Google is making the Play Store a better place to find apps for children, in response to an increased number of people staying home at this time. The company has announced the new Kids tab for the Play Store, which, as you"d expect, will host a myriad of apps aimed at children. Google says the feature is rolling out earlier than expected due to the current circumstances, so not every app you might expect to see will be in the Kids section yet, but more will be added "quickly".
The Kids tab in the Play Store will be home to what Google calls "teacher approved" apps. Working with academic experts and teachers across the United States, the company has set some quality standards that will make an app eligible to be "teacher approved", and thus show up in the Kids tab. Outside the Kids tab, these apps will display a special badge to indicate that they"re appropriate for children.
These criteria include whether the app is age-appropriate, what kind of learning experiences it provides, and what kind of messages it conveys. The Play Store will also make it clear which criteria helped the app earn the "teacher approved" badge so parents can have a better understanding of whether the app is suitable for their children specifically.
The Kids tab is rolling out in the United States over the next few days, and it will come to other countries later on, though no specifics were given in that regard. This effort follows up on new Google Play policies implemented last year, which meant to make the Play Store a safer place for children.