After being announced at Google’s developer conference this past May, the Play Store’s new Family section can now be accessed both online and through the mobile version of the store.
Essentially, this new section of Google’s app marketplace makes it easier to find apps and games that are appropriate for children by adding new sub-categories. First, there are the requisite ones differentiated by age—in order, they are ages five and under, ages six to eight, and ages nine and up; then there are more inclusive groupings like “Brain Games,” “Pretend Play” and “Creativity”.
Additionally, it looks like there will be a rotating list of featured app. This week there’s a spotlight featuring games with Disney characters, and another one that showcases apps with popular characters like Twilight Sparkle and Dora the Explorer.
To help the section live up to its promise of providing safe, age-appropriate experiences for children, apps that are submitted here need to go through a much more rigorous approval process. Any developer that is caught trying to sneak an app through will face a permanent ban from the entire Play store. Ideally, this should give parents piece of mind when they download an app for their child, or allow them to do so themselves.
