Frequently Asked Questions
Why should I use Plumu instead of YouTube Kids?
Fair question! There are multiple issues we found with YouTube Kids that Plumu addresses:
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Many channels are not available on YouTube Kids, even though parents may consider them to be totally safe for their kids to watch.
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Some channels or videos that are available on YouTube Kids may not be considered safe by parents. For example, a Lego video depicting a plane crash with characters in panic and saying all kinds of strange things. Videos like this may seem harmless at first glance, but they can be traumatizing to a child.
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As children grow older, they don’t want to use YouTube Kids because it’s meant for smaller kids.
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YouTube / YouTube Kids doesn’t guarantee that a child safe video doesn’t show inappropriate ads.
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User experience of figuring out how to configure YouTube Kids to minimize harm to children is non-trivial. You can access more sophisticated controls in YouTube Kids, but you’ll need to spend a lot of time researching that.
Doesn't YouTube already have parental control?
YouTube does have something called “supervised experience”, but it does not guarantee absence of unwanted content, e.g. YouTube itself say, “our systems are not perfect and will make mistakes” about it.
Why should I use Plumu as opposed to some other solution?
Plumu is unique in that it has features that other solutions don’t have, and it’s look-and-feel is superior because we built Plumu with mobile-first technologies. For instance, we have ability to send a video to a child; weekly watch history summary; easy way to remotely control the child’s app and others. We don’t show ads, and are not incentivized by metrics like video views, or engagement, like a social media app. We will be happy if your child uses Plumu minimally!
My child is already addicted to YouTube, how do I switch him / her to Plumu?
Here’s what we did with our own kids:
- Ask your child about which channels they want to watch. If they can, have them write down the list.
- Based on this list, add channels in Plumu.
This way, you can at least ensure your child doesn’t get addicted to more channels and contain the problem. You can also add channels or videos that you want your child to watch, for instance, something educational. What we found is that our kids watch less of YouTube once we moved them to Plumu - a win!
Why should we allow any YouTube at all?
YouTube is a double-edged sword: on the one hand there are a lot of addictive and mindless videos, but on the other there’s a lot of great educational stuff as well. With Plumu you can create a better mix of the two.
Does Plumu require a Google / YouTube account?
No, you don’t need a Google account to use Plumu. You sign up with Plumu as a parent and create separate profile for each child. The app works in two modes - parent and child - and we recommend installing Plumu on both the parent’s and child’s devices.
Can I create a playlist in Plumu?
While Plumu doesn’t have a concept of a playlist (at least for now), you can effectively create one by picking any individual videos for your child to watch. These videos will be available on the child’s home tab.
