This morning, Amazon has announced that its popular child-focused service FreeTime has been rebranded as Amazon Kids and Kids+. Alongside the name change is a host of other adjustments to the service and experience, headlined by a redesigned interface, Amazon Echo integrations, and more content. As the fallout from the COVID-19 pandemic rolls out, more and more parents are finding themselves educating children at home and needing to find ways to keep their kids busy. The revamped Amazon Kids arrives as a solution to some of those problems with an expanded library of content, including new videos, music, and more. Full details on this latest Amazon venture can be found below.
Amazon Kids arrives as the next iteration of FreeTime
Headlining today’s changes and upgrades to Amazon Kids is a redesigned home screen experience for Fire tablets. Instead of a one-size-fits-all approach, Amazon is introducing an evolving home screen that will change as your child gets older.
Initially, it will look and feel more like a stripped-down experience. However, starting at age eight as the child gets older, it will become more like the layout found on standard Fire tablets.
Adults will continue to have access to the home screen, loaded apps, content, and more in the Parent Dashboard. These features can be controlled manually or with guided filters and themes based on age.
Amazon explains further as part of today’s announcement:
Amazon Kids now offers more flexibility to customize the Amazon Fire tablet software experience, so it can grow with your child. The new home screen theme, recommended for kids eight and up, looks and feels more like a “grown-up” tablet. The new theme will begin rolling out in the coming weeks, and parents will be able to select it in profile settings under the “Adjust Age Filters and Themes” section in Amazon Parent Dashboard.
New announcements feature and fresh content
Alongside the remade home screen, Amazon is bringing a new announcement featured designed to help kids quickly communicate with their family. After tapping “announce” on the device, a child will then be able to broadcast their voice to everyone in the home. Of course, parents need to ok this feature and you can probably just about guess how it might shape up.
Amazon is also introducing a slew of new content, music, and games designed for ages six to 12 as part of today’s update.
Amazon Kids will offer free ad-supported content and limited features. For $2.99 or $4.99 per month, with or without Prime, customers will be able to access additional content and other features. Amazon Kids+ will be available on Fire tablets, Fire TV, Kindle, Echo, iOS, Chrome OS, and Android devices.
Source: Amazon
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