YouTube announced on Thursday a slew of new features for its safe-viewing YouTube Kids mobile app, following numerous complaints that the app wasn’t safe enough.

The updates mean that parents can now customize the channel based on the child’s age, so a 5-year-old won’t see as much text as an 8-year-old. YouTube will also use a suitable interface for the child based on his or her age.

Parents will be invited to set up the channel for their kids, adding what YouTube calls detailed information so that kids will see what their parents want them to see. Kids will also get their own passcode to give them a sense of ownership, but that can easily be overwritten by mom or dad.

In a blog post, YouTube said it was working hard to filter out any content not suitable for children. “But no system is perfect,” YouTube added. If parents do see anything that they think their kids shouldn’t be seeing, they can block and flag it.

The children’s app is probably a good choice for children seeing how earlier this year reports surfaced how disturbing content was being passed off as innocent cartoons for kids. A BBC investigation revealed that content featuring characters such as Peppa Pig, the Minions, Thomas the Tank Engine and Disney characters were portrayed doing things a child certainly shouldn’t see. These X-rated – for children, anyway – kids’ clips generate millions of views.

YouTube said it’s working on creating channels for tweens, rather than letting them loose on a platform that not only has a fair amount of nasty content but also displays noxious verbal conflicts in the comment boxes.

In spite of some criticism, including “excessive and deceptive” ads in the past, the channel has proved to be popular. YouTube says that it now has 11 million weekly active viewers and has gained 70 billion views. But it’s only available in 37 countries, a list of which is here. Google said the updates will start rolling out today.

Image: YouTube