
A Dad’s Plea To Developers Of iPad Apps For Children - pascal07
http://uxdesign.smashingmagazine.com/2012/03/12/dads-plea-developers-ipad-apps-children/
======
veidr
I'm curious: don't any other people here think 2-year-old kids shouldn't be
playing iPad games _at all_?

I'm convinced that watching TV is harmful to a child's intellectual
development. (And there's an established body of evidence to support that.)

As a kid, I hated my hippie Montessori teacher mom for allowing me only one
hour of TV per _week_ as a kid in the late 70s and early 80s (elementary
school; I usually chose the Duke boys, and later Knight Rider). But, as an
adult, I cite it often as one of the things I admire most about the way she
raised me (no limits on books, nor daytime outdoor play after school, nor
building things), especially after coming to understand how much easier it is
to set a precocious and hyper wild little monkey in front of the boob tube so
the parents can get a couple hours of peace.

I do think video games (especially good ones) are probably much less harmful
than TV, and that they do even have some net positives for the user, in terms
of developing various human abilities (cognitive and otherwise). But isn't two
years old too young? Shouldn't kids of that age, instead of learning in-game
physics, be learning _real_ physics? Like with balls, marbles, and blocks,
running and falling down, and not with animated honeypots and flying unicorns?

My own kid won't be here for a few more months, so I'm not preaching; just
honestly asking. I know little kids _love_ iPad games... but they love eating
sugar cubes, too.

~~~
feralchimp
> don't any other people here think 2-year-old kids shouldn't be playing iPad
> games at all? > My own kid won't be here for a few more months, so I'm not
> preaching; just honestly asking. > Shouldn't kids of that age, instead of
> learning in-game physics, be learning real physics? Like with balls,
> marbles, and blocks, running and falling down, and not with animated
> honeypots and flying unicorns?

You are in fact preaching, just not from direct experience raising children.

Please do not give your future 2-year-old marbles to learn physics with.
Choking hazard. Harder to swallow an iPad.

~~~
pbhjpbhj
Our former 2 year-old and current two year-old have neither choked on their
marbles. Why? Supervision. You play with your kids and then you can stop them
doing stupid things that are going to cause them high-level harm.

The hard part I find is letting them hurt themselves as part of their
learning.

Indeed our 2 year-old just used a kitchen knife (about as long as his forearm)
for the first time a couple of weeks ago to chop the potatoes he peeled. Close
supervision.

"He could swallow a marble", well yes, he could bash his brother's head in
with the corner of an iPad, get hit by a meteorite, run in to a wall, drown
himself in the toilet, etc..

------
aculver
When we developed Aeir Talk, an speech pathology app for children with Autism,
we locked the setup screen (where parents can customize the cards, pictures,
and audio) behind a nondescript "Setup" button in the title bar. When tapped,
it does practically nothing: It changes to describe to parents how they can
unlock the setup screen: "Press While Holding 'Please'", referring to a button
on the other side of the screen that is part of the apps regular function.
Compared to other touchable elements in the app, the button provides very
little feedback, so kids largely ignore it. The gesture requires two hands,
tapping two parts of the screen at the same time, so it's unlikely for
children to end up in there by accident. You can see a video of this workflow
at <http://aeirtalk.com/> .

~~~
chime
I did something similar with KType (an iPad app to help people with speech and
motor disabilities communicate better). To get out of the app's main feature -
full-screen keyboard - you have to hold the four corners of the iPad screen at
the same time. It makes sure the user does not inadvertently get out of the
keyboard view.

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S_A_P
I think in app purchases for apps targeting users under 13 is a really bad
idea. Even if there isn't some dark premise behind it, I feel like an asshole
every time I tell my son "no" I wont buy you extra {whatever} for your game at
just 2.99. Kids games should be reasonably priced(0-5 dollars) and not
monetize with ads or upsells.

~~~
ArtB
Sorry how is that even remotely reasonably priced? It has a limited market,
that can't buy their product, that is hard to make engaging and appropriate.
Either be willing to pay $15 a pop, be willing to accept in product
advertising, in product upselling, are really basic (ie non custom story book
artwork), or that they shouldn't exist at all. Frankly, sounds like you are
asking just too much.

~~~
Tooluka
15$ for quality product is ok. Chaptered games/applications (iWork etc.) are
ok. ADs are not. IAPs are not.

This should be tattooed on every single iOS dev.

PS: I actually wish there would be at least few 30-60$ games in the store. And
not those crappy ports of gamepad/mouse games (shooters etc.) with unplayable
controls. Or some good, but very old, not so polished ports of ports of
classic games (FFT). It would be nice to play some great western RPG, with
interesting story (not that boring save the world stuff), it should be turn
based to adjust to device controls, some good graphics (not like those Top
games from store) - look up Bastion on the PC, THIS is how AAA iPad games
should look like. And no sequels. Please.

~~~
Tooluka
Can't reply to the comment below. About "tattooed" word - this is usually
called irony. And it is a common phrase about "remembering things", I don't
see what's so bad about saying that.

------
jessegavin
I LOVE the points made in this post. I would two other observations:

1) Make sure your app has lightening fast response for touch events. Kids are
smart, they expect that when they click a button, something should happen. If
it takes over 250ms, my kid thinks it's broke and will start clicking it
repeatedly.

2) Always use "onTouchDown" instead of "onTouchUp" when handling simple
presses. My kid doesn't always release his finger after touching a button and
when nothing happens, he thinks he needs to touch the button repeatedly. If
the developers targeted the "Touch Down" event instead of "Touch Up" my kid
wouldn't have learned this behavior.

------
adriand
I actually had to get a refund from Apple for an in-app purchase my son made
while using Talking Tom Cat (I since deleted that app and turned off in-app
purchases).

I've got two kids and what I would add to the observations listed in this
article are as follows (these apply to any app that is intended for kids, but
also apps where a significant section of the userbase might be kids - for
example, my four-year-old is quite adept at Plants vs. Zombies, and given the
depth of strategy utilized in that game I don't feel bad when he plays it):

1\. No part of the application should _require_ that you can read in order to
use it or navigate it.

2\. Don't pop up dialogs that a child cannot understand. For example, I
watched as my child, while using an app intended for children, pressed "OK" on
a dialog that asked if he wanted to turn on push notifications. That's just
ridiculous! He'll press "OK" on any dialog because he just wants it to go
away.

3\. This really applies to all applications, but it becomes very apparent when
watching a child use an app: the most desirable menu items should be larger
and/or differently coloured than the least desirable ones. I.e. "Play" should
be a big, brightly coloured button, while "Settings" should be small and
tucked away.

4\. Don't make it easy to do destructive things like delete accounts. This
might seem obvious, but I have more than once opened an app only to find that
my progress in it had vanished because my child had deleted my account (Plants
vs. Zombies makes this too easy, for example).

5\. On any app that has the potential to be enjoyed by both kids and adults,
consider providing a kid-friendly mode that makes the game easier.

6\. I don't know how difficult this is from a development perspective, but if
possible, make the app resistant to having non-active fingers touching the
screen while active fingers are attempting to use it. Kids will often grasp
devices, especially phones, in such a way that fingers from (say) their left
hand are touching the screen, and on some apps this causes them to cease
responding to touch events from their other (right) hand.

7\. If your app produces revenue through advertising, it probably shouldn't be
marketed at young kids. Kids will press on the advertising and will just get
frustrated when they arrive on a webpage somewhere, and adults will eventually
delete the app because we don't want our kids feeling frustrated.

~~~
stungeye
A continuation of #7: I've seen ad-supported apps targeted to children that
include kid-inappropriate ads.

I had a 7 year old recently ask me about dieting and weight-loss strategies
because of an in-game "one weird trick to lose weight" ad.

~~~
r00fus
I just follow the rule: no ad-based apps, ever.

If I can't buy it or get it free without ads, it doesn't go on the iPad (I
test with my iPhone if I'm unsure), and thus my kid isn't exposed to it
(device is locked down tight to prevent purchases/etc, and I sync the apps on
there after they've been reviewed by me).

------
celticninja
If your app for children includes in-app purchases I will delete it as soon as
I realise. At present this is just a frustration for my 2 year old as he
doesnt understand why the game is no longer on the screen, but as he gets
older he is more likely to try and pester me into buying. Not Going To Happen,
plus I will leave a 1 star review of your app based on in app purchases alone.

iPads and iPhones are not bought by children, they are ocassionally givent o
children to use for a while, as such apps should not seek to bill parents
because their kids pushed the worng button or I gave them the iPad too soon
after downloading a new app (and thus entering the password).

~~~
JeremiahNunn
You leave a 1-star review because you can't be bothered to do some research
ahead of time? Or did you assume that a free app, that otherwise was of decent
quality, should really be free and the developer should be making content for
you and your kid just for the love of it?

In app purchase is a great way to let the user try the app before buying it.
And there's a way to do it in kid apps that isn't unethical or taking
advantage. I shudder to think of all the developers you hurt because you can't
be trusted to use your ipad properly.

~~~
Tooluka
This is called "natural selection". You are currently observing an app-store
customer in the wild, seeing its habits and preferences. You can't get
another, domestic, customer because they die out in the cages from severe ADs
overdose, so you are left with only two choices: 1\. Do nothing new; 2\. Learn
how to interact with existing, wild, customer population, who, oh blasphemy!,
doesn't like IAPs.

Your apps. Your choice.

------
huhtenberg
Spot on regarding the in-app purchases.

I have a rule of giving 1 star rating to any kid's game that has them
_regardless_ of how well it's done and if my kids actually enjoy the non-
gimmicky part. Milking parents by making their kids beg and nag them is an
unethical way to earn money.

~~~
ArtB
> Milking parents by making their kids beg and nag them is an unethical way to
> earn money.

I believe that the primary way the market for children's toys and goods works,
if you watch The Corporation they interview a psychologist that explicitly
helps exploit this behaviour. So, you might find it unethical, but its the
norm and avoiding it is like shopping for clothes that used no-sweatshop
labour.

~~~
jackpirate
>So, you might find it unethical, but its the norm and avoiding it is like
shopping for clothes that used no-sweatshop labour.

If he finds it unethical, it doesn't matter if it's the norm. He shouldn't do
it. In both cases, there are clear and relatively easy alternatives.

------
coob
On in-app purchases:

We have an app that is targeted at kids aged 3-5 (I don't work directly on
it). It is currently in the top 10 free education apps and regularly holds a
spot in the top 5 grossing education apps in the UK (we currently only have UK
audio). It has an average rating of 4.5 stars, with over 100 genuine 5 star
reviews from satisfied parents.

The app is split into 10 topics, with the first free. The rest can be unlocked
for $13.99.

It uses in-app purchasing as providing the app for free with the first section
available to all is the best way we can show off our product. It isn't
targeted at the kid, it is aimed at the parent of the child. In no way do we
try and trick anyone into a purchase.

This approach has been overwhelmingly successful.

I honestly think the app would've got nowhere if we'd stuck it up there as a
paid app for $13.99. We could have gone for separate apps, but that's much
harder to maintain and market (trust me - the product I work on has over 100
versions on the app store, we're migrating to 1 with iAP).

------
seclorum
I really, really, really wish there was some way to disable the Home button on
my iPad.

My 19-month old and 4-year old kids, who absolutely love to sit with me and
play with the iPad, simply find it irresistible to press that button. And when
we're watching a movie, its a sure-fire way to ruin the whole experience. If
it were lockable so that it didn't do anything, they wouldn't press it.

Come to think of it, the sliding-lock switch could be used for so much more. I
just don't get why I can't lock the touch-screen so that it doesn't react to
things - okay I understand why Apple want to keep touch enabled at all times,
but why can't this be an option? (Is it an option and I'm just clueless to
know? No jailbreak-solutions, please..)

Anyway, that one issue is an almost definite deal-breaker for us when it comes
time to have some iPad time. It doesn't take long before the kids lose
interest, because they press that button, the app dies, and then they're in
the home-screen game, where not much exciting stuff happens (unless they make
the icons jiggle and press the little X's, then Daddy gets very excited..)

That said, I like this article - because I'm working on a game for kids too,
and the point about the bottom area of the screen being a no-no for navigation
buttons is a really good point. My kids have learned to press anything and
everything they can, and the kids game I'm working on is essentially a
plethora of weird and fun things to press and interact with, but there will
have to be some sort of trick for navigation that makes equal sense in the
mind of a 4 year (and 2 year) old, as it does for a 40 year old. Talk about
your tricky software problem!! :)

~~~
aculver
Over time, as an app developer and a parent, I've come to appreciate the home
button just as it is. As an app developer, it means my app will be rated and
compared to other apps based on user experience for the child.. how engaging
is the app, how much replay value does it provide. If the mechanics are
frustrating or the content is boring, children will always vote with their
finger and move onto another app. As a parent, I like that developers have to
surpass a certain usability and experience threshold before parents are
satisfied with the app and provide a good review.

~~~
seclorum
Thats a fair point, but it doesn't really work when you're watching a movie -
and my kids attention spans usually don't work so much that way.

My 18-month old will push the button just because he's experimenting with the
device - this means instant dissatisfaction for his big brother, watching the
movie (or playing an app) with him.

I think there is validity to the idea that you should be able to turn the
touch interface off completely. Many apps exist where interaction is not only
not necessary (movies), but often-times potentially very destructive to the
use case (GPS/navigation).

Its true, though, that its up to the app developers, and having UI-navigation
controls be 'staged' with phases and states is probably the best all-round
solution. Still, I think it would've been nice to Apple to consider the case
where you really, really don't want the app - or movie - to be interruptible.

~~~
megablast
I guess he will learn what the button does after a while. Show him how to get
the movies going again.

You could always try turning the iPad upside down, he is probably less likely
to touch the top of the device.

------
ctdonath
Make it easy for a kid to do what s/he wants, and hard to do what s/he
doesn't. Anything which disrupts the play is bad, and the worst is transitions
to the App Store (kid has no idea what is going on, just that something
wonderful went away for no apparent reason).

I'll pay for toddler versions which go all out to avoid anything but core
simple fun play. If anything short of pressing Home means the kid has to hand
me the tablet to "fix it", I want my money back.

------
pessimist
My 5 year old has been using his iPad since he was 4, and we've encountered
all these problems and more. The funny thing though is that he learnt to work
around all of them! Accidentally presses menu, after a couple of times he
learns what to do.

I think these obstacles of bad design are just more little puzzles for
children. As parents we shouldnt obsess about having a perfect environment for
our kids.

On the other hand, what really bugs me is when educational apps can be easily
gamed. The math bingo app was completely useless once my son figured out he
could solve it by randomly banging on cells and would eventually win. A lot
more effort should go in to designing apps so that the child learns something
real, as opposed to just learning to play the game.

~~~
coryl
You're right about apps improving their design, but it should be noted that
game design for kids is kinda tricky.

For example, what if in that math app, the player had "X" amount of lives, and
every wrong answer cost a life? It might solve the issue of "keyboard
smashing", but would create negative feedback, which is very inappropriate in
this kind of game. Learning and with especially younger children, positive
reinforcement tends to work far better than negative reinforcement. Every
option has a cost.

~~~
ht_th
Negative feedback is easily turned into positive feedback and the other way
around. Instead of losing points or lives when you fail, you could reward
thoughtful actions. For example, when the number of steps to a solution is
closer to the minimum number of steps needed to solve this problem it could be
an indication of thoughtful actions and rewarded accordingly.

------
vibrunazo
I find interesting his insistence that we should avoid buttons and menus on
the bottom of the screen. This is extremely important, not only for kids apps.
But I find that problem specially disturbing on the Android OS.

Pretty much everyone I hand my Android Tablet to, when they're not used it.
Will instantly hit the home or back button by accident after 5 seconds of
holding. Then hand it back to me with a negative impression "I think I hit
something bad". After I explain where the menus are, and how to avoid them.
They'll often still repeat the mistake a few more times before either getting
used to it, or just getting bored.

So for our apps. I'd advise to avoid any page switching buttons in the bottom
like it was the plague. Even if it's not a kids app.

~~~
travisp
>Pretty much everyone I hand my Android Tablet to, when they're not used it.
Will instantly hit the home or back button by accident after 5 seconds of
holding.

I've had a Galaxy Nexus for since early January. I like the phone, but I
frequently hit the home or back button by accident at least once a day, often
while typing (e.g. while trying to hit the space key).

I let my son play with my Galaxy Nexus occasionally with a few apps
appropriate for his age. Those buttons are a big problem. Things work out best
when I hold the phone with him, with my hand strategically placed hovering
over where the buttons will be in landscape mode. But an option to disable, or
a hardware solution would be ideal.

------
ja27
Generally good advice. Play-testing with young kids is a big help.

I also don't like an app that has the kid shake the iPad (or iPhone) a lot.

I'm torn on the "Don't trick my kids into buying stuff" one. I've seen a lot
of crappy apps (and even well-built Smurfy-Smurf ones) that are just funnels
to in-app purchases. But I've also seen parents leave outraged reviews because
a developer dares to have in-app purchases for additional content in his free
app. Or they turn their nose up at paying $1.99 for an iPad app. The world
doesn't owe you free high-quality kids' apps. Go ahead and funnel your kid's
allowance into iTunes credit now and use it to get them to clean their room.

~~~
plinkplonk
Question for IPhone/IPad users who buy apps for kids.

I plan to gift a friend's son an Apple device of some kind and some games for
his upcoming birthday, and I don't want him either bankrupting his dad (who
will be registered as the owner of the device, and whose credit card details
will be available to Apple/ITunes post registration (I think!) ) by
accidentally buying stuff, or having to interrupt his games to dismiss in app
purchases and so on.

Is there a way to disable kids purchasing stuff accidentally?

Is there a way of finding out which apps have in game purchases and which
don't, without actually trying them out?

I am willing to pay for good apps and don't expect free apps, but once I pay,
I want the kid to have an ad free experience.

I own no Apple Kit of any kind and have no experience buying stuff from the
App Store. All help appreciated. Thanks in advance.

Edit: Thanks for all the great replies, much appreciated.

~~~
antonyh
Use gift cards instead of registering a credit card. It's much easier to
control the spend.

I totally agree with 'ad-free experience'; if I can't tolerate adverts in apps
then I wouldn't let children see them where they will distract from the app
itself.

~~~
Splines
This is what we do for our son. From what I can remember it isn't obvious that
you can set up an iTunes account without a credit card - we had to go into
iTunes (on a PC) after-the-fact to remove the CC info.

------
mwidarto
I develop an educational app geared for kids and just like some of the people
here. I dislike ads, in app purchase, external link etc so I made sure that my
app doesn't have any of those and price it at $0.99. I keep updating it based
on user feedback to make the app better.

It's good to read that there are a lot of parent here that say they won't
purchase any app with ads and/or inapp purchases for their kids but I think
majority of the people don't care.

Most of the top 15 apps in my app category/subject are free with ads and/or in
app purchases. They can afford to make it free because they make money from
ads/in-app purchases and because they're free they get a lot more download
that keeps their ranking higher burying app like mine.

It's hard to compete in that kind of condition but I for now, I can't see my
self using ads/in-app purchases in any of my app. I will try to compete by
bringing better qualities apps.

~~~
JeremiahNunn
There are ways to do in-app purchases for kid apps that aren't unethical. In
fact, allowing people to try your app before buying it is a very ethical thing
to do. Don't limit yourself unnecessarily, and don't assume kid apps with iAP
must be from shady developers.

~~~
jes5199
I know you feel like everyone is being unreasonable about this, but instead of
trying to change their minds, consider it market research: parents on hacker
news overwhelmingly distrust iAP, and maybe that means some other form of try-
before-you-buy would be more appropriate for kids' apps.

~~~
mwidarto
I believe windows phone market place and android allow you to do some sort of
trial but I don't think you can do that in apple app store. I'm not 100% sure
about this so please correct me if I am wrong.

------
marcusf
One company that does this exceedingly well, me thinks, is Toca Boca. In a
sense, they don't make iPad games, they make iPad toys. But kids respond to
the toys, and enjoy them.

Slightly unrelated, their CEO has a good talk on the way to figuring out that
they should make kids toys: <http://vimeo.com/30743193>

~~~
rodhan
Completely agree - Toca Boca definitely have the right approach here. In our
safe YouTube for kids app, DuckyTube, we tried hard to make the children's
part of the app look fun while making the grownup parts of the app (selecting
videos from YouTube, sharing with friends, etc.) look more businesslike so
kids are drawn to click the duck and get back to the fun part. Similarly, if
there is an error or whatever that we have to interrupt the app we make the
"Continue" button look most interesting so children prefer to click it.

Another bugbear of mine is children's apps that make it too difficult for
parents to access the menus. One of our competitors requires you to go to the
iPhone Settings page for the app, turn on the "Show Menu" option and return to
the app to press the Menu button. Then when you are done you have to repeat
the process to turn it off again!

------
tvon
I get irked enough when a non-kids app keeps prodding me towards in-app
purchases, I'd be pretty livid if I found out a for-kids app was doing it.

~~~
JeremiahNunn
iAP is a great way to allow users to try before they buy. Don't confuse iAP
with games that fundamentally handicap the game experience unless you continue
paying money.

------
orbitingpluto
I've worked on a children's app for Android where the client wanted
advertisements moved from the main screen (where parents would see it) to the
content screen (accidental clicks only from children). That change in design
made the client "dead to me" especially when they next wanted me to work on
another child app where the business model was:

Fooling children into initiating SMS charges against the phone.

------
justinchen
Also, don't pop up iOS notifications. 2 year olds can't read them and they're
hard to dismiss.

------
mpstx
A plea to parents purchasing iPad Apps for children:

Stop buying apps that do stuff like this.

If you see that an app has a $99 in-app berry purchase, don't download or buy
it.

If you see that an app encourages children to poke and sling animals and
destroy things, don't buy it.

Do a small bit of research to see if the app was designed with your child's
age in mind. Buy apps from trusted sources like <http://tocaboca.com/> ,
<http://piikeastreet.com> (disclosure:that's me),
<http://www.duckduckmoosedesign.com/> , etc.

If you buy more of the good stuff, there will be more good stuff to buy!

~~~
gbhn
Thanks! I've been a bit frustrated at the difficulty in finding good engaging
games for young kids. My son is older and there's quite a bit he enjoys --
puzzles, world-building, etc. For my daughter, who's younger, there seems
precious little.

~~~
mpstx
Totally sympathize. It can indeed be frustrating. The top lists aren't exactly
structured to facilitate finding the best apps for a kid given their current
developmental stage. You can google some resources and lists online, find some
curated marketplaces that are making lists of apps appropriate for building
certain skills, and appropriate for certain ages, but it's all an extra step
outside the extreme convenience of the on-device app store.

------
Dove
I disagree slightly with the Affordance Is King point. You should identify the
hot spots on the screen, but you should also reward childish exploration. I
think _most of the screen_ should be hot. Pretty much everything should be a
target, and they should all be big. "Animals For Toddlers" (Eiswuxe) does this
well (and is just plan excellent all around, by the way).

I also disagree with the advice that arrows are best for pagination; I think
he's overgeneralizing. My toddler is great at swipes, and still doesn't use
arrows well. Broader testing may be a good idea here, and implementing
multiple paradigms might be the answer.

The bit about not putting the menu on the bottom of the screen is good,
though. The kids apps I have on my (Android) tablet often disable the soft
button menu and implement their own elsewhere. Of particular note is the pull-
down-from-a-collapsed-bar-at-the-top pattern, which my son seems to know how
to not get into. Or at least get out of.

And that bit about ads and in-app payments is right on the money. I've bought
a few apps for him after seeing he likes the free version, but the ones that
result in him launching dating sites get uninstalled fast.

~~~
JeremiahNunn
Eiswuxe uses in app purchase.

------
terrapinbear
I think this applies to any tablet app. Smart phone apps need to avoid having
buttons near my thumb that I can accidentally push.

------
jjcm
This is great feedback. Right now I'm trying to finish our first book for
<http://non.io> (site isn't complete yet, but it will still give you an idea
of the core concept), and one of my considerations was ensuring that the app
was child friendly. At the end of the day, there will be options and
components that are for parents only. Ensuring that a.) they're still
prominent enough for parents to see at some point, and b.) that they're out of
reach of children is a difficult balancing act. Does anyone know of or have
any suggestions of apps who have done this correctly? I only have two
components that are for parents - a donation form and an email signup form on
the last page. Right now they're disabled until you select a checkbox that
says "I'm an adult". Would love to get more feedback on this though.

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stusmith1977
Reminds me of a friend who used to run IT for a school, telling me the feature
he looked for in educational software was greying out the 'print' button for
30 seconds after it had been clicked. Otherwise, the scenario was: kid clicks
'print', looks at printer, sees nothing coming out (maybe the printer is out
of paper, or warming up, or whatever). So kid just keeps clicking 'print'.
Result: when printer finally comes online, it wastes reams of paper printing
dozens of copies of the document in the queue.

------
thesis
The in app purchasing on Androids needs to be stopped or at the very least
prompt a password entry. I downloaded Bug Village (Glu Mobile) on my Android
for my 4 year old son, and about 2 hours later I noticed around $320 on 3
purchases (I think 2 149.99 and 1 19.99 or something around that). I contacted
Glu immediately asking for it to be voided/refunded. They told me to contact
my bank and charge them back.

I hope they enjoyed the chargeback fees. Now nothing gets downloaded with in
app purchasing in it.

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tocomment
I would add that kids hold the side of the iPad. So don't count that as a
touch.

In fact my daughter hasn't figured out to use one finger so if you can hack
the touch interface to ignore stray fingers or hands that would be great.

Also if you ate presenting some kind of activity that two people could
conceivabley do at once eg building blocks, moving shapes around allow two
fingers to mover separate objects at once. The same thing with drawing.

~~~
jarrettcoggin
My daughter does this all the time on my Kindle Fire and my WP7. She routinely
has her thumb just sitting on the edge of the screen and she wonders why the
game won't work for her, but works for me. You could program dead zones on the
edges of the device in applications you develop, but that doesn't work for
other apps.

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jljacques
To all those who are claiming that the use of iPads will be detrimental to the
health of their children. Please read this article:
[http://techland.time.com/2012/02/22/new-study-finds-ipads-
in...](http://techland.time.com/2012/02/22/new-study-finds-ipads-in-the-
classroom-boost-test-scores/)

------
antonyh
Is there a way of stopping accidental taps on the lower part of the screen?
Android is bad for this, with back/home buttons in the corner.

Perhaps some sort of elasticated non-capacitive fabric barrier wrapped around
the device that can be moved when it's needed?

~~~
jff
Sounds like you're describing a sock :)

~~~
antonyh
Neat. That might just work... :-)

------
antonyh
The other aspect of design that needs to be taken into account is the size of
the tap area - you don't have to make the buttons huge, but the responsive
area should be larger for younger audiences and with more spacing between
controls.

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dwinston
The idea that "nagging works" is widely used to craft advertising for
children's television (source: The Corporation (film)). Is the march toward
such advertising in this nascent children's entertainment medium inexorable?

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mathattack
Great post! The comments about persuasive ads hits home. Another frustration
is sales messages on the startup screen. Once a game requires too much
parental interaction to back out purchase requests I delete it.

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antonyh
Also, which is better for kids - landscape or portrait? Has anyone seen a
preference, or are all the apps landscape?

~~~
petercooper
My daughter, a daily iPad user from about 9 months old (now 2.5!) exclusively
uses it in a landscape orientation and I've never seen her try otherwise. That
said, I'm the same unless one handed operation is desirable (no dirty
thoughts, friends!)

~~~
antonyh
Interesting. I use my tablet landscape except if I'm reading an ebook. Maybe
there's something more natural about landscape views, and I've been
conditioned to read in portrait by printed material.

On smaller devices I find portrait more natural, possibly due to the one-
handed nature of use.

Out of interest: do any of the apps she uses support landscape? Is she
choosing that orientation or are the app designers making the decision?

~~~
petercooper
Most of the apps are landscape or are _better_ in landscape (e.g. YouTube) so
the decision may not be as natural as it seems at first glance.

Another thing to consider, though, is that a high proportion of books for
under 3s are in landscape too (in my experience at least). So maybe the book
industry has also had this question crop up over the years too.. :-)

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loftwyr
My only addition is to ask for a band on scroll bars in a kids app, especially
on the bottom of the page.

~~~
tnorthcutt
Do you mean a "ban" on scroll bars?

~~~
loftwyr
Yes, my fingers don't always type what I expect...

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Kilimanjaro
I always asked myself why there isn't a KIDS category in the AppStore.

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xxiao
ipad kills kids' eyes. i buy real books instead.

~~~
tocomment
Citation needed

