-obsessed generation will be able to put their parents at ease.

The post 99check wants to keep your kids safe with nothing more than a selfie appeared first on Digital Trends.

Mobile–Digital Trends

This DIY robot on Indiegogo hopes to spur kids’ inegenuity

A DIY robot named Antbo is geared toward teaching children and teenagers how to program in an interactive manner. The robot aims to “specifically target maker, design, and coding enthusiasts to help foster their skills.”

The post This DIY robot on Indiegogo hopes to spur kids’ inegenuity appeared first on Digital Trends.

Cool Tech–Digital Trends

Lockheed Martin’s new magic school bus wants to virtually take kids to Mars

Lockheed Martin is bringing STEM education to the next level with its new Generation Beyond program, a national education initiative aimed at bringing “the science of space into thousands of homes and classrooms across America.”

The post Lockheed Martin's new magic school bus wants to virtually take kids to Mars appeared first on Digital Trends.

Cool Tech–Digital Trends

The best tech toys for kids will make you wish you were 10 again

Are you hunting for the perfect tech toy or gadget gift for your child? It can be tricky to find great tech for kids. There’s a lot to choose from, but what will go the distance? And what will end up at the bottom of a toy box?

The post The best tech toys for kids will make you wish you were 10 again appeared first on Digital Trends.

Cool Tech»Digital Trends

A modular computer for kids lands on Indiegogo

One+Education+Infinity

We have been hearing a lot about modular devices from watches to phones, and now computers. For those unfamiliar with modular devices, they aim at being basically an upgradable device. Rather than using a device for a year or two than buying a new one, you will instead just buy upgradable parts.

Today, we are talking about the Infinity modular laptop by One Education. It combines a laptop and a tablet in one, and is designed for kids. The main thing that sets it apart from other devices is its modular capabilities. You will be able to replace the CPU, camera, battery, and more. It also runs Android, but they are working on a full Linux desktop experience too. This is great for being future proof and keeping upfront cost down.

The base model will come with an 8.9-inch screen, 1.4 GHz processor, 1GB of RAM, 8GB of storage with a microSD card slot, and cameras on the back and front. One Education plans on making new modules like faster hardware, Windows 10 support, better cameras, and stronger Gorilla Glass screens.

If you are interested in picking one of these up, head over to One Education’s Indiegogo page. They are trying to raise $ 50,000 with early bird prices of $ 250 each, or if you are a school or large organization, you can buy a 10-pack for $ 2,390. They are expected to ship the Infinity next September.

Click here to view the embedded video.

Source: Indiegogo

Come comment on this article: A modular computer for kids lands on Indiegogo

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eBook subscription service Epic! is bringing books to kids

Today, less than two years after its launch,more than 10 million books have been read on the Epic! platform, and with a library that is growing every day, this number and perhaps children’s interest in reading will continue to burgeon.

The post eBook subscription service Epic! is bringing books to kids appeared first on Digital Trends.

Mobile»Digital Trends

More for your family in the YouTube Kids app

It’s been a busy few months for YouTube Kids. In February, we released our app, designed especially for kids, to bring to life the best family-friendly content on YouTube. Since then, families have downloaded YouTube Kids more than 8 million times, consistently ranked YouTube Kids in the top 5 kids apps in the App Store, given an overall 4+ rating on Google Play and watched Stampy Cat explore the world of Minecraft more than 54 million times.

Not bad for a seven-month old.

When we announced the app, we said YouTube Kids was our first step in reimagining YouTube for families. And we’re always looking for ways to make it even better. So today we’re sharing some new ways we’re helping parents and kids enjoy the family content they love:

Discover new videos and watch in new ways

  • Watch YouTube Kids on the big screen: Want to enjoy your favorite videos as a family? Now you can, using Chromecast, Apple TV, game consoles or a smartTV.
  • Explore new videos with guest-curated playlists: Have a budding scientist or eager explorer on your hands? Find out what videos educators, celebs and other parents recommend with guest-created playlists. Playlists from National Geographic Kids, Kid President, and a girl power-themed playlist from Academy Award®-winning actor Geena Davis are already live—and more are coming soon from YouTube creators including Vsauce and Amy Poehler’s Smart Girls.
  • Enjoy new shows: New videos are produced and uploaded to YouTube Kids every day—including exciting original shows and series from HooplaKidz, TuTiTu, SciShow Kids, DreamWorksTV and more.

Features just for parents

  • Learn how the app works: We also want to make it easier to get started using the app. When parents open YouTube Kids, we’ll explain upfront how our systems choose and recommend content and how to flag videos. We’ll also prompt you to make a choice about how broadly you want your child to explore—turn search on to access millions of family-friendly videos, or turn search off to restrict your child’s experience to a more limited set. Either way, parents decide the right experience for their family from the get-go. This will roll out on the app in the coming weeks.
  • Customize your passcode: We’ve also heard some parents prefer a personal passcode, rather than a spelled-out code, so we’ve added this option to access parental controls.

We always try to make the videos available in the app family-friendly, but no system is perfect. So if you ever find a video you’re concerned about, please flag it. This helps make YouTube Kids better for everyone.

In fact, many of these updates are a result of the great feedback you’ve given us. As you explore YouTube’s library, from “Twinkle Twinkle Little Star” to learning about the solar system, we’re growing with you. And we’re always excited to hear how we can better help your family explore, learn and sing along.

Posted by Shimrit Ben-Yair, mother of two and YouTube Kids Director of Product Management, who recently enjoyed learning about volcanoes on SciShow Kids and relaxing with Cosmic Kids Yoga’s Calming Playlist with her kids.


YouTube Blog

YouTube Kids app update helps parents tackle dodgy content

Google touts it as a “family friendly” app but since YouTube Kids’ launch in February a number of consumer groups have been complaining about inappropriate content on the service. Google says a new update aims to tackle ongoing concerns about the app.

The post YouTube Kids app update helps parents tackle dodgy content appeared first on Digital Trends.

Mobile»Digital Trends

Introducing the newest member of our family, the YouTube Kids app–available on Google Play and the App Store

Like most parents, I love helping my kids learn more about something they’re interested in. For example, right now, I spend a lot of time on YouTube with my 3-year-old son, who loves watching videos of car washes, Super Simple Songs, and about the universe. We’re not the only ones: Families worldwide are watching millions of videos on YouTube. And lately, those of us at YouTube have been working on a new way for our kids—and yours—to discover and explore videos on every topic in, well, the universe.

Today, we’re introducing the YouTube Kids app, the first Google product built from the ground up with little ones in mind. The app makes it safer and easier for children to find videos on topics they want to explore, and is available for free on Google Play and the App Store in the U.S.

Bright and playful design
Your 4-year-old may already be a swiping expert, but the app’s design makes it even easier to find Pocoyo or the latest episode of Sesame Street’s The Furchester Hotel. With larger images, bold icons and more, it’s fast and simple for little thumbs to navigate. And we’ve built in voice search so that even if your child can’t spell or type, they can still find videos of things they’re curious about.

Family-focused content
For years, families have come to YouTube, watching countless hours of videos on all kinds of topics. Now, parents can rest a little easier knowing that videos in the YouTube Kids app are narrowed down to content appropriate for kids. You can browse channels and playlists in four categories: Shows, Music, Learning and Explore. Or search for videos of particular interest to your family, like how to build a model volcano, math tutorials, the amazing (and endless) world of trains—and everything in between.

Along with favorites from DreamWorksTVJim Henson TV, Mother Goose Club, Talking Tom and Friends and more, your kids can watch new series from YouTube channels they already like. Discover new facts about dinosaurs from National Geographic Kids; learn about technology from Reading Rainbow; or watch Thomas the Tank Engine leave the world of Sodor for the first time in 70 years to travel the globe. Plus, more new videos are coming soon from beloved YouTubers like John and Hank Green of the Vlogbrothers and Stampylonghead.

Parental controls
We realize every family is different, so we’ve built options into the app that help you control the experience for your kids:

  • Timer: Let the app be the bad guy with a built-in timer that lets you limit kids’ screen time. The app alerts your child when the session is over, so you don’t have to. (You’re welcome. 😉 )
  • Sound settings: Sometimes you need a little peace and quiet! You have an option to turn off background music and sound effects, so your kids can keep watching while you catch a breather.
  • Search settings: If you’d rather limit your children to just the pre-selected videos available on the home screen, you can turn off search.
  • Product feedback: Our goal is to improve YouTube Kids all the time, so we’ve included a space for you to give us your feedback.

YouTube Kids is available for free starting today in the U.S. on Google Play and the App Store, and will soon be available on Kurio and nabi kids’ tablets.

This is the first step toward reimagining YouTube for families, but with your help, the app will continue to get better over time. We’re excited to start this chapter with you—so from our family to yours, enjoy!

Shimrit Ben-Yair, mother of two and YouTube Kids Group Product Manager, recently watched “How Big is the Universe” with her kids, along with countless “car wash” videos.


YouTube Blog