Children Articles on TUAW - The Unofficial Apple Weblog

iPad is a nuisance for many Chinese parents

by Kelly Hodgkins (Feb 9th, 2012)

A report from the Beijing Evening News suggests Chinese parents are scuffling with their kids over iPads. It seems the iPad was the gift of choice for many children this past Chinese New Year, and now those youngsters are having a hard time putting their tablets aside. Exasperated parents don't ...

Daily iPhone App: Boogieman Radar

by Kelly Hodgkins (Jan 23rd, 2012)

Boogieman Radar is a cute iPhone app for parents whose young children are afraid of a boogieman in their closet or under their bed. For parents, it's a virtual reality app with an overlay radar that you use to scan a room for boogiemen. For small children, it's a lifesaver that'll help them fall ...

Daily iPad App: Doodlecast

by Kelly Hodgkins (Dec 5th, 2011)

Doodlecast is one of several Doodling applications for the iPad that targets kids from 3- to 5-years-old. What separates Doodlecast from its competition is the ability to narrate the Doodle while your child is drawing. The app has a record option that'll record the drawing as the child creates ...

Daily iPad App: Looking Glass

by Kelly Hodgkins (Nov 18th, 2011)

Created by Project Comet, Looking Glass is an iPad app for children that's full of short videos about how things work or how they are made. The app ships with handful of videos for you to preview and over 100 are available via a monthly subscription. The subscription costs US$3.99 a month ...

The iPad and parenting

by Kelly Hodgkins (Nov 2nd, 2011)

Parents with young children are often faced with a difficult decision when it comes to the iPhone and iPad. Kids love Apple's mobile devices! They are bright, colorful, responsive and easy to use. They can be used as a tool to help young children learn their colors, shapes and letters. And a ...

Daily iPad App: iBuild ABCs

by Kelly Hodgkins (Oct 5th, 2011)

iBuild ABCs is a children's game that helps youngsters learn their letters and improve their fine motor skills. It's designed for young children and its gameplay is appropriately simple. There are 26 letters that are exploded into three to five parts made of different building materials like ...

NPD says kids are buying more digital media than ever

by Steven Sande (Oct 4th, 2011)

If you're the parent of a child between the age of two and 14, you probably already know this; kids are spending more money on digital media than ever before. This unsurprising conclusion comes from market-research company NPD Group, which says that 21 cents out of every dollar kids spend on ...

Reading Rainbow to be rebooted for iPad

by Chris Rawson (Sep 14th, 2011)

Reading Rainbow, a TV show geared toward encouraging children to read books, aired for over 20 years on PBS before the network's financial troubles forced the show to shut down in 2006. Reading Rainbow is coming back, but in a very next-gen fashion; rather than a TV show, Reading Rainbow will now ...

Daily iPad App: PlayTime Theater

by Michael Rose (Sep 9th, 2011)

Every parent who has taken a long car trip or flight with offspring in tow knows that the difference between a pleasant journey and a stressful, tiring marathon may come down to one key factor: can you keep the kids entertained (and fed) through it? If so, everyone's happier. This task is ...

7-year-old iPhone developer is on a roll

by Michael Grothaus (Aug 19th, 2011)

There's a quote by Nolan Bushnell I love that says, "Everyone who has ever taken a shower has had an idea. It's the person who gets out of the shower, dries off, and does something about it that makes a difference." Most people reading this have probably had an idea for an iPhone app, but after ...

FTC requires iOS developers to pay $50K fine for collecting user data

by Kelly Hodgkins (Aug 16th, 2011)

App developers writing applications that target children have to be very careful when they collect and store information about their users. They may find themselves the subject of an FTC investigation. The Children's Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA) requires websites and other online ...

Ten-Year-Old Hacker presents iOS game exploit at DefCon

by Kelly Hodgkins (Aug 8th, 2011)

A 10-year-old hacker who goes by the name CyFi uncovered a new exploit in iOS and Android games. The time-based exploit lets you advance in a game by adjusting the clock on your phone or tablet. The California girl discovered the flaw while playing an unnamed farming game. Tired of waiting ...

FBI releases its first iPhone app: Child ID

by Michael Grothaus (Aug 7th, 2011)

The FBI has released it first iPhone app called Child ID. As the name suggests, Child ID works as a kind of digital passport for information about your children. With it you can store their photos along with physical identifiers such as height and weight. The app has several intended uses, the ...

Owensboro, Kentucky students to receive 2200 MacBook Airs

by Chris Rawson (Jul 27th, 2011)

Man, talk about lucky in Kentucky. Students and staff in the Owensboro, Kentucky district will all be issued Apple's newest ultraportable MacBook Air thanks to US$5 million in stimulus funding, Electronista reports. The MacBook Air's small size and increased durability compared to the plastic ...

Apple updates iBooks app with 'read aloud' feature

by Michael Grothaus (Jun 7th, 2011)

Apple has updated iBooks to version 1.3. According to the product description page, the update adds several new features and improvements, including improved responsiveness and autoplay of video or audio in enhanced books. Plus, it addresses an issue where some books displayed the same page ...