A Dad’s Plea To Developers Of iPad Apps For Children • Hacker News Board

Re: A Dad’s Plea To Developers Of iPad Apps For Children

#101

Post by megablast » Mon, Mar 12, 2012, 5:46 PM UTC

ajlburke wrote: post #77

adriand wrote: post #65

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…

With my diary app Remembary, I occasionally get empty emails submitted from the app's "Support Email" button in the help popover. The "?" button, the "Support Email" button, and the popup email's "Send" button are all in the top right part of the screen, so my best guess is that it's people's children tapping repeatedly in the top right area of the iPad. Good thing I don't have anything particularly destructive up th…

Occasionally? I get over 100 empty emails a day with nothing in them. I guess people get confused about the discard button, because my apps are not targeted at kids. Over 70% of my emails are empty. Maybe a small puzzle before you can send me a message is in order.

Re: A Dad’s Plea To Developers Of iPad Apps For Children

#102

Post by stungeye » Mon, Mar 12, 2012, 5:57 PM UTC

adriand wrote: post #65

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…

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.

Re: A Dad’s Plea To Developers Of iPad Apps For Children

#103

Post by smashing » Mon, Mar 12, 2012, 5:59 PM UTC

S_A_P wrote: post #96

smashing wrote: post #83

Earlier quoted context omitted.

In app purchasing is used by many developers as a kind of shareware. What's so insidious about try before you buy?

I don't think there is anything insidious when you are targeting the potential phone owner. However a 4 and a half year old playing my phone feels differently about in app purchasing and has little concept of money and value.

Then why are they being given a phone and not a children's toy?

Re: A Dad’s Plea To Developers Of iPad Apps For Children

#104

Post by megablast » Mon, Mar 12, 2012, 6:04 PM UTC

seclorum wrote: post #55

aculver wrote: post #43

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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 pa…

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 inter…

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.

Re: A Dad’s Plea To Developers Of iPad Apps For Children

#105

Post by knewter » Mon, Mar 12, 2012, 6:11 PM UTC

veidr wrote: post #48

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 t…

We recently implemented a policy for my 6 year old that consists of "you may watch 30 minutes of TV per day for each book [of unspecified length] that you read that day."

So far he hasn't started reading more books, but he's started playing outside / imaginatively more. Even though it didn't have 100% the desired effect, I love the outcome still.

Re: A Dad’s Plea To Developers Of iPad Apps For Children

#106

Post by grandalf » Mon, Mar 12, 2012, 6:12 PM UTC

seclorum wrote: post #31

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 sli…

This makes skype pretty much unusable for a youngster who likes to press the big button too.

Re: A Dad’s Plea To Developers Of iPad Apps For Children

#107

Post by spoiledtechie » Mon, Mar 12, 2012, 6:15 PM UTC

veidr wrote: post #48

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 t…

My nine month old, started playing with my phone at 2 months old.

We let her play with pictures and she LOVES the xylophone app along with the Piano app.

I think you will find it much different reality than you actually think.

Re: A Dad’s Plea To Developers Of iPad Apps For Children

#108

Post by rodhan » Mon, Mar 12, 2012, 6:18 PM UTC

marcusf wrote: post #10

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

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!

Re: A Dad’s Plea To Developers Of iPad Apps For Children

#109

Post by glhaynes » Mon, Mar 12, 2012, 6:27 PM UTC

robomartin wrote: post #88

veidr wrote: post #48

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 t…

Regrettably one of the biggest offenders in terms of usability for kids apps is Apple itself. The introduction of multi-touch gestures made a complete mess out of kids apps. For example, if you've ever watched a young one interact with an iPad you would have seen them plant their paws on the screen and do things with 3+ fingers very frequently. Imagine what happens then: The whole app moves up, down or worst, sideway…

I think this is probably a significant part of why multitasking gestures are turned off by default. They won't ever be on for any device whose owner doesn't feel comfortable poking around in Settings.

I've seen an app on startup recommend turning them off if they're on. (Which doesn't mean that Apple considers that OK, of course, just that the reviewer of that one app did.)

Re: A Dad’s Plea To Developers Of iPad Apps For Children

#110

Post by Steuard » Mon, Mar 12, 2012, 6:29 PM UTC

smashing wrote: post #103

S_A_P wrote: post #96

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I don't think there is anything insidious when you are targeting the potential phone owner. However a 4 and a half year old playing my phone feels differently about in app purchasing and has little concept of money and value.

Then why are they being given a phone and not a children's toy?

Are you suggesting that "Talking Tom Cat" is not a children's toy? Because otherwise, you're sounding more than a little self-righteous here.

I don't know the answers, but I think it's reasonable to ask whether technology can make a positive contribution to kids' lives. I don't think it's productive to belittle people for experimenting with ways of doing so.