We’ve been fans of the YouTube Kids app ever since it launched a few years ago, but as more and more publishers are creating content on YouTube, it’s not surprising that there have been some issues in terms of what ends up showing up as kid-appropriate. So, here are the two new features they’ve launched to help parents better customize the app for their kids, with one more coming later this year.
Related: Parents beware! These YouTube videos are not safe for kids
First up, you are now able to select only trusted channels for your kids to access, including their favorite arts and crafts, sports, and learning videos (just to name a few categories). If you go to your profile settings, you can select which channels you want your kids to have access to, with more partners coming soon.
In the coming months, YouTube will be opening up the option for parents to handpick every video and channel their kids watch, so keep an eye out for that update.
And if you’ve been concerned with the search feature like us, they’re now ensuring that when you turn the search feature off, the playback will be limited to videos that have been verified by the YouTube team.
Related: 7 of the best YouTube channels to get kids excited about math
Of course, you’re still in the hands of the YouTube team, in terms of trusting their channel choices and verification process, but here’s hoping that this will help to crackdown on the myriad videos that have found their way onto the app that have absolutely no place being there.
Photo by Annie Spratt on Unsplash
