“While we are developing tech to help, notice computers are last in our list. Some technology helps with video selection, but ultimately human curation is the final deciding factor here. There are now over 3,000 handpicked videos across over 100 topics, with 4-5 being added per week, including seasonal topics. To create the initial round-up of videos featured in Jellies, video viewers watched thousands of hours of YouTube videos to make sure they fit the company’s criteria. That means there are no YouTube stars on Jellies, and its videos are more educational than sensational. Jellies’ position is that the videos children watch should demonstrate better behavior for kids to mimic. ![]() ![]() The kids begin to imitate the smart aleck-y, sassy YouTube personalities they see online, much to parents’ annoyance. And older kids can be encouraged to develop critical thinking skills.Īs any parent with a YouTube-addicted kid can tell you, the videos children watch can also influence their behavior. Videos that teach good values, like those focused on personal responsibility and ethics, can be brought in around age 5, Common Sense Media says. This helped Jellies to figure out not just which videos make sense for which age groups, but also which topics should be included in its kid-friendly app.įor example, Common Sense Media suggests that videos inspiring creativity and imagination are important for children as young as two, while those that demonstrate good interpersonal skills – like sharing or waiting your turn – should be shown to slightly older kids. The company referenced The American Academy of Pediatrics ( AAP) guidelines and age-range data from San Francisco non-profit Common Sense Media, to help with its curation process. The video selection process is something the team at Jellies has thought about carefully. The company instead chooses to generate revenue through a subscription model, charging $4.99/month for ongoing access to its video collection, which includes the addition of new video playlists on a weekly basis. ![]() In fact, the app doesn’t include any ads at all. That is, the company’s selection of videos won’t include those with “ego-driven online ‘stars,'” the Jellies website proclaims, nor will it feature those where toys are unboxed or videos with inappropriate ads. Its solution is complete human curation of video content, combined with a focus on videos that allow kids to explore their world, instead of being force-fed videos designed to promote consumerism, distraction, and bad attitudes. These problems led to the creation of Jellies. His child was scared by videos for older kids (like one for “Hotel Transylvania 2”) he became obsessed with toy unboxings and egg surprises leading him to beg for toys and he watched YouTube stars who demonstrated bad behavior, which impacted the way he acted. Once YouTube Kids came out, I thought that would be the solution, so I kind of shelved the idea of Jellies,” he says.īut Yarmosh soon realized that YouTube Kids wasn’t working, either. “YouTube became basically a non-starter because of the ads and him veering into things he shouldn’t very easily. “My oldest child is now five-and-a-half, but when he was two and three, he would love watching videos as many kids do,” explains Yarmosh. ![]() Jellies was built by Ken Yarmosh, founder of Savvy Apps, which has been making mobile apps for years, largely for clients like PBS, NFL, Homesnap, Navient, Levi’s, and others, in addition to passion projects like mobile calendar app Agenda and Today Weather.Īs a parent, Yarmosh says he, too, was afflicted by the problems with YouTube that have recently come to light – namely, that allowing an algorithm to dictate what kids should watch will not lead to the safest environment. As YouTube reels from a series of scandals related to its lack of policing around inappropriate content aimed at children, obscene comments on videos of children, horrifying search suggestions, and more, a new app called Jellies has arrived to offer parents a safer way to let their kids watch videos on mobile devices.
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