YouTube Kids is coming to the web, adds new age-specific filters [Video]

Ben Schoon | Aug 28 2019 - 6:08 am PT

Despite some minor controversies, YouTube Kids has become a valuable tool for parents to help find content for their kids. Today, YouTube is announcing two big updates for the platform, with new age filters and a YouTube Kids experience for the web.

Detailed in a brief post this week, YouTube Kids will be heading to the web in the very near future. While no specific date is provided, YouTube says the new experience will be live “later this week.” We’ll update that post once the new YouTube Kids for the Web site is live.

Since YouTube Kids first launched, the service has only been available through dedicated apps on Android, iOS, and TV platforms such as Roku and Android TV. Expanding to the web gives YouTube Kids just a bit more flexibility to parents.

YouTube Kids is also getting some new age filters alongside the web experience. Starting today, parents will be able to pick from three different age groups for content, with Preschool, Younger, and Older filters. These new filters are explained as follows:

Preschool (4 and under) is designed to allow kids to watch videos that promote creativity, playfulness, learning, and exploration.

Younger (5-7) is designed to allow kids to explore their interests and search for a wide variety of topics, including songs, cartoons, crafts, and more.

Older (8-12) is designed to allow kids with growing independence to search and explore additional music videos, gaming, family vlogs, science, and more.

YouTube has more details on these age filters on a support page, and parents still have the option to manually approve content for their children. These new controls start rolling out today and should be available on all YouTube Kids platforms, likely including the new web portal. YouTube says that its systems will try to filter out content appropriately, but parents can submit a report on anything the system misses.

https://youtu.be/qKPVjXJjmBY