Amazon launched FreeTime in 2012 as a new way for kids to enjoy and experience technology and for parents to easily monitor their children’s usage. However, the name (at least to me FreeTime) sounds like a service to help people kill time on their electronic devices. To fix this, Amazon has taken action to rename its program from FreeTime to “Amazon Kids” and FreeTime Unlimited to “Amazon Kids Plus.”
Along with the updated naming scheme, Amazon is also introducing a new look for the service. In the next few weeks, Amazon will roll out a new home screen for Amazon Kids, recommended for children ages eight and up, to try to offer a new experience by changing the design to look like a traditional tablet.
If you’re already subscribed to FreeTime Unlimited, it will automatically switch to Amazon Kids Plus, and all content, parental control settings, and preferences will remain the same.
The service previously had a simplified interface where kids could navigate one app at a time, and parents could use the Amazon Parent dashboard to adjust age filters to determine what type of content appears on their kids’ home screen. The new home screen also includes quick access to kid-friendly music stations from iHeartRadio.
Amazon also announced today that children will soon be able to use the Fire tablet to broadcast a message in their voice to everyone in the house via any Alexa device in their home, and it also requires parents to approve the text of the message sent.
Amazon Kids is free, but Kids Plus requires a $5 monthly subscription, or $3 per month if you already pay for Amazon Prime, the paid service providing exclusive access to a large number of Spanish-language audiobooks, books, shows, movies, games, and media.
This service comes because most students around the world are spending more time learning and playing from home amid the ongoing spread of the Corona virus, and it offers a number of new educational services, products and discounts to help parents continue learning from home.
The new name will begin rolling out this fall.
Source: theverge
