Welcome to Pixalate’s CTV & Mobile App Manual Reviews According to COPPA, a series containing the detailed factors the Trust & Safety Advisory Board educators used to assess an app’s child-directedness.
The educators manually review thousands of mobile apps available in the Google Play & Apple App Stores as well as connected TV (CTV) apps from the Roku Channel Store and Amazon Fire TV App Store using the COPPA Rule factors shown below & make those results available to the public at ratings.pixalate.com.
This post takes a look at a game which is available from the Google Play Store & Apple App Store. Our reviewer discusses how the subjective factors set forth in the COPPA Rule apply to the app and factor into the reviewer's determination as to whether the app is child-directed or general audience (i.e., it is not targeting children).
The teacher will indicate the factors they relied upon in their assessment using the 10 factors shown below that reflect the 10 child-directed factors in the COPPA Rule.
True to its name, Fairy Tales ~ Children’s Books is an app that provides numerous fairy tales for children to read. There are options for both familiar and lesser-known fairy tales. The app is designed to look like an old-fashioned fairy tale book. Embossed pages, drop-cap letters at the start of sections, and beautiful illustrations help the reader feel immersed in reading a book rather than playing with an app.
Upon opening each book the user has the choice of reading the story themselves or having the story read to them. While some stories contain vocabulary that might be difficult for younger children to decode and comprehend, the read-aloud option and the pictures provide the appropriate scaffolding to help the children understand the stories. In between pages within the ‘book,’ there are also interactive elements of the story. These pop-ups out of the story help to measure and reinforce comprehension while helping the child feel like they are part of the story that is unfolding.
In addition to visually presenting a book for the user to flip through while reading, the animated scenes not only bring the story to life but also allow the child to interact with the story. They still feel as if they are part of the book, unfolding out of the pages like a pop-up book. The characters directly ask the reader to help them by clicking and interacting with the scene. For example, the player has to help Puss in Boots wake up the ogre by clicking on things like a clock, a suit of armor, or even the ogre himself. Comprehension is often assessed, with questions being asked about the story. Mini-games are also played under the premise of helping a character fix something or complete a task. These scenes appear every few pages and not only help reinforce comprehension but also increase engagement with the story.
Despite being an app focused primarily on reading, there is an unexpected amount of audio that helps cement the app’s appeal to children. As mentioned above, the user can opt to have the text read aloud or to read it themselves. Choosing the read-aloud option is a wonderfully engaging way to consume the story, with numerous different voice actors that are incredibly expressive. Even children who are capable of reading the story themselves could benefit from listening to the fluency and expression modeled during the read-aloud.
In addition to the read-aloud audio, there are also sound effects, such as page-turning sounds, and background music. The background music is present on the home screen and also throughout some of the animated parts of the stories. The music during the stories matches the mood of the story, just like a soundtrack to a movie. This is another great way to assist children with reading comprehension, as the different types of background music can help signal the tone the author is setting in their writing.
Logging in daily earns coins in the app that can be used to purchase additional stories. Coins can also be obtained via an in-app purchase. There do not seem to be any additional ways to earn coins or unlock stories. As there is no external advertising, this app relies on these in-app purchases for its revenue.
Fairy Tales ~ Children’s Books is rated 4+ in the Apple App Store, E for Everyone in the US Google Play Store, and PEGI 3 in the European Google Play Store.
The app describes itself as, “a kid reading app with interactive mini-games and fairy tales for children which makes reading more fun and entertaining!” The description also mentions that it is “best for toddlers and preschoolers.” This is reflected in the reviews with the reviews being primarily written by parents that have children using the app.
Privacy
According to the privacy policy, which was last updated on December 22, 2023, “Math Games is committed to making sure that kids’ privacy is safeguarded and we aim to comply with all (privacy) regulations worldwide, like the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA) in the US.” They also indicate, “we do not knowingly contact or collect personal information from children under 16.” This is elaborated upon by specifically stating that they collect analytical data and IP addresses but they are not linked to specific users or devices and this data is not shared or sold. They indicate that they only collect this data to determine which countries their users are in and how they can improve their app.
Find Pixalate's full catalogue of reviews in our CTV and Mobile App Review Page
Screenshots of Fairy Tales ~ Children’s Books
Pixalate’s Trust and Safety Advisory Board was created to bring in individuals with experience using child-directed apps in the classroom to review and assess which apps are child-directed. This manual review process serves to quality check Pixalate’s automated review process. See our full methodology for more information.
Disclaimer
This blog post published by Pixalate is available for informational purposes only and is not considered legal advice. By viewing this blog post, the reader understands and agrees that there is no attorney-client relationship between the reader and the blog publisher. The blog should not be used as a substitute for legal advice from a licensed professional attorney in the applicable jurisdiction(s), and readers are urged to consult their own legal counsel on any specific legal questions concerning any specific situation. The content of this blog post reflects Pixalate's opinions with respect to factors that Pixalate believes may be useful to the digital media industry. Pixalate's opinions are just that, opinions, which means that they are neither facts nor guarantees; and this blog post is not intended to impugn the standing or reputation of any entity, person or app, but instead, to report findings pertaining to mobile and Connected TV (CTV) apps.
