NEW: Kids category in the Apple store and iTunes accounts for children under 13
As we all know, children are strongly drawn to our beloved iDevices, and no matter how hard we’d try, it’s difficult to keep them at a distance for too long. Sometimes we are happy about this (when we want a few moments for ourselves or just need something to stop them from crying), but usually we are afraid that something bad might happen.
As Mindshapes Joint CEO Chris Michaels declared for TechCrunch, “ the changes were minor”. “We have included a privacy policy within the app, per Apple’s requirements. We had already implemented other features for compliance, notably parent gating on any transactional or outbound link-based content, earlier in 2013,” he said.A drawback for some parents would be the fact that most of the apps in Kids category are paid. For some others, this is the status quo of the apps’ quality and a guaranty that there will be no more advertisement-filled free apps and their children will enjoy the interactive and educational apps without being tricked into purchase behaviors. “Apple is clearly doing the right things and trying to stamp out some of the abuse that has happened in this sector with unscrupulous app developers tricking kids into making in-app purchases,” said Gregg Spiridellis, co-founder at StoryBots for Google Trender [http://googletrender.com/streams/trends/2013/09/22/introducing-apples-new-kids-app-store/] iTunes accounts for children under 13 Determined to offer a wider access to information and education, Apple also decided to allow children under 13 to register with an iTunes account. However, this will only be possible if funneled through any approved educational institution and with a document attesting that the parents are also agreeing. This is a complex measure which aims to help children with gaining quick access at the educational data available in the App Store and iBookstore. Apple even thinks about a new system which will offer the teachers the possibility to control the content installed by children. Not a bad idea at all and I’m pretty sure that, in time, these changes will lead to growth in sales in the Apple iTunes store. You need to know also that before Apple created the Kids category in the Apple store, something very similar was created by Moms with Apps , a group of app developers (originally all moms) who shared family friendly apps. The apps were organized by subject areas and ages, learning focus and developer and had the aim to help families and educators locate apps that target children’s needs.