Parents of older kids can give littles access to new kinds of content.
The YouTube Kids app launched in 2015, giving kids a place to watch online videos that are appropriate for younger viewers. The app lets parents create separate profiles for up to eight different children, who can watch kid-friendly music videos, educational content, and more.
Earlier this year, YouTube announced it would give parents more control over the videos their kids can watch. These new parental control options are now available for users on Android devices (they’re coming soon to iOS).
The biggest new feature lets parents select every single video, channel, and video collection that they want their kids to have access to. While the YouTube Kids app was designed to only provide safe videos to watch, if parents don’t want their kids watching content based on specific topics, or from channels they simply don’t like, they can now block them from doing so.
To turn on this feature, parents can head into the app’s settings menu, go to each child’s profile, and tap “Approved content only.” When this mode is turned on, parents can approve content by tapping the “+” button on a specific video or collection. This mode also prevents kids from being able to search for content themselves.
The other new feature gives parents the ability to let their kids access an “Older” content level, which contains things like music and gaming videos that are appropriate for 8-12 year olds. By default, the YouTube Kids app is set on the “Younger” content level, which contains everything parents would expect from the app, like sing-along videos.
Parents can choose the “Older” content level for each of their kids by going into the app’s settings menu, tapping on each child’s profile, and then tapping “Older.” This new feature is now rolling out to users in the U.S.
Brandy Berthelson has been writing about video games and technology since 2006, with her work appearing on sites including AOL Games, Digital Spy, and Adweek. When she’s not gaming, Brandy enjoys crafting, baking, and traveling with her husband.
