Google To Launch YouTube App For Kids

(RTTNews) - Google Inc.'s (GOOG, GOOGL) online video service YouTube plans to release a new app for children on Monday, to be known as YouTube Kids. The free app will be available for download on Google Play from Monday.

The service is scheduled to be officially unveiled while YouTube executive Malik Ducard delivers his keynote address at Kidscreen Summit, a conference for the children's entertainment industry.

YouTube Kids, which will focus on content for children, will initially be available only for smartphones and tablets that run on Google's Android mobile operating system. This will be a big disappointment for millions of users of iPhone and iPad that run of Apple's proprietary iOS.

The new app will primarily target children below the age of 13 years, which is the cutoff age for the users of the mainstream YouTube mobile app, which is already very popular among the teens. The channels and playlists on the app will be organized under four screen icons - Shows, Music, Learning and Explore.

The new app could feature original episodes of popular television shows for preschoolers, including "Sesame Street" and "Thomas the Tank Engine" as well as content from kids channel section featured on YouTube, which includes content from National Geographic Kids, Thomas & Friends, and LeVar Burton's Reading Rainbow.

The new kid-safe YouTube app is expected to have a kid-friendly design, with big, bulbous icons and minimal scrolling. YouTube Kids is also expected to have parental controls such as a timer to limit video-watching. It will also give parents the option to turn off search and sound.

Google should be careful when they launch the children-friendly service as it will have to comply with Federal Trade Commissions' Children's Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA). It should also notify parents and seek their verifiable consent if they collect personal information from the app using kids, according to COPPA rules.

With YouTube Kids app leading the charge, Google is also reportedly working on the launch of specific kids versions of its most popular products such as Gmail and search that will be child friendly.