YouTube launches YouTube Kids in India

With an aim to make it easier for young kids and their parents to find videos on topics they want to explore, popular online video community YouTube has launched an app called 'YouTube Kids'.

"YouTube Kids comes to India at a great time for millions of Indian families, as it provides children access to content that will enrich their lives and create new opportunities for learning," Malik Ducard, YouTube's Global Head of Family and Learning, says in an official statement.

"India already has a very diverse and rapidly-growing creator base for kids and learning, with content in this category growing 100 per cent year over year. It also provides the perfect platform to showcase India's incredibly vibrant, growing community of content creators, from animation studios to edutubers." Ducard adds.

The standalone, kid-friendly and mobile-first app is available on Google Play and App Store.

With a playful design, large images and bold icons, YouTube Kids aims to makes it easier for the children to find and navigate through videos. Many top Indian YouTube kids and learning creators will be adding new shows exclusive to the YouTube platform. These include new learning shows from 'ChuChuTV' and 'Kids TV', a new season of 'Cat and Keet', a popular chase comedy show by Toonz Animation, the popular 'Gummy Bear' song in Hindi and a new season of 'Appu- The Yogic Elephant'.

In addition to that, YouTube says that kids can watch any series from all of the YouTube channels they already know, and there will also be guest-curated playlists from educators, celebrities and trusted names soon.

Designed to offer family focussed content, YouTube kids offers an option to parents to let their kids to explore their imagination and curiosity. Channels and playlists are classified into four categories: Shows, Music, Learning and Explore.

There is also a voice search to let children find videos when they cannot type or spell a word correctly makes the app more kid-friendly.

Aman Dayal, Content Partnership Manager YouTube Kids and Learning, India and South East Asia, says, "Indian kids are consuming the content from local as well as international creators. Indian creators are exporting large amount of content as well. There is a uniformity in the consumption as a lot of content created in India is watched outside and a lot of content created outside is consumed in India."

The service also offers a parental control option. Parents can broaden or restrict their kids search -- turn 'on' to access millions of family-friendly videos or turn 'off' to restrict their experience. Parents can also limit their kids' screen time by setting a built-in timer, and can also put in a password, restrict certain content and access settings in the app.

The YouTube Kids content can also be watched on big screen using Chromecast, Apple TV, game consoles or a smart TV.