Facebook Messenger Kids adds sleep mode

The controversial Facebook Messenger Kids app is now letting parents have more control over how long their children spend on the app. It now has a sleep mode that will let parents set predetermined times when the app can’t be used. This feature is accessible through the parental control panel, from their parents can select between weekdays or weekends as well as sleep mode’s start and stop time. If your kid attempts to open the app when it’s in sleep mode, they’ll see a message that tells them it’s in the said mode.

Since Facebook’s main app is for people 13 years and above, the target market for Messenger Kids is those from ages six to 12. They don’t need a Facebook account to have access to the app and it lets kids video and text chat with filters and gifs. Parents can control who’s in a child’s contact list and messages in the app can’t be hidden or won’t disappear. The social media platform claims that they make sure the app is safe for children to use and that they have complied with the Children’s Online Privacy and Protection Act. According to Facebook, it doesn’t offer in-app purchases and your child’s information will not be used for ads. Messenger Kids has met resistance from parents, to educators, to health advocacy groups, and child development experts saying it might hamper the growth of younger children.

Source: The Verge

Essential now directly sells products in Canada

Essential is taking its products and accessories beyond US soil and is expanding to five other countries, including Canada, France, Germany, Japan, and the UK. If you’re interested in buying the Essential Phone or the 360 Camera, you can order directly from Essential.com. As expected there are special terms and conditions, which you can read at the company’s Terms of Sale page. Standard prices seem to apply, so you get the equivalent prices to how the products are priced in the US. Shipping charges will be calculated during checkout and the product is expected to arrive in around five business days. Essential wants to remind its international customers that any taxes, fees, and duties incurred will not be shouldered by the company. They are also not responsible for “risk of loss or failure to delivery due to customs or related issues.” But if you’ve been wanting to get your hands on Essential products, it has gotten much easier to do so now.

Source: Android Police

You can use Google Assistant to process payments with supported merchants

You may or may not know it but at the start of April, Google has allowed users in Canada as well as Australia, France, Germany, Japan, and the UK input their payment and delivery information in Google Assistant settings. Through this feature you can add your payment method (credit or debit card) as well as shipping address. These payment profiles can be used to pay for items and services of third-party services that have implemented the feature. Just head to the Payments menu in your Google Assistant settings to input your information.

Source: Android Police

YouTube’s homepage adds subscribe button to channels you often watch from

A new test YouTube is trying out with some users entices them to subscribe to channels they often watch videos from. As it is now, the YouTube homepage shows the usual mix of recommended videos from channels you follow and those that have content based on things you’ve watched in the past. For some users, they’ve started to see this new text below some videos: “Love *insert channel name*? Never miss an upload!” The subscribe button is placed to the right of the text. Apparently this doesn’t appear for all channels but for those you watch a lot of content from but haven’t subscribed to yet. Hopefully if it does roll out to more users, there is an option that will let you say no. Some might not want to subscribe to specific channels but, of course, being bugged about that at each turn can become annoying.

Source: Android Police