Youtube launches “family-friendly” Youtube Kids service in the UK
Youtube’s standalone app for family-friendly content lands in the UK today, ten months after its US launch.
A welcome addition to the family for concerned parents, Youtube Kids blocks out the plethora of less child-friendly content available on the video platform.
“We built the Youtube Kids app to be a safer version of Youtube, a family-friendly place for kids to explore their imagination and curiosity,” wrote Greg Dray, head of kids and learning partnerships at Youtube, in a blogpost.
Google, which owns Youtube, originally launched the free app in the US in February, and according to official figures it has since been downloaded over 10m times on Android’s Google Play and iOS’s App Store.
As well as blocking out mature content, Youtube Kids also comes with a number of additional parental controls, like a timer that limits children’s screen time and an option of limiting their search results further.
The app has come under fire from consumer groups for the adverts included alongside videos.
Youtube Kids isn’t the only standalone app from the video site. In August, Google spun off a live gaming app to rival Amazon’s Twitch, as the market for watching people play video games live continues to grow.