Introducing Microsoft Edge Kids Mode, a safer space for your child to discover the web

[News Bot]

There’s so much to be grateful for about the internet – immediate access to the world’s information at your fingertips, discovering inspiring content like DIY videos, and staying connected with family and friends through social media (I love a good cat meme ). But with all the greatness the web has to offer, there is also a lot of online content that I wouldn’t want my kids to see and websites that aren’t age appropriate. With many of our kids spending so much more time online, and many parents and families sharing devices, we’ve been working on a solution and are excited to announce the general availability of Microsoft Edge Kids Mode! Kids Mode gives parents peace of mind by providing a protected online environment as their kids browse the web on a shared device.

A new browser experience for kids that parents choose, and kids will love

 

As a parent, my No. 1 job is doing all I can to help keep my kids safe – physically, mentally and emotionally. While I can protect them physically by knowing who they spend time with in the real world, when they are online, I worry about which websites they visit and the content they have access to. This is especially true over the last year when we’re all spending more time than ever online. I also know that not all parents have the luxury of giving each of their children their own device. Many families are sharing a primary PC or even just handing off their phone to their kids when out and about. https://blogs.windows.com/wp-content/uploads/prod/sites/2/2021/04/W10_Laptop_Edge_KM_8-5_SunniesAndFunnies_16x9_en-US-1024x576.jpg Our research tells us that about 50% of U.S. parents are impacted by what we call the “hand-off scenario.” This is that all too familiar situation of letting your child access the web from a shared device when you’re working, making dinner, picking up scattered toys, or doing any of the million things parents do daily. For U.S. parents with children aged 12 and younger, 58% are concerned with the issues their children face when using digital products and services, and while the majority are aware of parental control solutions, only about half are actually using one today. We started digging into this and found that while there are a lot of great solutions in the market today, they often entail a laborious set-up, can require a subscription, and generally don’t offer anything for the other users of their service: kids. Ultimately, this is what inspired us to roll up our sleeves and create a new mode built natively into Microsoft Edge. Kids Mode was created not only to give parents peace of mind instantly and easily, but also to create a world that is very much designed for kids – more on that below.

How to launch Kids Mode in Microsoft Edge

 

https://blogs.windows.com/wp-content/uploads/prod/sites/2/2021/04/KM-blocked-site-1024x576.jpg Unique to the older age range (9-12) is an age-appropriate news feed on the New Tab Page with specially curated articles from MSN for Kids. These article topics range from animals, to science, to fun facts – bringing fun and entertainment to their fingertips. When it's time to exit Kids Mode, your authentication will be required just to be sure your child isn’t accidentally trying to navigate somewhere you don’t want them to.Your kids can personalize their browsing experience with several fun new browser themes that unlock wonder and discovery. We also collaborated with Disney to create custom Microsoft Edge themes from several animated movies like Disney’s “Frozen,” “The Little Mermaid,” and Disney and Pixar’s “Finding Nemo,” “Cars,” “Toy Story” and “Coco.” You’ll see additional Disney and Pixar Microsoft Edge browser themes added to our theme picker in the coming months.

Designing Kids Mode

 

With a driving purpose of protecting kids online, we embarked on the journey of creating Kids Mode. Our first goal was to create an experience that inspired parents’ confidence, while being simple and intuitive to use and manage. We considered many aspects of the experience: How do parents easily add and remove allowed sites? What does it look like when a child tries to navigate to a site that is not allowed? Once we had initial designs that we felt good about, we showed them to groups of parents and received valuable insights that we took back to the drawing board to make the experience even better. https://blogs.windows.com/wp-content/uploads/prod/sites/2/2021/04/KM-Theme-Picker.jpg We believe this is a game-changer for parents who are juggling all the demands of life today. I can’t wait to hear your feedback on this exciting new capability of Microsoft Edge and how we can improve it in the future! Also this month, we’re announcing several new features that you can read more about in our April What’s New in Web Experiences blog. For those who already have Microsoft Edge installed, launch it and check it out. If you’re on a Mac or mobile device download it and let us know what you think! Visit our website to learn more about Kids Mode and all the great new features available this month in Microsoft Edge!

 

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