YouTube will release a new app designed for kids on Monday, according to USA Todayand The Wall Street Journal. The app — called YouTube Kids — will reportedly offer original episodes of TV shows aimed at youngsters, in addition to videos from child-centric channels on YouTube, and will let parents set timers to stop their spawn from watching too long.
The app will be only be available on Android at first
Don't Miss -15 Things To Stop Doing In 2015 For Greater Success and Happiness -Microsoft planning to ‘kill’ Internet Explorer and launch Spartan
YouTube Kids will reportedly be distinct from YouTube's regular app, and at first, will only be available on Android smartphones and tablets. The app is said to have a "kid-friendly" design with big, bulbous icons and minimal scrolling. USA Today describes a demo in which a home screen has eight large tiles featuring images from popular TV shows, and five simple icons — "a TV set for programs such as Thomas the Tank Engine and Yo Gabba Gabba; a radio for video renditions of popular songs; a lightbulb for educational programming such as Khan Academy; and binoculars to explore a range of top videos."
The app is set to be officially announced by YouTube executive Malik Ducard at Kidscreen Summit, an event for the children's entertainment industry, on February 23rd. The company says the age-appropriate app is something that has been requested for a long time. "Parents were constantly asking us, can you make YouTube a better place for our kids," YouTube product manager Shimrit Ben-Yair told USA Today.
YouTube videos aimed at children have seen a 200 percent growth in year-on-year viewing time
Videos aimed at children have a ballooning audience online — Ben-Yair says family entertainment channels have seen 200 percent growth in viewing time year-on-year, compared to 50 percent on the rest of the site — but in order to build an app aimed at under-13s, YouTube will have to stick Children's Online Privacy Protection Act, which has laws that stipulate parents have to be informed if websites and services collect data from kids.
It's not yet clear how YouTube will make money from its new app, but The Wall Street Journal says the possibility of YouTube Kids featuring ads was under discussion. The plan to release the dedicated app comes as the company is spinning off chunks of its network and repackaging them as paid services. YouTube Music Key, a subscription service that lets users stream high-quality and ad-free music, was officially announced last November and is currently in beta.
source-The Verge.
No comments:
Post a Comment