Samsung’s Galaxy S5 is going to be one of those phones that just sells an absolute ton of devices no matter whether you like it or not. The Samsung brand name is synonymous with Android at this point, for better or worse, and because of that Samsung is usually the first place your average Joe will look when choosing a new smartphone. With that being said it’s great to see when Samsung takes the helm with something and really leads with its full might behind a feature. Case in point the new Kid Mode that’s set to debut with the Galaxy S5, which we had heard about just before the official announcement of Samsung’s newest flagship phone. In a nutshell Kids Mode is something you can toggle on your shiny new Galaxy S5 to keep your kids out of areas they shouldn’t be going into, like the web browser or your personal email account. It provides a locked down section of the phone tailored just for kids so that they can get the most enjoyment out of smartphone technology and games without all the traps and parental fears that come with giving your device to your child. Of course Kids Mode isn’t going to protect the phone against drops or throws, but that’s something for a nice sturdy case anyway.
Now just a few weeks later we’re getting our first good look at Kids Mode and how it handles apps in particular. Samsung has created a separate Kids Store for apps created specifically for kids. Samsung themselves curates the list of apps present in the Kids Store, so you won’t have to worry about that naughty live wallpaper showing up when your kids are downloading games and edutainment apps. As you can see from the screenshots below the Kids Store looks very much like Samsung’s app store, except with lots of bright colors and easy-to-find categories for apps and games. You’ll find lots of popular Disney and LEGO games and apps, as well as fun ways for your child to learn motor skills like drawing and color or shape matching. Pricing is likely the same as you’d find in the Google Play Store or the current Samsung Apps store, and rest assured that all purchases, including in-app-purchases, will be password protected for the safety of your bank account. Kudos to Samsung for spearheading such a specific app store, and we hope to see Google competing with its own section in the future.
