Amazon’s FreeTime feature basically offers consumers access to curated content suited for children, as well as providing a range of parental controls. Now, the company is rolling out a new mobile app made specially for smartphones and tablet devices powered by Google’s Android mobile operating system. Android using parents can now make full use of the app in order to treat their kids to more than 40,000 kiddie YouTube videos and websites. Furthermore, the app comes with the same parental controls as those on Amazon’s Fire tablets.
Interested moms and dads who are members of Amazon Prime also have the option of upgrading to the FreeTime Unlimited plan, which is priced at $2.99 a month. This plan comes with a more broad catalogue of video and web content. For those who are not members, the plan is offered at $4.99 a month, the same price as the version for Fire tablet devices. The more expansive selection provided by FreeTime Unlimited includes more than 10,000 videos and books from familiar brands such as Disney, Nickelodeon, Sesame Street, Amazon Studios, PBS Kids, HarperCollins, and Simon & Schuster, among many other providers. It should be noted though that FreeTime Unlimited functions just a tad differently on Android run handsets, especially when it comes to how the apps work. Parents should remember that they will have to add in any mobile app or mobile game they own separately.
Amazon has taken full advantage of the position of its FreeTime feature as a means for promoting its hardware products, which include Fire tablets, Kindle e-readers, and Fire TV. For instance, one of the more appealing selling points of the Fire Kids Edition tablet is a free whole year’s subscription to the FreeTime Unlimited plan, that is apart from the protective case and two year accident warranty.
According to Amazon, more than 10 million kids have already been signed up by their parents for the FreeTime service. And now that the offering is making its way to Android mobile devices, FreeTime’s customer base will only expand going forward. It goes without saying that with more exposure, adoption of the service will only grow.
Amazon’s FreeTime has already gained a good following as one of the more reliable parental control features currently made available in the market. Parents have certainly appreciated how the service is more than just a simple means for locking down a smartphone or tablet (unlike other similar brands). What FreeTime does instead is to let parents set limitations on screen time as well as set bedtimes, plus allow them to personally pick the specific mobile apps, games, video content, and books that can be accessed by their kids.
