You might recall YouTube Kids launching within the United States not too long ago. This is an application service that curates a toned down YouTube experience that will be best suited for children. Now this service has finally made its way into Canada after it was revealed that the free service would be reaching other countries outside of the United States such as the United Kingdom, Ireland, Australia, and New Zealand. While there are some kids who may be thrilled at having a more free access to YouTube content that is directed to their age group, children within Quebec have been left out.
As mentioned, YouTube Kids is a subsidiary YouTube experience that is aimed at a younger audience. Children will be able to search through countless videos of their favorite shows like the Teletubbies, Hooplakidz, Thomas the Tank Engine, and National Geographic Kids. Although, children using the application can broaden their searches through four different sections that are Shows, Music, Learning, and Explore. Google has also taken care of the younglings that might not be able to spell quite yet as devices with an integrated microphone will allow children to say out loud the search terms they wish to view. Regardless of the freedom to search through countless videos, parental controls are included to allow parents or guardians the ability to finely tune what type of videos are appropriate for their kids.
Parents will also have a feature that will help other kids from a watching a video that may not be suited or directed as family friendly. Google admits that no service is perfect and that mistakes do happen, thus they included a flag feature to allow guardians to flag down videos that they find best to keep away from the YouTube Kids application. Additionally, parents can let the application be the “bad guy” with the included Timer feature. With the Timer feature, parents can decide just how long their kids can use the application before it alerts their child that their session is over.
Unfortunately, children within Quebec are not able to partake in the YouTube Kids application. It’s curious as to why, especially since Google gave a vague explanation. According to Google who has spoken with Mobile Syrup, the reason that Quebec did not receive YouTube Kids is that “Quebec is a unique environment” and that they are taking a thoughtful approach as to how they can expand the app to other markets.