YouTube Adds More Granular Parental Controls

YouTube is introducing today more granular parental controls, including an option to restrict the time their kids can spend scrolling the TikTok-style Shorts feed. The platform will also make it easier for parents to create new kid accounts.

The new Shorts feed limit offers 15-minute increments and can be set to zero when parents want their kids to just watch regular YouTube videos. The team said that this was “an industry-first feature that puts parents firmly in control of the amount of short-form content their kids watch.”

In addition to setting the amount of time their kids can spend scrolling the Shorts feed, parents will be able to set custom Bedtime and Take a Break reminders for supervised accounts. In the coming weeks, YouTube will also simplify the process of creating a new kid account via an updated sign-in experience.

Lastly, YouTube will be working with its creator community and education experts to encourage the creation of high-quality teen content. The platform will also tweak its recommendation system to show more videos from Khan Academy, CrashCourse, and TED-Ed to teens.