YouTube Kids

Content The app is divided into four content categories; “Recommended” "Shows", "Music", and "Learning". The categories feature curated selections of content from channels deemed appropriate for children. In August 2016, the app was updated to support the YouTube Red (now YouTube Premium) subscription service, allowing ad-free playback, background playback, and offline playback for subscribers. In February 2017, YouTube began to introduce premium original series oriented specifically towards YouTube Kids, including DanTDM Creates a Big Scene, Fruit Ninja: Frenzy Force, Hyperlinked, and Kings of Atlantis. YouTube has also presented advocacy campaigns through special playlists featured on YouTube Kids, including "#ReadAlong" (a series of videos, primarily featuring kinetic typography) to promote literacy, "#TodayILearned" (which featured a playlist of STEM-oriented programs and videos), and "Make it Healthy, Make it Fun" (a collaboration with Marc and Pau Gasol to promote healthy living and an active lifestyle to children). In November 2017, the app was updated to add additional user interface modes designed for different age groups, ranging from the existing simplified interface (intended for younger children) to a more dense interface designed for older children. In August 2019, the "Younger" setting was split to add a new "Preschool" group, with a focus on "creativity, playfulness, learning, and exploration". Parental controls The YouTube Kids app features parental control settings that allow parents to limit screen time, and restrict users from accessing the search tool. Parents can use a passcode or their Google account to protect these settings, and configure profiles for multiple users to tailor their experiences. On February 27, 2024, it was reported that YouTube would be closing its Kids app on TV on 1 July 2024. == Reception ==

Advertising The Campaign for a Commercial-Free Childhood (CCFC) and the Center for Digital Democracy (CDD) both expressed concern over the use of advertising within the YouTube Kids app, arguing that children would not be able to distinguish the ads from content. Short bumpers were later added to the app to establish a separation between advertising and content. Filtering issues The YouTube Kids app has faced criticism over the accessibility of videos that are inappropriate for its target audience. The CCFC filed an FTC complaint over YouTube Kids shortly after its release, citing examples of inappropriate videos that were accessible via the app's search tool (such as those related to wine in their testing), and the Recommended page eventually using search history to surface such videos. YouTube defended the criticism, stating that it was developed in consultation with other advocacy groups, and that the company was open to feedback over the app's operation. A larger YouTube controversy referred to as "Elsagate" discovered by Matan Uziel and Charlie Warzel has also been associated with the app, referring to channels which post videos featuring characters from popular franchises (especially, among others, Frozen, Paw Patrol, Thomas & Friends, Peppa Pig, and Spider-Man), but with disturbing, sexually suggestive, violent, or otherwise inappropriate themes and content. YouTube global head of family and children's content Malik Ducard admitted that "making the app family friendly is of the utmost importance to us", but admitted that the service was not curated all the time, and that parents had the responsibility to use the app's parental controls to control how it is used by their children (including disabling access to the search tool). He added that "the YouTube model has created something, which is so vast, but there are 400 hours of content are uploaded every minute. It's simply too big. People have been raising these issues for years, just visit any parenting forum and they’ve been talking about the fake Peppa Pig videos." In an update to the YouTube Kids app that month, a more prominent disclaimer was added to its first-time setup process, stating that the service cannot fully guarantee the appropriateness of videos that were not manually curated, and informing parents of means to report and block videos that they do not find suitable. == Geographic availability ==

YouTube Kids will be available in the Bahamas, Belize, Dominica, Haiti, Moldova, Montenegro, Puerto Rico and Tajikistan in the future. == Notes ==