YouTube release new app for kids to keep parents and youngsters happy

GOOGLE’S YouTube has launched an app for children that allows parents to rest easy as their kids swipe and view.

YouTube is seeking to make watching videos safer for children by launching a kids app.

AS nearly every parent knows these days, with some degree of guilt (or not), mobile devices can serve as great short-term babysitters. Now YouTube wants to be known as that super responsible babysitter that all the parents in the neighbourhood fight over.

YouTube, already popular among teenagers, has unveiled a standalone app, YouTube Kids, just for young children.

Google says the app is the “first Google product built from the ground up with the little ones in mind.”

The free app is launching in the US on Google’s Play store as expected, but also was made available on Apple’s App Store. (YouTube says there is no timeline yet on the app’s availability in Australia.)

Parents routinely marvel over kids’ swiping savvy, but it’s no surprise that children effortlessly operate smartphones and tablets as young as age 2. That comes with risks: The wide open Internet is only one errant tap away.

Google says its app will let “curious little minds dive into a world of discovery, learning and entertainment.” In addition to easier-to-navigate icons and content geared for families, the kid-focused YouTube app will include controls so parents can set boundaries for children.

They include limits to screen time — “let the app be the bad guy” — and a way to keep the volume down. It also has controls to disable search.

Upon launching the app for the first time, caregivers are prodded to choose settings. You can find out more about the options here. Accessing parental controls involves typing in numerals that are spelled out on the screen — think: “four, five, three, one” — which won’t be too hard a code for kids to crack.

The opening screen included videos for Sesame Street, Thomas and Friends, Yo Gabba Gabba, and other familiar faces. There are also tabs for “learning” and “music,” and to explore. Yes, you can easily find a video for The Lego Movie hit “Everything Is Awesome.”

DOW JONES