families
Several popular AI products flagged as unsafe for kids by Common Sense Media
An independent review of popular AI tools has found that many — including Snapchat’s My AI, DALLE, and Stable Diffusion, may not be safe for kids. The new reviews come…
Inalife’s digital legacy platform lets you preserve your family’s memories
A new startup, Inalife, has created a digital legacy platform that aims to help families preserve their precious memories, create an interactive family tree and even record messages for other…
Google Play streamlines policies around kids’ apps as regulations tighten
Google Play today announced a series of changes to its programs and policies around apps designed for children. The company is describing the update as an expansion of its previously…
This Week in Apps: Elon wants out, TikTok’s content ratings, a new milestone for subscription revenue
Welcome back to This Week in Apps, the weekly TechCrunch series that recaps the latest in mobile OS news, mobile applications and the overall app economy. Global app spending reached…
Amid growing concerns around app addiction, TikTok rolls out more screen tools
TikTok users regularly complain of hours lost on the platform, thanks to the video app’s unmatched ability to distract, entertain and engage users by way of its advanced recommendation technology.…
Following suicides and lawsuits, Snapchat restricts apps building on its platform with new policies
After a bullied teen died by suicide, a grieving mother last year sued the platform where the abuse had taken place — Snapchat — for not doing enough to protect…
Google rolls out safety features across Google Fi, Google Assistant, Google One and more
Timed to coincide with Safer Internet Day, Google today introduced a handful of new product features across various apps and services, including Google Assistant, Google Fi, Google One and more,…
TikTok updates its policies with focus on minor and LGBTQ safety, age appropriate content and more
Months after TikTok was hauled into its first-ever major congressional hearing over platform safety, the company is today announcing a series of policy updates and plans for new features and…
Honeycomb, a private social app for families, raises $4M seed round
A women-led startup called Honeycomb is launching its private social app for families, backed by $4 million in seed funding led by Peter Boyce at Stellation Capital. Now out of…
Common Sense Networks launches Sensical, a free, hand-curated streaming service for kids
Common Sense Media has made a name for itself among parents as a useful resource for vetting entertainment and technology in terms of its age-appropriateness. Now, the organization’s for-profit affiliate,…
Snowman, the studio behind Alto’s Adventure and others, launches a kids app company, Pok Pok
Snowman, the small studio behind award-winning iOS games Alto’s Adventure, Alto’s Odyssey, Skate City and others, is spinning out a new company, Pok Pok, that will focus on educational children’s…
Google’s Family Link updates reflect the pandemic’s impact on how parents view screen time
Google is making changes to its parental control system, Family Link, that aims to better reflect parents’ changing views on children’s screen time. In the pre-pandemic world, parents were more…
Apple teams with Common Sense Media to curate podcasts for kids
Apple announced this morning it’s teaming up with Common Sense Media to curate a selection of kid-friendly podcasts in the U.S. in light of what appears to be growing interest…
YouTube to launch parental control features for families with tweens and teens
YouTube announced this morning it will soon introduce a new experience designed for teens and tweens who are now too old for the schoolager-focused YouTube Kids app, but who may…
Streamers, including Netflix and CBS All Access, roll out new family-friendly features
As competition in the streaming service market heats up, services are looking for ways to differentiate their offerings. One area of increased interest — especially in light of fierce competition…
A tween tries Apple’s new ‘Family Setup’ system for Apple Watch
With the release of watchOS 7, Apple at last turned the Apple Watch into the GPS-based kid tracker parents have wanted, albeit at a price point that requires careful consideration.…
Amazon rebrands FreeTime to Amazon Kids, expands paid catalog for Amazon Kids+
Amazon today announced it will rebrand its kid-friendly services formerly known as Amazon FreeTime and Amazon FreeTime Unlimited to Amazon Kids and Amazon Kids+. In addition to the name change,…
Google launches Google Kids Space, a ‘kids mode’ feature for Android, initially on Lenovo tablets
Streaming services have built-in kids’ profiles, so why not devices? Google today is responding to parents’ demand for a better way for their children to interact with technology with the…
Roblox launches Party Place, a private venue for virtual birthday parties and other meetups
The coronavirus pandemic and related government lockdowns have led to a surge in online gaming — particularly on social platforms where people can connect with real-life friends in a virtual…
Facebook and Instagram launch a week of grad-themed events and features
Facebook today revealed its plans to celebrate the 2020 graduates this week across both Facebook and Instagram. The series of events, starting today on May 11, will include the company’s…
Google Play adds a ‘Teacher Approved’ section to its app store
Google today is making it easier for families to find quality educational apps with the addition of a new “Teacher Approved” section to Google Play. All apps found in this…
National Geographic launches a homeschool hub for parents and teachers, NatGeo@Home
The COVID-19 outbreak has closed schools across most of the U.S., impacting more than 55 million students who are now learning at home. That’s created an increased demand for homeschool…
Featured Article
How child care startups in the U.S. are helping families cope with the COVID-19 crisis
The COVID-19 pandemic has upended the lives of billions of people around the world. For many parents with young children in the United States, shelter-in-place orders implemented in different areas over the past few weeks mean they now spend each day balancing work with taking care of their families. For…
YouTube to invest $100M in kids’ content that showcases character strengths, like compassion and curiosity
YouTube in September announced a $100 million fund to invest in new children’s video content, following its $170 million settlement with the FTC over children’s privacy law violations. The fund…
2020 will be a big year for online childcare — here are 6 startups to watch
Over the weekend, media and digital brand holding company IAC announced that it had agreed to buy Care.com, which describes itself as “the world’s largest online family care platform,” in…
Following FTC complaint, Google rolls out new policies around kids’ apps on Google Play
Google announced this morning a new set of developer policies aimed at providing additional protections for children and families seeking kid-friendly apps on Google Play. The new policies require that…
Spotify ends test that required family plan subscribers to share their GPS location
Spotify has ended a test that required its family plan subscribers to verify their location, or risk losing accessing to its music streaming service. According to recent reports, the company…
YouTube Kids adds a whitelisting parental control feature, plus a new experience for tweens
YouTube Kids’ latest update is giving parents more control over what their kids watch. Following a change earlier this year that allowed parents to limit viewing options to human-reviewed channels,…
More Alexa ‘blueprints’ arrive, offering customizable voice apps for families and roommates
Earlier this year, Amazon rolled out a new feature that allowed Alexa device owners to create their own custom skills using preconfigured templates. Today, Amazon is expanding Alexa Blueprints, as…
Amazon’s children’s book subscription ‘Prime Book Box’ opens to all in the U.S.
Amazon today publicly launched a new perk for Prime members with young children, with the broad release of the new subscription-based “Prime Book Box” service. The $22.99 per box offering…
