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  • Hacker News
  • How does it stop Youtube from showing recommendations?
    by Aeolun
  • KidScreen removes the YouTube browsing experience: there is no search, no feed, and no algorithm choosing the next video for the child. I add the exact videos myself, and the child sees only that finite shelf. On my children’s iPads I use KidScreen as a Home Screen web app and block the other video sources with Screen Time. In my testing I have not seen ads or recommendations in this setup.
    by Tintly
  • The issue I found is that there is good content that isn't traditional kids content. Engineering videos, how it works etc.

    So I vibe coded my own solution over a couple weekends that runs on my LG TV.

    by asielen
  • Exactly. A parent can add any public, embeddable YouTube video they consider appropriate — it does not have to be labelled as children’s content. Engineering videos, documentaries, and “how it works” videos fit the model well. KidScreen does not classify the content; the parent makes that decision.
    by Tintly
  • I like the idea.

    I solved the issue by building an extra Android Launcher for the kids, where you can add apps and videos, but then you have the problem that you can't configure your own launcher on all tablets (e.g. Fire Tablets).

    by arendtio
  • Nice approach. I chose a web app for the same portability reason: the child signs in once in a browser and KidScreen can be added to the Home Screen. That reduces platform-specific work, but it still does not guarantee that every device or TV browser supports YouTube embeds correctly.
    by Tintly
  • Interested in this, but to work on an ipad that has youtube.com blocked via ScreenTime I imagine it probably wont work (unless you unblock youtube.com and the youtube becomes accessible via the browser). Unless they have found a way round this problem?
    by codeulike
  • Yes — this is exactly how I use it on my children’s iPads. I install KidScreen as a Home Screen web app, block the regular YouTube website and other video sources with Screen Time, and allow KidScreen together with its `youtube-nocookie.com` player. The child opens only KidScreen and sees the shelf I prepared.
    by Tintly
  • Technically, 0 is a finite number. It's also the optimal number of youtube videos for a kid.
    by bpodgursky
  • It is for families who already choose to use some video and want tighter control over exactly what is available.
    by Tintly
  • While excessive screen time can certainly be a problem and the specific content matters there is nothing inherently wrong with a small amount of age-appropriate YouTube content consumption.
    by michaelmior
  • Looks interesting but I would want some public information about how it works and who is doing it, etc... The complete lack of any available details must be stopping many potential users.
    by blakesterz
  • You are right. A family product should explain who built it, how child access works, what data it stores, and what the embedded YouTube player can still show. I am an independent parent building this for my own family first, and the current public page is too sparse.
    by Tintly
  • Friction is the problem with something like this. If my kid grabs my phone, or uses the LG TV Youtube App, or the Apple TV app, or the PlayStation 5, can all of those default to KidScreen?

    If it can't solve all those, there's absolutely no utility for me. If I were willing to become the kind of authoritarian taskmaster that tightly controls which devices my kids use to watch something at all times, I would already not need KidScreen.

    by nsxwolf
  • KidScreen cannot become the default inside the native YouTube apps on phones, Apple TV, PlayStation, or other platforms. It works only where the child opens the KidScreen web app in a compatible browser, and the parent still needs device-level controls to restrict other routes to YouTube. It solves a smaller problem than universal device control, so it will not fit every family.
    by Tintly
  • > If it can't solve all those, there's absolutely no utility for me.

    To be fair, how the hell is that something an APP can do?

    by HumblyTossed
  • Agree with other commenters this needs a better landing page with some screens or a video demo. Especially for a product where building trust with your family would be a necessity.
    by jzig
  • Agreed. Trust should not depend on registering first. Screenshots, a short demo, a clear explanation of the flow, and the YouTube limitations belong on the public page. “Free” and “simple” are not enough on their own.
    by Tintly
  • Hey, thanks for all the comments.

    I made KidScreen for my two daughters. They both have their own iPads, and I wanted them to have separate video shelves with only the YouTube videos I chose for them.

    How it works is very simple: I create one family, add my children, and paste YouTube links into each child’s shelf. Each child has their own login and sees only their own videos. I put KidScreen on the Home Screen as a web app, block regular YouTube and other video sources with Screen Time, and allow KidScreen with youtube-nocookie.com. So when they open it, there is no search, no endless feed, and no random videos to choose from — only what I added.

    KidScreen is free. I built it for my own family first, and if it is useful for other parents, I will keep developing it. It will stay free. It is a web app, not a native TV or mobile app, and it does not download videos for offline use. It can work in a browser on a TV, but it was not made specifically for TV.

    In my own setup I have not seen ads or recommendations. But the main point is simple: no video appears on the child’s shelf because of an algorithm. It is there because the parent added it.

    A lot of you are right about one thing: the main page does not explain this well enough. I thought people would just try it because it is free, but I understand why someone wants to know exactly how it works before signing up. I will move the About section to the main page, add screenshots, and explain the product better.

    by Tintly
  • Hey i'd love to use it but may be add a little more description in the landing page to build confidencee before a parent can signup for the service! That has kept me away from signing up TBH. The premise of the product seems promising. I was thinking of building a whole device for parents to block content on the https traffic level
    by aspanda
  • You are right. Being free does not remove the need for trust. I built KidScreen for my own family and released it for other parents, but the public page should clearly show how it works, who built it, what it stores, and where its limits are. Thank you for the direct feedback.
    by Tintly
  • On the webpage - "Learn more in your parent account: About."

    So I click About and it asks me to login or create an account.

    Instant nope from me.

    by zikduruqe
  • YouTube Kids in theory solves all my problems, the issue is that it's garbage software where the most important features are broken. For example I recently went on a long trip and grabbed the kids tablet. Only to discover after leaving the house, that all the previously downloaded videos were gone, and all the new ones that the app had chosen from among my whitelisted channels had "failed to download", despite having been at home on the wifi for weeks, so without internet connectivity, the app had nothing at all.

    As others have pointed out, the things I am looking for in a YouTube kids replacement is quite specific and detailed, and the landing page provides not an iota of evidence that I will get that.

    by MostlyStable
  • That is fair. KidScreen does not solve offline playback or broken YouTube downloads. It solves a narrower problem: the parent chooses exact videos and the child gets a small, finite shelf instead of search or an endless feed. The landing page should explain that scope and its limitations before asking anyone to sign up.
    by Tintly
  • The solution I came up with was yt-dlp.

    I tried Netflix as well, worked great on the flight, but as soon as we got to the destination and connected to WiFi "This content is not available in your location". That was with downloaded content. Restarting the app with WiFi off did not allow it to play ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

    by fy20
  • I’d be in the market for this, but didn’t get enough info to sign up.

    My first questions were: - do I need a YouTube account? - do I need a premium YouTube account? - can I use it on my tv? - and more generally, how does it work? (Which should answer all above)

    Current solution is: download YouTube videos my son is interested in to Plex, watch them on the tv (or iPad)

    I also have YouTube premium, but barely use it.

    by RileyJames
  • KidScreen is a free web app: a parent creates a family, adds a child, and pastes the exact YouTube links they want on that child’s shelf. The child signs in once with separate child credentials. KidScreen does not require a YouTube or Premium account for ordinary public videos that allow embedding. A compatible TV browser may work, but KidScreen is not a native TV app and I have not tested every TV platform.
    by Tintly
  • Same for me. I also download videos and put them on a USB stick plugged into the TV.
    by andreidbr