If you did not know this, Google has introduced a kid-friendly update on one of its platforms. YouTube, on the other hand, has its own version for kids.
In YouTube Kids, the videos are specifically for kids and prioritize only offering family-friendly content. And Google is bringing the same type of feature to Assistant too.
The Assistant platform is basically getting more kid-friendly by bringing a whole range of new parental controls, voices, and many other family-friendly features.
Before this update, the platform did not have any parental controls. But with the new update, Google claims that children usually interact with shared devices.
So, the team felt the need to give parents the right amount of control over the content the children are exposed to.
Through Assistant Parental Controls, parents can control the type of content, features, and devices the children can access.
For content, Google will help the parents to narrow things down to a handful of approved services, which include the choice between YouTube Music or YouTube Kids.
The new update will also enable parents to restrict access to podcasts and news. And users will be capable of selecting the features they want their children to access.
Among those features is the ability to make phone calls and adjust the given answers to a specific age range.
There is also a new Downtime tool. This tool will enable the parents to set a schedule, which will help restrict the use of Google Assistant for a certain period.
But that is not all; the update brings other kid-friendly features too. Parents can also be the source of age-appropriate answers. For example, they can rely on Kids Dictionary, enabling the children to get simplified answers to their queries.
However, if you like to use the Kids Dictionary, you must first add your children’s voice to a supported device. You can find the instructions to do so on the Google Assistant Help page.
Lastly, the update introduces kid-friendly voices. According to the team, these voices are designed by taking input from parents and children. And that allowed the new voices to get a variety of accents.
Compared to the standard monotone voice, the new voices speak much more expressive and slower. As a result, kids will not have any trouble trying to understand the answers from the Assistant.
This new update will be available for US users within the coming weeks. And the Parental Controls will be available to Home, Assistant, and Family Link apps on iOS and Android. However, there is no news regarding the global launch.
Slava is a man of mystery and no-one seems to know exactly where he is at any point in time. When he isn't enjoying writing about all things audio and technical he can be found researching his next project of interest. The man never rests.
