Skip to main content

DirecTV Kids will babysit your tots with age-appropriate videos and movies

unicef global innovations children youth summit kids using a tablet
Wavebreakmedia / Shutterstock
Kid-friendly video apps seem to be all the rage these days — Google has YouTube Kids, Netflix has Just for Kids, and Sky has a new Kids video-on-demand section. It was pretty much inevitable, then, that more pay-TV providers would hop on the bandwagon, and today another has. DirecTV released the eponymous DirecTV Kids for iOS, an app that filters and repackages its existing on-demand library in a format ostensibly friendlier for youngsters.

It definitely delivers on aesthetic — it’s colorful and inviting, with changeable backgrounds and bubble-shaped category buttons for simple searches. But the wrapping is arguably less important than the content, and little ones can expect plenty of the latter. Cartoons, shows, and movies from Viacom’s Nickelodeon, Turner’s Cartoon Network, HBO, and a handful of other networks have made their way into the first release, and DirecTV says it’s adding Disney programming soon. To ensure age-appropriateness, the satellite provider’s partnering with Common Sense Media, a parental reviews website, for ratings. You needn’t worry if junior doesn’t heed the warnings, though — all programming in the app is rated at TV-Y7 or lower.

DirecTV Kids app shot 1
Image used with permission by copyright holder

The intention behind DirecTV Kids was to “take the worry away from watching TV and give kids a simple and safe viewing environment without the need for complicated parental-control setup on multiple devices,” said Tony Goncalves, senior VP of DirecTV’s digital entertainment product group. It’s by all accounts successful, which is an accomplishment worth noting — YouTube Kids, by contrast, has been lambasted by critics for including highly targeted advertising and videos containing sex, drug use, and other adult themes.

DirecTV Kids is live in the App Store for iPhones and iPads running iOS 7 and higher. It requires an active subscription, and isn’t yet available for subscribers outside the U.S.

Available at:

Editors' Recommendations

Kyle Wiggers
Former Digital Trends Contributor
Kyle Wiggers is a writer, Web designer, and podcaster with an acute interest in all things tech. When not reviewing gadgets…
The best kids movies on Amazon Prime Video right now
Griffin, Frankenstein, Johnny, Murray, and Wayne from Hotel Transylvania: Transformania.

Amazon Prime Video doesn’t have the largest library of family-friendly films, but if you know where to look, you can find a modest collection of movies that are perfect for your young ones. To help you sift through the collection and find the right film for the children (or kids at heart) in your family, we've assembled this list of the best kids movies on Amazon Prime Video.

We’ve also rounded up the best kids movies on Hulu, the best kids movies on Netflix, and the best kids movies on Disney+ if you don't find what you’re looking for on Prime Video.

Read more
Apple Music TV is a new take on the 24-hour music video channel
apple

If you miss the halcyon days of MTV in its prime, Apple thinks you might want to check out Apple Music TV. It's a free, 24-hour a day curated livestream of music videos, according to Variety, which will also feature live shows and events as well as chart countdowns and guests.

Limited to U.S. residents for now, the livestream can be accessed via the Apple TV app, on the web, and as a new tab within the Apple Music app on all supported devices. Given that the Apple TV app is now available on a huge variety of smart TVs and streaming media devices, there are going to be very few people who do not have access to Apple Music TV.

Read more
You can now buy or rent videos in Amazon Prime Video for iPhone and Apple TV
amazon-prime-instant-video-2019

A new shift in Apple's approach to streaming services means that it will no longer take a 30% commission within "premium subscription video" services like Amazon Prime Video, which means Amazon customers can now buy or rent videos on their iPhones or Apple TV devices.

Apple has had a longstanding policy of taking a 30% cut from all in-app purchases made on iOS devices. That policy has rubbed many developers the wrong way and caused big companies like Amazon to restrict digital purchases within its apps. In Amazon's Kindle app for iOS, for instance, people can access their existing Kindle library but there is no way to buy new titles from Amazon within the app.

Read more