YouTube to launch kids-focused app

YouTube is set to launch a child-friendly version of its service for smartphones and tablets, called YouTube Kids, according to US reports. 

The free YouTube Kids app is due to launch next week and will offer age-appropriate content, filtering out unsuitable videos.

Speaking to USA Today, YouTube executive and product manager for YouTube Kids, Shimrit Ben-Yair, said: “Parents were constantly asking us, can you make YouTube a better place for our kids.”

She said the launch also coincides with an increase in child-friendly content viewing on YouTube, with a roughly 200% year-on-year increase in viewing time on family entertainment channels compared to 50% growth in overall viewing time on the site.

The news comes in the same month that Twitter launched a child-friendly version of its Vine mobile video service. Vine Kids is available as an iOS app and is the result of a “hack week” project from early January.