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THURSDAY 15 JANUARY 2015 • [email protected] • www.thepeninsulaqatar.com • 4455 7741 inside Paddington: A CAMPUS classic stuffed bear • Texas A&M at Qatar hosts international brings home plenty math workshop of laughter P | 4 P 8-9 | PARENTING • Today’s parents are much too hard on themselves P | 6 BOOKS • Ant-Man #1: Spencer aims to deliver an accessible fighter P | 7 HEALTH • Paleo diet attracts many, but scientists find it hard to swallow P | 11 TECHNOLOGY • Google Translate update seeks to break language barrier CHILDREN’S P | 12 LEARN ARABIC • Learn commonly APP TRENDS used Arabic words The trends for 2015: How your kids might be playing, and their meanings learning and creating on devices this year, as well as how those apps may get them out in the real world. P | 13 2 PLUS | THURSDAY 15 JANUARY 2015 COVER STORY By Stuart Dredge playing, but usually games intended any children are for adults. growing up with apps This has understandably put and digital media as many parents off any app that uses Mpart of their lives, in-app purchases, but in 2015 we’ll alongside reading, physical play, see more actual children’s apps television and other forms of that use the model responsibly: as Children’s entertainment and learning. a way for parents to check if an Plenty of companies, from the app is suitable and enjoyable for biggest children’s brands to brand their child before choosing which new technology startups, are bits to pay for. app trends for exploring the potential of tablets Existing examples: Endless and apps for kids, so what do they Wordplay, which sells packs of have in store for 2015? Here are words to practise spelling, or Nosy some of the key trends for parents Crow Jigsaws, which sells puzzles to look out for. but unlocks them for free if parents own its other apps. Digital storytelling finds its identities Parents as part of the process It’s no surprise that the first few Yes, children do use apps alone, waves of children’s apps – at least but that doesn’t mean they’re just the ones telling stories – took their “digital babysitters” as critics often cues heavily from books, complete suggest. Increasingly, developers 2015 with digital pages to turn. There’s are designing their apps in the still a place for that, but there’s knowledge that parents will often plenty of room for invention too: be sitting alongside their kids and less about apps trying to be better being an active part of the process. than books, and more about being Expect a fair few of these in 2015. different. There’ll also be more How can text, animation and development around the idea of touchscreen interactivity blend parental “dashboards” – ways they together in new and engaging ways? can log in from their own devices to Children’s apps sit neatly between see what their children have been books, TV and games, and I suspect doing, and how the apps they’re we’ll see more launched this year using are improving various skills. that manage to mix those three But another encouraging trend formats unclunkily. Identities? is apps that educate parents too: Plural because there won’t be one particularly those that suggest single format that works. more non-digital activities to follow Existing examples: The genre- on the learning. blurring fun in Jack and the Existing examples: Disney’s Beanstalk by Nosy Crow or Dino Mickey’s Magical Maths World is Dog – A Digging Adventure. part of a new series of apps with a separate parental-dashboard Children are storytellers too app, Disney Imagicademy Parents. It sounds like a blitheringly Meanwhile Curious Playground obvious statement – of course gets children making games children tell stories. But until together. relatively recently, it was something ignored by many developers of Kids’ coding apps continue to book-apps: kids could tap on the evolve screen to interact with characters The introduction of computer and scenery, but the actual story programming into the English remained decidedly linear. curriculum for children as young We’ll see more apps this year as five has sparked debate in UK, that aim to put storytelling tools particularly around the demands in the hands of children to create it places on teachers. 2015 will their own tales: whether pre- provide some answers in that packed collections of characters, debate, although they might not scenery and situations to play all be positive ones. with, or stories that get children Alongside that, though, there is to write/draw in characters as they a lot of activity around apps that read. help children take their first steps Existing examples: Tate’s Noisy in programming (or, at least, Neighbours gets kids to draw their programming-like thinking). own characters, while TeleStory Can cute characters and blocks gets them filming their own TV of code tempt kids away from shows. pure games, and if so, can they also really be a stepping stone to Responsible use of in-app the programming they’ll be doing purchases later in school? We’ll be finding Children’s apps and in-app out over the next 12 months. purchases is a very sensitive topic, Existing examples: Take your thanks to the all-too-regular pick from challenge-based apps examples in recent years of kids like Tynker to more-freeform blowing their parents’ credit cards apps like ScratchJr, with new on virtual items in mobile games. entrants like CodeQuest and The One under-reported point: it’s Foos too. rarely children’s apps that they’re PLUS | THURSDAY 15 JANUARY 2015 3 Rise of the robots the top 10 for the entire site. Yet as a and 3D printing parent, YouTube can still be problem- How many chil- atic when your children are watching dren will have access it: if you’re not breathing down their to modern robots or neck throughout, it’s easy to end up 3D printers at home on inappropriate videos. in 2015? Very few In 2015, we’re going to see more attempts to provide child-friendly filters on YouTube as apps, whether focusing on particular niches like In 2015, we’re going to nursery rhymes or Minecraft, or more general curators. Plus more of those see more attempts to YouTube channels will launch their own apps, aiming for a slot on par- provide child-friendly ents’ homescreens, and the growth of filters on YouTube. Angry Birds’ ToonsTV – four billion My Little Monster views and counting – will continue. 3D prints children’s Existing examples: Stampy Cat monsters. is the official app for Stampy’s indeed. But there are some technology Minecraft-focused YouTube chan- startups and app developers hoping nel, while Hopster mixes familiar TV channel – to educational groups and Existing examples: Disco their products will be an introduc- shows with educational games. museums. But also watch for more Fingers isn’t quite sure whether it’s tion to these areas for children in the children’s brands doing stuff in and a children’s or adults’ music creation year ahead. Next moves for Minecraft around Minecraft, and children com- app, but the former will love it. Sago US startup Play-i will ship its Bo Minecraft as the world’s most ing up with their own mods that find Mini Music Box will have even tod- and Yana spherical robots in 2015 for popular game for children isn’t a a wider audience. dlers tapping out tunes. example, having crowdfunded their trend of 2015: it’s a long-established Existing examples: The Beano’s offi- first run on its website last year. fact. But what happens now, with cial Dennis and Gnasher mod is good More apps for Android kids They’ll come with an app that aims the game’s developer Mojang owned fun, while the Tate Worlds project Most of the apps mentioned in the to teach children to program the bots. by Microsoft, is going to be very takes a more artistic approach. And article are made for Apple devices, Elsewhere in hardware, we’ll see what interesting. the LearnToMod software aims to and that’s no co-incidence. The chil- happens next with the Kano compu- Expect more attempts to make teach kids to code through Minecraft dren’s apps world remains an iOS-first ter, as well as startups like Osmo educational use of Minecraft, from too. place for several reasons, including exploring physical toys and apps. YouTubers like Stampy – who’s about the perception that it’s harder to sell Meanwhile, on the 3D printing to launch a second, learning-focused Making a noise through musical apps on Android, and the fact that side, there are a number of companies many kid-app firms worry they don’t working on apps that will get children have the resources yet to develop for to create... things, and then get them two platforms. printed. It’ll be an expensive niche for Still, a lot of children are play- now, but the idea of digital creation ing on Android tablets nowadays, leading to physical objects has wider sold by companies from Amazon and applications for kids: whether it’s 3D Samsung to Tesco with its impres- printing or print-out papercraft. sive Hudl. In 2014, the number of Existing examples: On the 3D print- great iPad children’s apps ported to ing side, My Little Monster makes Android increased steadily, and some children’s digital beasties into real even came out for both simultane- models, complete with Apple Pay sup- ously. This’ll continue in 2015.

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