YouTube Kids – launched in 2015 and now available in 37 countries – gets customisable kid profiles, new parental controls, and a brand new look this week.
YouTube Kids has become a major success. Launched only two years ago, the app has had more than 70 billion views and now gets 11 million weekly active viewers. And it’s viewers are now not only in 37 countries across the globe, but they’re getting older. So, YouTube is intent on customising their experience of the platform, adding new parental controls, a new look and feel, and kid profiles.
When a parent signs in with their Google account, they can now customise their kids’ experience on YouTube Kids, creating one profile for each. Kids profiles work on all devices and will provide an app design that is tailored to your kid’s age. YouTube Kids uses the date of birth you enter on your kid profile and the app design changes. For example, as Balaji Srinivasan, YouTube Kids Engineering Director explains in a post announcing the new features:
But there’s more. The app now has a brand new setup process that will give a parent more detailed information to help them make the right choices before their kids get to use the app. Additionally, your kid also gets a secret passcode to keep their siblings off their profile. Parents can, of course, override it.