Sky Kids app launches, wee ones will never miss Spongebob again
Sky has launched a new Kids mobile application, alongside with a wealth of new original content for the wee ones.
Sky head of kids content, Lucy Murphy, announced the app at a London launch event. The app works on iOS and Android and is designed for three-to-nine-year-olds.
It features a custom user interface that’s designed to push “age appropriate” content from Nick Jnr., Nickelodeon, Cartoon Network, Disney Junior, CiTV, Boomerang, Milkshake and Disney XD.
“We talked to kids, gave them the app. They played with it and gave us feedback. Lots of feedback. We used that to create what we call a larger-than-life design, where everything is simple clear and recognisable,” explained Murphy.
“It lets them create their own profile with a ‘Sky Buddy’, and pushes age-appropriate content to them via a custom tiled user interface. You can also setup multiple profiles. This means when a kid opens up the app, it’ll feel like it’s theirs.”
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Sky has commissioned a wealth of new original kids content, which will kick off with a new series of Morph. For those too young to remember, this stop-motion animation kids show originally aired more than 35 years ago, and it followed the haphazard adventures of an orange clay man called Morph.
The Kids service follows the launch of Sky’s premiere Sky Q service, which features its own mobile app. The Kids app is separate to the company’s existing Sky Q app, and is missing a few core features. The biggest is the ability to save shows to watch offline, which could prove an annoyance for any parent looking to entertain their kids on long car journeys.
Murphy said Sky plans to add the functionality in the near future as a part of a wider wave of upgrades.
“We’ll be adding the ability to view content locally, and expanding the buddy service plus a bedtime setting that will let parents set a time to turn the app off,” she said.
The bedtime function will make the Sky buddies start yawning when bedtime approaches to warn the kids when the app’s about to shut down. Sky Kids will be available to download for Sky customers with a variety or higher bundle from 31 March.
Let us know what you think of the Sky Kids app in the comments below.
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Editorial independence means being able to give an unbiased verdict about a product or company, with the avoidance of conflicts of interest. To ensure this is possible, every member of the editorial staff follows a clear code of conduct.
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We also expect our journalists to follow clear ethical standards in their work. Our staff members must strive for honesty and accuracy in everything they do. We follow the IPSO Editors’ code of practice to underpin these standards.
