In Microsoft’s constant pursuit of converting people to be restarted Edge web browserit launches a new kids mode that allows parents to easily control how their kids browse the web.
Kids Mode is a free option built directly into Microsoft Edge on Windows and macOS. Enabling it is as easy as navigating to the user profile menu in the top right corner of the browser and selecting “Browse in Kids Mode”. Parents can choose between two versions, one for ages five to eight and one for ages nine to 12. By default, both offer the strictest level of tracking prevention in Edge and Bing SafeSearch to filter adult text, images, and videos from search results. The only difference between the two age categories is that the oldest contains a news feed of curated articles from MSN for Kids. But don’t worry: it focuses on more kid-friendly topics like fun science and animal facts rather than news and politics, Microsoft said.
Kids mode also limits which sites kids can access, with about 70 popular kids sites allowed from scratch (any additional sites allowed must be added to the list separately). If a child tries to view a site that is not on that list, they will be presented with an adorable block page, pictured below, asking for adult consent.
In a blog post Announcing the news on Thursday, Microsoft’s corporate VP Liat Ben-Zur called Kids Mode a “game-changer for parents juggling all the demands of today’s life.” Microsoft purposely designed it to make adding and removing allowed sites as easy as possible for parents so that they can have peace of mind when using shared devices.
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Microsoft has also addressed a workaround that kids could use to slip past these measures. Kids Mode restricts popular Windows keyboard shortcuts to prevent users from simply exiting the browser and opening a new one, de Verge reports
Most of all, Microsoft designed Kids Mode with younger users in mind, Ben-Zur said.
[I]It became clear that the best way to keep children from trying to leave was to make sure they wanted to stay. In other words, we wanted to create the most engaging environment a child could ever want to browse the Internet. ”
So, as you can see in the screenshot above, Microsoft’s visual designers used a lot of bright colors and crazy characters to create a browsing experience for kids. It also added the option to customize the look of the browser so kids could get creative and opt for a layout that’s easy to navigate.
To return the browser to normal, an adult must enter their Windows or macOS credentials.
Kids Mode is one of them several new features it will be rolling out for Edge this month, Microsoft said Thursday. So if you’re already an Edge convert, pay attention future coverage.