How to stop your child leaving a kids’ YouTube app
Every app that plays YouTube videos shows the YouTube logo and the video title on the player, and they link to YouTube. YouTube’s rules do not allow apps to hide, cover or block them, so a curious tap can take a child out of COONI and into the full YouTube app or website.
Phones and tablets have a built-in lock for exactly this: Guided Access on iPhone and iPad, and App pinning on Android. Turn it on once, then start it each time your child watches, and the device stays in COONI until you enter your code.
Step by step
Open the steps in COONI
Tap Parent, enter your PIN and open Settings → Keep your child in COONI. COONI shows the steps for the device in your hand; tap iPhone & iPad, Android or Computer to see the others.
Turn the lock on once
On iPhone or iPad: Settings → Accessibility → Guided Access, turn it on and set a Guided Access passcode your child does not know. On Android: open Settings, search for “pin”, turn on App pinning and “Ask for PIN before unpinning”.
Start it each time your child watches
Open COONI from your Home Screen in Child Mode. On iPhone or iPad, triple-click the side button (or Home button) and tap Start. On Android, open recent apps, tap the COONI icon at the top of its window and tap Pin.
Finish with your code
On iPhone or iPad, triple-click again and enter your code. On Android, swipe up and hold (or touch and hold Back and the square button), then enter your PIN.
Questions
What happens if my child taps the YouTube logo anyway?
Without a lock, YouTube opens and the COONI video pauses. When your child comes back to COONI, it says “Welcome back” so they can tap play and keep watching.
Does this work in Safari or Chrome?
Use COONI from your Home Screen. In a browser, the logo can still open a new tab inside the same browser, even while it is locked.
What about laptops and desktop computers?
Computers have no simple lock. A click on the logo opens YouTube in a new browser tab, and COONI pauses until your child comes back to its tab. For young children, a phone or tablet locked to COONI is the safer choice.
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COONI is not affiliated with or endorsed by YouTube or Google.