YouTube is getting ready to announce a brand-new app aimed at kids, according to published reports.
The new app, which is expected to be populated with content that’s age-appropriate for children and to be available only for Android, should launch on Monday, according to USA Today.
Google, which owns YouTube, did not immediately respond to a VentureBeat request for comment.
“Parents were constantly asking us, can you make YouTube a better place for our kids,” Shimrit Ben-Yair, the project’s group product manager, told USA Today. “(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.”
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In the early going, USA Today wrote, the app will direct users to look for something else if they search for something like “sex.” And the app showcases eight squares with images from hit children’s shows. Above the tiles “hover five simple icons, a TV set for programs such as Thomas the Tank Engine and Yo Gabba Gabba,” USA Today wrote, “a radio for video renditions of popular songs; a lightbulb for educational programming such as Khan Academy; and binoculars to explore a range of top videos.”
YouTube is not the only video service to think kids deserve their own app. Recently, Twitter’s Vine released its children’s version.
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