YouTube has been with us for slightly over a decade and the original intention was letting people upload videos for the world to see. Since then, it has transcended over that while gaining a billion active users on the way and there has been a need to create versions of YouTube for various purposes.
That is why Google introduced YouTube Kids last year and as you guessed it, it is a totally redesigned YouTube app for kids in mind. At the time of launch, it was only available on the US and now it is now available to a number of African countries. According to Google Africa, they have now launched YouTube Kids in Kenya, Ghana, South Africa, Nigeria, Tanzania, Zimbabwe and Uganda.
Unlike the regular YouTube, YouTube for kids has an obvious “playful” design but with the classic YouTube red and white scheme. When you launch it for the first time, it bombards you with a wizard that guide you in the process of setting up an account. You can choose it to be used by either a pre-schooler, school age or any kid really while also giving you information like either turning on search or off or the content offered and how you can flag inappropriate videos.
Other features in YouTube Kids include:
- Voice search so that if your kid cannot type or spell, they can still find videos
- Timer which alerts the kid when the viewing session is over.
- Changing the sound settings to give you a peace of mind.
- Customizing your passcode if you don’t want the default one which is spelled out (you will notice immediately in the wizard.
- 4 categories available: Music, Shows, Learning and Explore. Also apparently you can also find content from popular African creators.
You can check out the app on the Google Play Store as well as the App Store.