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Can't add YouTube Kids to Kids account

sc123
Community Member

We've got the Chromecast with Google TV connected to our TCL TV, and we can't get the YouTube Kids app to appear on the Kid's profile. It shows up and works normally under the adult's profile, but if I switch to the kid's profile, it's not listed in the Manage apps area. I can add YouTube for Android TV, but that's not what we want under the kid's account. It's mind-boggling how confusing this is. We had this working before we had to reset the Chromecast, and now I can't remember what we did to get it to appear! 

19 REPLIES 19

Jeran
Community Specialist
Community Specialist

Hey there sc123,

I apologize for the late response, and thank you for being patient! Were you able to add YouTube Kids to the kids' account? If not, I'd be happy to help you out. In this case, it may be best to delete the current kids' account and re-create it. Go ahead and follow these instructions:

  1. From the Google TV home screen, go to your profile picture or initial.
  2. Under "Who’s watching," select Add a kid and then Get started.
  3. Select an option:
    • If your child has a Google Account or kids profile in your family group: Select the child you want to set up.
    • If you haven’t set up a child in your family group: Select Add a kid and follow the on-screen instructions.
  4. Choose the apps you want to include in the kid's home screen.
  5. To set up parental controls, follow the on-screen instructions.

Afterwards, I would check out this article on how to Allow or Block Apps to make sure YouTube Kids is allowed. I look forward to your response, and if you have any other questions or concerns for me, please let me know.

Best regards,
Jeran

Jeran
Community Specialist
Community Specialist

Hey there sc123,

Do you have any more questions that I can address? 

Thank you,
Jeran

Jeran
Community Specialist
Community Specialist

Hey sc123,

Do you have any more questions? If not, I'll go ahead and lock up this thread in 24 hours.

Just checking up,
Jeran

sc123
Community Member

@Jeran thanks for your reply. 

You reference "this article" in your message, but no link is present.

Also, your instructions appear to be for a different device, as they don't match any of the interfaces/options present on mine. However, I removed the Kids account from my device and added it back again (which is very tedious because I have to re-enter my full account password each time). There is no option to install YouTube Kids on a Kids account. 

Here are some photos that show what I'm seeing.

Jeran
Community Specialist
Community Specialist

Hiya sc123,

 

Shoot, I am sorry about that! This is the link I was referring to. There is a drop-down titled "Allow or block content or apps", and it was a possibility some apps may be blocked. However, I went ahead and tested this myself, and the YouTube Kids app was the first app to appear on a newly created kid's profile. In this case, go ahead and reboot the Chromecast, and log back in to the kid's profile. If it still doesn't appear, you may need to delete and re-create the profile. 

 

Let me know if it still isn't showing up, and I'll provide some more steps.

 

Best regards,

Jeran

sc123
Community Member

@Jeran the app isn't blocked and it doesn't appear at all in manage apps under the kids account. I've tried rebooting the device and removing and adding the account back several times. YouTube Kids is never an option for the kids account.

Bolly
Community Member

I am having the exact same issue and it's driving me nuts. Had the child's profile with YouTube kids working with no issues on my Google TV and then it must have updated or something by itself and then one morning it was missing. Despite the app being installed on the device still and being able to access YouTube kids via the adult profile, there is no longer an option to add it to the child's profile in the manage apps area. Hope this is solved soon because it's really annoying. 

Bolly
Community Member

Just fixed it!!! I created a brand new kids profile, went through the whole process and when I got to the very end there was an option to add the kids apps...YouTube kids was there. After that there was an area to set up YouTube kids and select the age, kids name, etc. I did all of that and it was there when I went into the new kids profile but it required additional setup to actually use. The trick is that you need to download YouTube kids to a mobile device and add the new kids profile there with the same details as what you put on the Google TV. Once that was done I could open the YouTube kids app on the TV with no problem..Hope it works for you, too.

sc123
Community Member

Tried that and for a minute I thought it was going to work. I created a new kids account and it showed all of the YouTube Kids stuff during setup and the app was there on the account home screen. As soon as I opened it, it vanished and I can't get it back. I wonder if this is a Family Link issue, or maybe because my kids are younger and there is an age restriction for the app? I tried making one of them 14 and restarted the Chromecast, but nothing.

Bolly
Community Member

Oh no! My boys only 5 so the she shouldn't be an issue. Did you go into YouTube kids app on your phone to replicate and add the kids account?

sc123
Community Member

Yeah, I have the same account setup in the Android app and it didn't fix the issue.

 

@Jeran any thoughts?

Kimy
Community Specialist
Community Specialist

Hi folks,

 

Thanks for helping out here, @Jeran.

 

We have found similar reports, and our team is currently investigating this. We will update this thread once we hear from them.

 

Thanks,

Kimy

sc123
Community Member

Just checking in, @Kimy .

Ken10
Community Member

unfortunately we will need a new date for our wedding and will be able to make it to 30th birthday party on the 27th 

Bolly
Community Member

Just fixed it!!! I created a brand new kids profile, went through the whole process and when I got to the very end there was an option to add the kids apps...YouTube kids was there. After that there was an area to set up YouTube kids and select the age, kids name, etc. I did all of that and it was there when I went into the new kids profile but it required additional setup to actually use. The trick is that you need to download YouTube kids to a mobile device and add the new kids profile there with the same details as what you put on the Google TV. Once that was done I could open the YouTube kids app on the TV with no problem..Hope it works for you, too ☺️

Bolly
Community Member

Hi all, my fix was short term unfortunately. The only permanent solution was to use the Family Sharing option and create a new account for my son and make an email address for him (which I had not needed to do previously). Once I did that I was able to add back in and control access to all of the required apps including YouTube kids. Hope that helps others 🙂

mayanksri
Community Member

Hi,

I am facing same issue as well. I have a chromecast tv and it has youtube kids on my kid’s profile but the other android TV does not show youtube kids on the same kid’s profile. This is crazy.

Bolly
Community Member

The only way to solve it that I found is my post above. Recreate your child's profile in your account and add an email address for them....then it appears where you can adjust the parental controls and add access 5o specific apps. They must have updated the profiles or something after they set up the new family sharing thing or something, because it always used to work beforehand and my child didn't need an account with an email address. This is the only way I could get it to work.

sc123
Community Member

A week or so ago the YouTube Kids app appeared as an option in my child's profile and has been working ever since. We did nothing, so I'm guessing Google pushed out an update. Working for others as well?