families

Several popular AI products flagged as unsafe for kids by Common Sense Media

An independent review of popular AI tools has found that many — including Snapchat’s My AI, DALLE, and Stable Diffusion, may not be safe for kids. The new reviews come from Common Sense Me

Inalife’s digital legacy platform lets you preserve your family’s memories

A new startup, Inalife, has created a digital legacy platform that aims to help families preserve their precious memories, create an interactive family tree and even record messages for other members

Google Play streamlines policies around kids’ apps as regulations tighten

Google Play today announced a series of changes to its programs and policies around apps designed for children. The company is describing the update as an expansion of its previously launched “T

This Week in Apps: Elon wants out, TikTok’s content ratings, a new milestone for subscription revenue

Welcome back to This Week in Apps, the weekly TechCrunch series that recaps the latest in mobile OS news, mobile applications and the overall app economy. Global app spending reached $65 billion in th

Amid growing concerns around app addiction, TikTok rolls out more screen tools

TikTok users regularly complain of hours lost on the platform, thanks to the video app’s unmatched ability to distract, entertain and engage users by way of its advanced recommendation technolog

Following suicides and lawsuits, Snapchat restricts apps building on its platform with new policies

After a bullied teen died by suicide, a grieving mother last year sued the platform where the abuse had taken place — Snapchat — for not doing enough to protect its younger users. Another

Google rolls out safety features across Google Fi, Google Assistant, Google One and more

Timed to coincide with Safer Internet Day, Google today introduced a handful of new product features across various apps and services, including Google Assistant, Google Fi, Google One and more, as we

TikTok updates its policies with focus on minor and LGBTQ safety, age appropriate content and more

Months after TikTok was hauled into its first-ever major congressional hearing over platform safety, the company is today announcing a series of policy updates and plans for new features and technolog

Honeycomb, a private social app for families, raises $4M seed round

A women-led startup called Honeycomb is launching its private social app for families, backed by $4 million in seed funding led by Peter Boyce at Stellation Capital. Now out of private beta, the app o

Common Sense Networks launches Sensical, a free, hand-curated streaming service for kids

Common Sense Media has made a name for itself among parents as a useful resource for vetting entertainment and technology in terms of its age-appropriateness. Now, the organization’s for-profit

Snowman, the studio behind Alto’s Adventure and others, launches a kids app company, Pok Pok

Snowman, the small studio behind award-winning iOS games Alto’s Adventure, Alto’s Odyssey, Skate City and others, is spinning out a new company, Pok Pok, that will focus on educational chi

Google’s Family Link updates reflect the pandemic’s impact on how parents view screen time

Google is making changes to its parental control system, Family Link, that aims to better reflect parents’ changing views on children’s screen time. In the pre-pandemic world, parents were

Apple teams with Common Sense Media to curate podcasts for kids

Apple announced this morning it’s teaming up with Common Sense Media to curate a selection of kid-friendly podcasts in the U.S. in light of what appears to be growing interest in spoken-word ent

YouTube to launch parental control features for families with tweens and teens

YouTube announced this morning it will soon introduce a new experience designed for teens and tweens who are now too old for the schoolager-focused YouTube Kids app, but who may not be ready to explor

Streamers, including Netflix and CBS All Access, roll out new family-friendly features

As competition in the streaming service market heats up, services are looking for ways to differentiate their offerings. One area of increased interest — especially in light of fierce competitio

A tween tries Apple’s new ‘Family Setup’ system for Apple Watch

With the release of watchOS 7, Apple at last turned the Apple Watch into the GPS-based kid tracker parents have wanted, albeit at a price point that requires careful consideration. As someone in the t

Amazon rebrands FreeTime to Amazon Kids, expands paid catalog for Amazon Kids+

Amazon today announced it will rebrand its kid-friendly services formerly known as Amazon FreeTime and Amazon FreeTime Unlimited to Amazon Kids and Amazon Kids+. In addition to the name change, the se

Google launches Google Kids Space, a ‘kids mode’ feature for Android, initially on Lenovo tablets

Streaming services have built-in kids’ profiles, so why not devices? Google today is responding to parents’ demand for a better way for their children to interact with technology with the

Roblox launches Party Place, a private venue for virtual birthday parties and other meetups

The coronavirus pandemic and related government lockdowns have led to a surge in online gaming — particularly on social platforms where people can connect with real-life friends in a virtual ven

Facebook and Instagram launch a week of grad-themed events and features

Facebook today revealed its plans to celebrate the 2020 graduates this week across both Facebook and Instagram. The series of events, starting today on May 11, will include the company’s previou
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