New tools for parents and content for older kids in the YouTube Kids app

We believe that no two families are the same -- and that their needs are ever-changing as they grow up. That’s why we are committed to building YouTube Kids in a way that offers kids the content they love and grown-ups the tools to customize the app as they see fit. Today we’re excited to launch two updates we think families will really enjoy: parent-approved content and a new experience for older kids.

First, we’re following up on our April announcement and sharing that we’ve launched parent-approved content. This highly requested parental control allows parents to handpick every video and channel available to their child in the app. It is available today globally on Android and coming soon to iOS.

For parents who want to enable this feature, open settings, go to the child’s profile and select “approved content only.” Now they’re ready to start picking videos for their kids.

Parents can choose any video, channel or collection of channels they like by tapping the "+" button. Parents can also search for a specific creator or video. If parents choose to enable this mode, their kids will not be able to search for content on their own.

What's more, YouTube Kids is growing up with our users. We have launched a new experience geared toward 8-12 year olds that includes additional new content, like popular music and gaming videos. If parents think their kids are ready, they can pick this "Older" version when setting up a new profile or updating an existing profile. The "Younger" version is the default content experience and will continue to have a wide selection of sing-alongs and age-appropriate learning videos. Parents can change between "Younger," "Older" and parent-approved content at any time. We've started to roll out the new older experience in the U.S. with plans to expand globally.

We work hard to make videos in the app family friendly, but no system is perfect. It’s always possible that a parent may find something they don’t want their child to watch in the “Younger” or “Older” experiences. If this happens, we ask that parents block and flag the video for review by our team. This makes YouTube Kids better for everyone.

As we continue to receive feedback from parents and turn that feedback into improvements to the YouTube Kids app, we hope that all families and kids can create the experience they want!

Happy watching from our family to yours.