Let Kids Enjoy YouTube Safely with the YouTube Kids App for Android

YouTube is the most popular video sharing site in the world. Millions of people watch billions of videos on YouTube every single day. This also includes many young children too. Some of these kids use their parents smartphone to watch YouTube videos and since the YouTube account belongs to their parents, they might accidentally come across some of the grown-up-only or shocking content too. To prevent kids from watching such videos, Google has come with a new app called YouTube Kids (YT Kids).

YouTube Kids app shows only those videos that are safe to watch for the kids. Not only that, it lists many videos that kids can learn things from or the videos that are educational in nature. Currently this app is available only for the US region but in future it could be released for everyone.

YouTube Kids App

After installing the app, it takes you through some informational steps and helps you setup the app for your kids. You can choose the age group to which your kids belong – pre-school, school age or all kids. For each group, this app can display different types of videos. For example, an eight year old would want to watch cartoons while a fourteen year old might want to watch teen music videos.

YouTube Kids App

The search function in the app is one of the potential risks of your kids stumbling upon some of the unwanted videos. Fortunately, the developers of the app have already thought of the situation and allow you disable the search altogether off. You can disable it during the setup process and also later from the settings.

YouTube Kids App

The YouTube Kids app does not have the same interface as the regular YouTube app. The app for kids has sections like shows, music, learning and education. The kids can just switch from one section to another and find hundreds of enjoyable and safe to watch videos. The search function is disabled but if your kids are in their mid-teens, then perhaps you would want to enable the search function too.

YouTube Kids App

YouTube can be very addictive not only for the kids but also for the grown ups. This is why Google has added a timer function in the YouTube Kids app. You can set a timer of a few minutes to a few hours before handing your smartphone to your kids. This way your kids won’t spend too much time watching those funny videos on YouTube. This is a great feature if they have yet to finish their homework.

YouTube Kids App

The grown ups can alter the settings anytime by tapping on the small lock icon in the corner of the YouTube Kids app. They have to enter a pass code and then they can change the settings or set up a timer. In the settings, you can toggle the app music, sound effects, search function, casting to large screens (like your TV), age-group of the kids, password and more.

YouTube Kids App

Conclusion: YouTube Kids app is a safe and fun way to enjoy educational, fun and kids-oriented videos on YouTube. The grown ups can easily control the app settings and the kids stay safe from the grown-up-only content otherwise available through the regular YouTube app.

You can get the YouTube Kids app for Android from https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.google.android.apps.youtube.kids&hl=en.