Parents worried about their kids and inappropriate YouTube content now have a handy parenting companion. The YouTube Kids app makes it easy to set up a walled-garden of kid-safe videos on any Android or iOS device.

现在，担心孩子和不适当的YouTube内容的父母有了一个方便的育儿伴侣。 YouTube儿童应用程序可让您轻松在任何Android或iOS设备上设置围墙式儿童安全视频。

什么是YouTube Kids？ (What Is YouTube Kids?)

YouTube is great because you can find videos about anything and everything under the sun. Whether you want to watch music videos, learn how to fix your antique sewing machine, laugh at comedy clips, or see game reviews, just about every subject makes an appearance in some form on YouTube.

YouTube非常棒，因为您可以找到有关阳光下所有事物的视频。 无论您想观看音乐视频，学习如何修理古董缝纫机，嘲笑喜剧剪辑还是查看游戏评论，几乎每个主题都以某种形式出现在YouTube上。

That’s fantastic for curious adults, but not so fantastic for curious kids who might be exposed to age inappropriate content. Because of this, most parents have either steered their kids away from YouTube or watched apprehensively over their shoulders to ensure that their little tykes curious about Bob the Builder and My Little Pony didn’t lead them to inappropriate suggested video content.

对于好奇的成年人来说，这真是太棒了，但对于可能暴露于年龄不适当内容的好奇的孩子来说，那并不是那么好。 因此，大多数父母要么引导孩子离开YouTube，要么全神贯注地看着他们的肩膀，以确保他们的小玩意儿对建筑商鲍勃(Bob the Builder)和“我的小马驹”(My Little Pony)感到好奇，不会导致他们获得不适当的建议视频内容。

Thankfully Google now has a kid-oriented app that keeps kids loaded up with lots of great YouTube content without the risk that they’ll end up watching violent news clips, swear-word laden Watch It Played videos, or other content inappropriate for small children.

值得庆幸的是，Google现在有一个面向儿童的应用程序，可以让孩子们加载大量精彩的YouTube内容，而不必担心最终会观看暴力新闻剪辑，满口脏话的“观看播放的视频”或其他不适合小孩子观看的内容。

Available for both Android and iOS, YouTube Kids offers a kid-friendly interface with age-appropriate content divided into four easy to navigate categories. And, naturally, it works great with the Google Chromecast and smart TVs that support casting.

YouTube儿童版可在Android和iOS上使用，提供了一个适合儿童的界面，其适合年龄的内容分为四个易于浏览的类别。 当然，它可以与支持投射的Google Chromecast和智能电视完美配合。

YouTube Kids is definitely best suited for younger children as the simple interface and preschool/elementary oriented content and suggestions are heavily skewed towards the younger crowd.

YouTube Kids绝对最适合年龄较小的孩子，因为其简单的界面以及面向学前/小学的内容和建议已严重偏向年龄较小的人群。

如何使用YouTube Kids (How to Use YouTube Kids)

The YouTube Kids app is simple to use once you have it up and running, but it helps have a good sense of what individual features accomplish (and where they may fall short). First thing first: search for the application in the app store on your iOS or Android device and install it.

启用并运行YouTube儿童应用程序后，它很容易使用，但有助于您更好地了解各个功能的完成情况(以及可能会出现的不足)。 首先，首先要在iOS或Android设备上的应用商店中搜索该应用，然后进行安装。

初始安装 (Initial Installation)

Once installed, launch the app. After the brief splash screen, you’ll be introduced to the parental lock mechanism, seen below.

安装后，启动应用程序。 在简短的启动屏幕之后，将为您介绍父母锁定机制，如下所示。

By default the passcode system is really only suitable for very small children as any kid who can read will easily decipher the random combination of numbers (like the “five, eight, one, one” seen above) generated each time you access the controls of the app. Fortunately you can change it to a set number with no prompt (which we’ll do in a moment).

默认情况下，密码系统实际上仅适用于很小的孩子，因为任何能够阅读的孩子都会轻易地解密每次访问以下控件时生成的数字的随机组合(例如上面看到的“五，八，一，一”)。该应用程序。 幸运的是，您可以在没有提示的情况下将其更改为设置的号码(稍后我们将进行处理)。

After a few splash screens explaining some of the app’s features, you’ll be prompted to select the age group your child is in. The age group setting appears to have the most impact on the setup of the homescreen suggestions and (in our testing at least) didn’t seem to have a big impact on search results.

在几个初始屏幕解释了该应用程序的某些功能后，系统会提示您选择孩子所在的年龄段。年龄段设置似乎对主屏幕建议的设置和(在我们的测试中，至少)对搜索结果的影响似乎并不大。

Speaking of search results, once you select the age group you’ll be prompted to turn in-app searching on or off. Even if your inclination is to turn it off with younger kids (which we’d suggest), don’t turn it off just yet. Even on a device used by small kids where you don’t want the search feature active, it’s actually very useful to keep it on during the first few sessions you use it with your child (more on that in a moment).

说到搜索结果，选择年龄段后，系统会提示您打开或关闭应用内搜索。 即使您倾向于与年幼的孩子关闭(我们建议这样做)，也不要暂时将其关闭。 即使在您不希望搜索功能处于活动状态的小孩使用的设备上，在您与孩子一起使用它的前几个会话中保持打开状态实际上也是非常有用的(稍后会介绍更多内容)。

填充建议的视频 (Padding the Suggested Videos)

With the final selection made, you’ll be kicked into the home screen of the app. You can use the icons across the top of the screen to navigate. From left-to-right, the icons lead to suggested video content, music, educational videos, and a section called “explore” which is essentially a suggestion engine that links to new channels and content. You can scroll sideways in each section and then tap on any given video or channel to watch the content.

完成最终选择后，您将被踢入该应用程序的主屏幕。 您可以使用屏幕顶部的图标进行导航。 这些图标从左到右依次指向建议的视频内容，音乐，教育视频以及一个名为“ explore”的部分，该部分实际上是一个链接到新频道和内容的建议引擎。 您可以在每个部分中向侧面滚动，然后点按任何给定的视频或频道以观看内容。

In the upper right corner of the screen, you’ll see the Chromecast casting icon and the search icon; in the lower right corner, you’ll find the parental lock/settings icon. We’re about to dive into the parental settings, but before you do, let’s use the search feature to see our kid’s experience with videos they like. The search feature plays a big role in seeding what the suggested videos are. If, for example, your kid loves Minecraft videos then you should start searching for Minecraft videos. Whatever their topic of interest you want to search heavily for it in the beginning to seed all the suggestions with good content.

在屏幕的右上角，您会看到Chromecast投射图标和搜索图标； 在右下角，您会找到“父母锁定/设置”图标。 我们将深入了解父母的设置， 但在您进行操作之前，让我们使用搜索功能来查看我们孩子对喜欢的视频的体验。 搜索功能在播种建议的视频中起着重要作用。 例如，如果您的孩子喜欢Minecraft视频，则应该开始搜索Minecraft视频。 无论他们感兴趣的主题是什么，您都希望在开始时就进行大量搜索，以便为所有建议提供良好的内容。

自定义设置 (Customizing the Settings)

Once you’ve done that, you can hop into the settings menu by tapping on the padlock icon.

完成此操作后，您可以通过点击挂锁图标跳入设置菜单。

Within the settings menu, there are two pertinent entries: timer and settings. The timer setting is self-explanatory; you can set a timer for 1 to 120 minutes and after that the app locks until you enter the parent passcode.

在设置菜单中，有两个相关的条目：计时器和设置。 计时器设置不言自明； 您可以将计时器设置为1到120分钟，然后该应用将锁定，直到您输入父密码。

Inside the Settings menu you’ll find a variety of toggles. In the Audio section, you can turn off the background music and sound effects (they might be delightful to kids but we’ll admit that the cutesy background music got annoying really quick).

在“设置”菜单中，您会发现各种切换。 在“音频”部分，您可以关闭背景音乐和声音效果(它们可能会让孩子们高兴，但我们承认可爱的背景音乐很快就很烦人)。

You can also turn off casting. While casting is a really convenient way to get videos on your TV, you may want to disable this setting if your little tyke finds it hilarious to interrupt your TV watching with Sesame Street from the other room.

您也可以关闭投射。 虽然投射是在电视上获取视频的一种非常方便的方法，但是如果您的小轮胎主觉得很讨厌在另一间房间里用芝麻街打断电视，那么您可能要禁用此设置。

Disabling search will restrict your child to seeing just the suggested videos with no way to actively search for more. For young kids we suggest turning it off and occasionally using your parental passcode to activate it to search for new stuff with them (thereby further seeding the suggested videos). In the content controls section, you can also adjust the age of the child (if you selected preschool age during the initial setup and found the videos to be too young for your child you can bump their age bracket up here to see more content).

禁用搜索将使您的孩子只能观看推荐的视频，而无法主动搜索更多视频。 对于年幼的孩子，我们建议将其关闭，并偶尔使用您的父母密码激活它以与他们一起搜索新内容(从而进一步播种建议的视频)。 在内容控件部分中，您还可以调整孩子的年龄(如果您在初始设置中选择了学龄前的年龄，并且发现视频对于孩子来说太小，则可以在此处提高其年龄段以查看更多内容)。

Finally, you can set a custom passcode (which we recommend for everyone but especially for those with kids who can read simple numbers and enter the code on their own) and clear the search history and recommendations. You likely won’t use the last function very often, but it’s useful for those times that the suggested video queue is cluttered up with content that you either don’t want your child to see or that they aren’t interested in.

最后，您可以设置自定义密码(我们建议所有人，尤其是对于那些有孩子的孩子，他们可以阅读简单的数字并自己输入密码)，并清除搜索历史记录和建议。 您可能不会经常使用last函数，但是对于那些建议的视频队列中充斥着您不希望孩子看到或他们不感兴趣的内容的情况，这很有用。

With these tweaks in place, you can pass the device safely over to your child to let them run wild.

进行这些调整后，您可以将设备安全地传递给孩子，让他们疯狂奔跑。

将孩子锁定到应用程序中 (Locking Kids Into The App)

If you have very young children (and most parents interested in YouTube Kids will be dealing with younger kids) it’s extremely useful to keep them pinned into the application if the device they’re on isn’t dedicated to kid-use.

如果您的孩子很小(大多数对YouTube Kids感兴趣的父母会与年龄较小的孩子打交道)，那么如果他们所使用的设备不是专门用于孩子使用的，则将他们固定在应用程序中非常有用。

The YouTube Kids app doesn’t have a toggle for locking kids into the app but, in fairness to development team, that’s not a shortcoming of the app as neither Android nor iOS allow individual apps that kind of take-over control of the device. Instead, if you’re interested in keeping the app front and center, you’ll need to lock down the app from the OS level.

YouTube Kids应用程序没有将孩子锁定在应用程序中的开关，但是为了公平起见，开发团队并没有这个缺点，因为Android和iOS都不允许单个应用程序对设备进行接管控制。 相反，如果您有兴趣将应用程序放在首位和居中，则需要从操作系统级别锁定该应用程序。

Fortunately recent iterations of both Android and iOS allow for this kind of OS-level control of applications. You can read how to lock your child into a given application in our guide to securing your iOS device for kids and our guide to securing your Android device for kids.

幸运的是，Android和iOS的最新迭代都允许这种OS级的应用程序控制。 您可以在保护儿童iOS设备的指南和保护Android儿童设备的指南中阅读如何将孩子锁定在给定的应用程序中。

YouTube Kids的不足之处 (Where YouTube Kids Falls Short)

While we were overall impressed with the quality of the app and the simple controls, there are a few things about the YouTube Kids app to keep in mind.

虽然我们对应用程序的质量和简单的控件印象深刻，但请记住YouTube Kids应用程序的一些注意事项。

First, the content is not curated, but algorithmically selected. That means that a human being is not deciding what content is age appropriate — an algorithm and a flagging system does it instead. As such, things can slip through the cracks (you can tap on any video and flag it for inappropriate content if this happens). In fairness, we tried our hardest to find really objectionable content through the app and failed. The algorithm did pull up some really weird videos though. When searching for “corn”, as a random and benign term, we found a bunch of videos from Cornell University including a video packed with tips from admissions counselors. The videos were certainly kid-safe, but come on: the app is recommended for ages 8 and under… who in that group is searching for college admissions tips?

首先，内容不是策展的，而是通过算法选择的。 这意味着人类无法确定适合年龄的内容，而是由算法和标记系统来代替。 因此，事情可能会从裂缝中溜走(如果发生这种情况，您可以点按任何视频并将其标记为不适当的内容)。 公平地讲，我们尽最大努力通过该应用找到了真正令人反感的内容，但失败了。 该算法确实提取了一些非常奇怪的视频。 当搜索“玉米”时，作为一个随机且良性的术语，我们发现了康奈尔大学的许多视频，其中包括录取顾问的提示。 这些视频肯定是儿童安全的，但请继续观看：推荐该应用程序用于8岁及以下的人群…该小组中的谁正在寻找大学录取提示？

Second, there is no way to subscribe to channels or create playlists. Given that this is a YouTube app, however-intended-for-children, that seems like a bit of an oversight. Kids love YouTube personalities as much as adults; there should be a way for them to subscribe to The Diamond Minecart or for the kids or parents to build playlists of favorite content. Unlike the first complaint, which is clearly a major design choice (because YouTube Kids is not striving to be nor does it claim to be hand curated) this second complaint really should be resolved in a future update of the app as a matter of usability improvement.

其次，无法订阅频道或创建播放列表。 考虑到这是一个YouTube应用程序，但是针对孩子，这似乎有点疏忽。 孩子们和成人一样喜欢YouTube的个性； 应该有一种方法让他们订阅The Diamond Minecart，或者让孩子或父母建立最喜欢的内容的播放列表。 与第一个投诉明显不同，后者显然是主要的设计选择(因为YouTube Kids并没有努力成为它，也不声称它是手工策划的)，因此第二个投诉确实应该在将来的应用更新中解决，以提高可用性。 。

It’s not perfect, but for small children, YouTube Kids is a great app for providing age-appropriate on-the-go video content. Have questions about making devices kid-friendly or just kids and technology in general? Shoot us an email at ask@howtogeek.com and we’ll do our best to answer them.

它并不完美，但是对于小孩来说，YouTube Kids是一款出色的应用程序，可提供适合年龄的移动视频内容。 对于将设备制作为儿童友好型还是一般儿童和技术方面有疑问吗？ 请通过ask@howtogeek.com向我们发送电子邮件，我们将尽力答复他们。

翻译自: https://www.howtogeek.com/237493/how-to-make-youtube-kid-friendly-with-the-youtube-kids-app/