YouTube Will Create A New App Just For Kids

Good news, parents! YouTube is launching something specifically for kids to block out any questionable material.

If you are like me, you are amazed at how much your kids love YouTube. When I was a kid, I used to watch after school cartoons. Now, my kids come home from school and watch "Stampy" talk about Minecraft...and other YouTube exclusive shows. My son loves watching funny cat videos, but sometimes they include people swearing in the background. I always have a feeling of uneasiness when my kids are on YouTube, because you never really know what could be coming next.

According to USA Today, YouTube will come out with a new app called YouTube Kids. The app will have more age appropriate content than regular YouTube and it is expected to launch next week on Feb. 23. It will be a free app and will be available only on Android devices.

Shimrit Ben-Yair is the project's group manager and was quoted on where they got the idea. "Parents were constantly asking us, can you make YouTube a better place for our kids. (Year over year) we've seen 50 percent growth in viewing time on YouTube, but for our family entertainment channels, it's more like 200 percent."

The app is an interface that rids the screen of things like viewer comments and offers features such as a parent-controller timer that shuts down the app after a set time.

For its home screen, it will have eight large tiles filled with popular kid's T.V shows, a radio icon for video renditions of popular songs, a light bulb for educational programs and binoculars as a search bar. "The images are big as are the tap targets for small fingers, and since most younger children can't type they can search with voice," says Ben-Yair.

If kids try to type in anything inappropriate like the word "sex", a screen will pop up and say "Try something else".

Talk about useful! This app sounds awesome and so easy to use. With the internet filled with things we can't protect our kids from, its comforting to finally have an app that's dedicated just for them and that we know is safe.