Posts Tagged: parents

Best free apps for parents for iOS and Android

Being a parent can be difficult, but there’s help out there. Here’s a list of the best free apps for parents to make life easier.
Android | Digital Trends

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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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

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

Comcast’s xFi app makes setting up your parents’ WiFi less painful

There are plenty of great routers on the market, but most of them have simply horrible interfaces for setting up and configuring your WiFI network. Companies like Google and Apple have built smartphone apps that make managing WiFi much easier, but it…
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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

This non-contact baby monitor gives new parents some peace of mind

Meet the Raybaby, branded as the world’s only non-contact health and sleep monitor. The device promises to constantly monitor your child’s breathing and sleeping, and keep you informed via a companion app.

The post This non-contact baby monitor gives new parents some peace of mind appeared first on Digital Trends.

Mobile–Digital Trends

From smart cradles to contraction trackers, CES 2017 had tons of tech for parents

Baby tech stole the show at CES with meaningful innovations that make life easier for moms, dads, and their babies. Here’s the best baby tech, Here’s the best baby tech, including the Willow breast pump, which is Digital Trends’ award-winner for best wearable.

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Cool Tech–Digital Trends

Bloomlife pregnancy wearable helps expectant parents understand contractions

The Bloomlife pregnancy wearable monitors contractions and informs women so they can communicate more easily with their birth team. Accurate information about contractions patterns can help educate expectant parents.

The post Bloomlife pregnancy wearable helps expectant parents understand contractions appeared first on Digital Trends.

Mobile–Digital Trends

Working parents can rest easy — the BabyBit monitor will keep you in the loop

Meet BabyBit, the 21st-century baby monitor designed “with working parents in mind.” Adopting the wearable tech trend, it comes in the form of a tiny sensor that snaps onto your little one’s clothes. Parents can track their status via a mobile app.

The post Working parents can rest easy — the BabyBit monitor will keep you in the loop appeared first on Digital Trends.

Wearables–Digital Trends

Getting Christmas right was never this hard for my parents

The most my parents generally had to do for a Christmas present was remember to buy batteries. Okay, maybe I'm underselling their role. One year they got me a bike, and somehow kept it hidden from me until the big day. I would've been five at the tim…
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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.

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