Kai Grimmell
3 years ago
Every time I want to access the parent's dashboard I have to log in with my Amazon password. The recent interface change made it so my password manager won't auto fill, so I have to look up the password then copy and paste it. I'm not sure why Amazon devs chose a nonstandard entry when the previous version worked fine. Fingerprint authorization would be nice. Edit (11/24): I'll give a star back since they added parental PIN option. Thanks for the response.
J. Catzen
3 years ago
This app is great as far as having a centralized place for childrens books and content. But the app itself is terrible; there's the back arrow that stays visible and blocks letters or words at the top of the page; rotating the phone/tablet is even worse viewing quality. You can not see any book information like page numbers or author. Basically all the features available in kindle are not present in this app
Ryan Large
1 year ago
The Android version of this applications design is unresponsive. It is also extremely inconvenient to download an application and be told to go visit an external website related to whatever functionality you need for your task. Of course this is a common way to handle maybe 1 or 2 pieces of the app's functionality, but not a majority of the interface you can react with. I will happily update this review when the application is useful.
A Google user
5 years ago
Overall it does the job, sort of. I can easily control most things, from the app, for my kids' Kindles. However, the meeting educational goals before your child can play on apps or watch video does not work. I had it set for 15-30 minutes of reading, with the option to keep apps locked until this goal was met, but they still were able to get into apps and play. Now just block all but books from the parent dashboard until I know they have met that goal. Update: Pause feature stopped working. :(
A Google user
5 years ago
App is a complete disaster! The parental controls are a mess and do not work properly. When I first set it up I used the time limits and blocked all video, app, and web usage while leaving audiobooks and reading to unlimited. I did this for weekdays and weekends and it never worked. She could still watch everything. The only reason I used the app was for sharing audiobooks and Kindle books with my child. I did not want her to have access to any videos, apps or web content.
Natalee Kreimer
2 years ago
Poor content control. Please add more ability to control the content that is added to a child's profile with a kids+ account. I would prefer the ability to opt in to content rather than opt out especially for young children. For example, for a TV show add the ability to approve a series rather than having to block an episode in that series one by one. Same for book series or authors.
A Google user
5 years ago
Like some others have mentioned, the educational goals feature does not work which is kind of annoying, but the time limit on video and apps does stop those features when time is up. We were using it on my phone tonight and it failed. Hoping when we try on the actual Kindle something will work. We can open and see his collection of books and movies but none will open. Black screen for movies and white for books. Bummed.
Seabass
1 year ago
Bug when accesing settings. Pop-up dialog won't close. Also, it needs better categories to search for books. There are too many games, not enough top quality books. The reading experience on Android is also a bit annoying, too much tapping. There should be a next button that navigates through text and images. How do I cancel this thing anyways.
A Google user
5 years ago
FreeTime is a joke! It's an unorganized overwhelming mess for children. I cannot pick and choose which content I'd like my kid to have. Instead I have two choices: 1. DESELECT ALL THE CONTENT I DON'T WANT HER TO HAVE. 2. Unsubscribe from FreeTime. I chose option 2. Also, Bluetooth doesn't work in FreeTime so if your child has a coding toy, headphones, or anything that requires Bluetooth, you have to use it in parent mode. Also, I cannot use the parent dashboard sans FT Unlimited Subscription.
Patrick Frank
2 years ago
We have 3 kids that use Kindle fires. While the app has some nice features it also lacks basic connectivity and functions. I cannot remember how many times I have tried to pause or adjust time and nothing happens on the tablet even though both are online. It needs to work when we need it to (why can kids turn the wifi off on the tablets anyway??). App need better organization, it seems many things are done the long difficult way. Doesn't always update. Reminds me of hard to use enterprise apps.
Heather T.
3 years ago
Purchased a Kindle fire for my 4 year old with 1 year free of kids plus. So far, we like it a lot with a few exceptions. First, would love to be able to limit the amount of time spent on a specific app rather than place a limit on all apps. Example, YouTube. Id love to limit his time on this app but still allow usage of other apps. Second, it would be nice to set more detailed schedules for when it turns off and on, on specific days and for multiple time periods.
Dayton Dewd
1 year ago
I am astounded how bad this app and the Amazon kids software is. I'm pretty computer/device savvy, but this is shockingly awful. Need to move videos to your flash drive to save space? Nope, you'll get an error message and an offer to buy cloud storage... Can you even sort your videos (or any type of file) by size? Not even an option. Want to play a video from the file explorer? Queue the errors. Be prepared to go through 20 pages of parental settings for anything you want to do.
Awesome 1
1 year ago
Not parent friendly, very controlling. But still useful. It's a good app compared to full internet access. It's toddler friendly. It is difficult to customize what you want foe your child. There are so many apps that I want my kid to see and use but are hidden. It's a lot of work to delete everything I want off the main screen. I'd like a few of MY top picks pinned up top and not lost on screen. Kids+ controls what they want your kids to see most, like a commercial does for products.
Jennifer Stuhrk (Jen)
4 years ago
Good in many ways. Overly complicated to change settings, very difficult to edit apps/content. No way way to easily increase or decrease allotted time. ie: when on a long car ride, I would like give my kids an extra hour or extend their "bedtime". I must go into settings change the time, then remember to return it to the original settings. Would love to do anything without going to "help" to accomplish it. This is the only interface that I need to use "help" to accomplish anything.
AC Buller
2 years ago
I wish more books would be added. It's an okay selection, but since the app updated the books get jumbled up and pages are often missing words. It would be nice to have a setting to reduce the pages on a screen. Using a phone, I don't have that option. It was a better app before the latest update, now it's just frustrating and not really worth the money.
A Google user
5 years ago
Some of the apps are great and my daughter is able to learn a lot. The down side to this is that the app for the phone does not work at all. Does not allow me to enter my amazon password to switch to parent dashboard so I can't add some of the things my daughter wants to watch from my phone. unable to set volume restriction, doesn't pair well with the external memory I bought for it. It keeps using internal, I go in settings to pick the right storage and then it switches back to internal.
Loren Thomas
1 year ago
Very buggy app. I often can't access the "grownup" part to adjust settings. I cleared the cache, no help. Uninstalled and reinstalled, still doesn't work. Plus, did I say it's slow?! And I find the navigation to be counterintuitive as well. Not pleased. One of the reasons of getting kindle fires for the kids was so that I could easily manage them. Well, good luck getting anything accomplished with this app, if that's what you're trying to do!
S
1 year ago
I am canceling my subscription. The Amazon Kids + experience was bearable at best. Downright didn't work at worst. Somehow it got worse. I can't block certain apps/games, etc. because of the age filters, even if I have the age filters turned off????? That makes zero sense. If there is an app I deem inappropriate for my child, I should be able to disable it. Trying to filter through the mountain of garbage content to find the actual decent stuff is hell on earth. Don't waste your time.
Chelsea Reef-Douglas
1 year ago
I like that I can set educational goals and require them to be met before regular tablet play, but I want to be able to choose which apps or books he should be using. We're working on him learning the alphabet and early reading so I'd like to choose apps that focus on that. The option to have goals finished first is great but I feel like I should have a little more say than just that.
Valerie Hayward
1 year ago
The idea is nice, unfortunately the kids setting is so clogged up with suggested apps and books, while age appropriate, it is impossible to limit it to 4 or 5 apps you actually want your child to access. There is no way to simplify or customize the home screen. My 3 year old can click on thousands of suggested apps. It's overwhelming to me, an adult, let alone a child. I'd pay double the price to get rid of what is basically just ads to your kids for books, videos, and games.