YouTube Kids
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YouTube Kids is coming to game consoles and Roku
YouTube Kids is now available on game consoles and Roku thanks to an upgrade to the usual YouTube app.
YouTube will begin demonetizing 'low-quality' kids videos next month
Starting next month, the company will demonetize channels that primarily target young people or market themselves as “made for kids” if the content they upload is of low quality.
Google's new safety measures are designed to protect kids on YouTube, Search and more
Google has announced changes to YouTube, Search and its other apps designed to make them safer for kids.
YouTube will expand parental controls for tweens and teens
Supervised accounts will enable content settings and limit some features.
YouTube's AI can automatically age-restrict inappropriate videos
Starting later this year, YouTube will use machine learning to add age restrictions to inappropriate videos automatically.
YouTube will offer 100 kids movies and specials for free
YouTube is throwing parents who can’t take watching Frozen over and over anymore a lifeline. In an announcement, Don Anderson, YouTube’s Head of Family & Learning Partnerships, explained that the service wants to help parents who are juggling work, life and their children at the same time due to work-from-home arrangements caused by the coronavirus pandemic. There will also be educational specials, such as Sesame Street’s Elmo’s World News, and brand new movies and shows debuting on the platform.
YouTube Kids app is now on Amazon’s Fire TV
There’s a new way to watch YouTube’s kid-friendly service on your TV.
YouTube brings summer camp home to kids
If kids can’t attend an IRL summer camp this year, then YouTube is trying to give them the next best thing with #CampYouTube. The struggle is real,” YouTube exec Malik Ducard wrote. This is why, he said, Camp YouTube is providing the tools needed to create a virtual camp experience at home.
Pew: YouTube videos with kids or video games get most views
Kids and video games -- rather than politics or makeup tutorials -- are the most powerful drivers of traffic on YouTube. Pew released a study today that analyzed over 40,000 high-subscriber channels for a week. What they found painted a picture of a YouTube user base that is younger, more drawn to Fortnite than Donald Trump and fluent in a language that isn't English.
Google and Amazon bring the YouTube app back to Fire TV
Months after Amazon and Google ended their fight over streaming video, the official YouTube app is once again available on Fire TV devices. As of today, some Fire TV devices (multiple Fire TV Stick variants and the Fire TV Cube) and TV sets (from Element, Insignia, Toshiba and Westinghouse) can natively play videos, keep tabs on subscriptions and otherwise do what... well, most other YouTube-equipped devices can do. This includes playback for 4K HDR video at 60 frames per second, not to mention expanded Alexa integration -- you don't have to mention YouTube by name if you're already inside the app.
YouTube may restrict kids' videos to its dedicated app
YouTube's handling of kids videos has been problematic, to put it mildly, and the company is apparently looking into major changes in policy to prevent further incidents. Wall Street Journal sources understand that YouTube is both considering moving all child-oriented videos to its dedicated Kids app and disabling the autoplay feature on that programming. Both moves could hurt ad revenue, but they'd theoretically steer kids clear of "objectionable" clips.
The best streaming apps for kids
On the surface, it seems like a great idea. YouTube is home to all kinds of quality video content, so a dedicated, age-appropriate version for children sounds great. However, even with a host of parental controls, YouTube Kids is still plagued with issues in regard to content. Whether it's conspiracy videos or obviously disturbing clips, YouTube Kids is flooded with terrible content. But that's not surprising. With 10 hours of video uploaded every second, trying to police YouTube content is like trying to slow the water coming out of a fire hydrant. A spokesperson said last year, "We've taken a series of tough actions to better protect families on YouTube and YouTube Kids, including getting content down faster through technology, hiring more people to help us tackle content that breaks our rules and cutting the revenue streams to content that misleads families." But those actions haven't always been enough. In response to criticism, YouTube has tried to deter users from posting offensive videos. In 2017, it altered its policy on what types of content would be eligible for ad money. Those changes kept clips that show "family entertainment characters engaged in violent, sexual, vile or otherwise inappropriate behavior, even if done for comedic or satirical purposes" from earning money. YouTube also improved its parental controls. Last April, the company added the option of only seeing content that had been approved by "partners and the YouTube Kids team." Then in September, it expanded that feature so that kids using the app would only see what their parents approved. When asked about any improvements since September, YouTube explained that it has added a number of new features, including stronger controls for parents. Things like timers, profiles, an option to disable search and the ability to approve both videos and channels are all on that list. And the company also reiterated that is offers collections that have been curated by trusted partners and YouTube Kids, which include channels like Sesame Street and PBS. Even though these changes have made a difference, YouTube Kids is still YouTube. And like the main version of the site, the quality of content ranges from acceptable to stuff that's just... weird. I don't know about you, but I'd rather my four-year- old play with his own toys than watch YouTube videos of kids playing with theirs. That's not offensive per se, but it's a little strange to me. Thankfully there are alternatives to YouTube Kids -- ones that are less likely to serve your little one up some nightmare fuel.
Sky's making a kids app that will rival Netflix and YouTube
When Sky announced the launch of a new Kids section on its set-top boxes, it immediately put Google and Netflix in its crosshairs. On-demand TV shows and movies were suddenly front and centre on the homepage, allowing children to select up to 4,000 episodes from cartoons like SpongeBob Squarepants, Ben 10, Adventure Time and Dora The Explorer when the company is done adding them all. It appears that was just the start though: Sky is now embracing mobile and will launch a dedicated kids app for smartphones and tablets.
