Amazon has released a new version of Kindle FreeTime, a free Kindle app for kids. The update brings new features that let parents limit media consumption as they see fit. For example, a parent can set limited hours that FreeTime will work so that kids can only access entertainment content, say between 7am and 7pm. Parents can also set weekend and weekday limit times, so that kids can have broader access on certain days, if the parent chooses.
The latest version also includes the option for parents to set new educational goals for their kids. For instance, a parent can set up the target goal for their child to read for a hour a day in FreeTime. The update also lets parents lock out privileges before these goals are set. This means that the child would have to finish reading for an hour, before they would be granted access to non-educational content. The platform categorizes all children’s content be it a book, video or app as educational or entertainment, so the lock out will prevent kids from meandering to less educational content before they achieve their reading goals.
Pretty soon, Kindle FreeTime will allow users to borrow a Kindle book from a participating public library, and share it with their child through FreeTime. The update will automatically show up on Kindle Fires that have the FreeTime app in the coming weeks.
