Yoto is a podcast machine and audiobook designed for kids

“Looking out the window” has become a major issue among parents over the past decade. It used to depend on the amount of phones and tablets in the lives of children, but now it seems to be timely especially last year with many children spending their school days in distance learning. Their small eyes need to breathe to avoid looking at pixels. And, although many adults can go to smart speakers to enjoy it, they may not be comfortable putting it in their child’s room. Enter the electronic products made by children and their needs in mind, such as $ 100 Yoto speaker.

Yoto Player is a very interesting profession. Even the adult weapons seem to be trying to be as unobtrusive as possible (this week new types of iMacs However), a child’s electronics should be something that a child may want to touch and care for. And Yoto Player really wants this – although it needs to be different Box Box, which I appeared last year. The latter went the other way to “attract” with his speaker, covering the fabric with the beautiful ears at the top that you pressed to adjust the volume. Yoto Player looks like a machine as it is.

It’s a solid plastic item, where the speakers go side by side with a moving front that allows LED lights to illuminate. This is not a beautiful LCD or OLED touch; all it does is display the design on a pixelated grid, reminiscent of classic video games or Lite Brite. When a Yoto player is used it does not show the time and the weather picture. After a while the player will turn itself off, along with the show. The back of the Player is made of a ring so the player can be placed in front of the child in the corner while playing on the floor. When you place the Yoto Player face to face, it becomes a nightmare.

To get started you need to download the Yoto app and follow the instructions there for the player to set up; is no different from any other IoT device you have installed in your home. Internet connectivity is required to download content. And thank god, the charger and the round magnets that cling to the player, that you can place your kids in fear that they will stab themselves (but apparently keep away from the chidren who can wrap a rope around their necks).

The player below does not have any cards in the box other than the one that provides the instruction manual, but although there are no additional features there is a lot to do with Yoto Player due to the two free voice streams provided. Clicking on the orange button to the right of the unit brings Yoto Daily, a 10-minute podcast for kids only.

There is a new section every day that changes according to the day: Wednesday is the fifth edition of the international, and Friday has jokes sent by children. The announcer does not play a small game or word game with the children, and then each episode ends with a birthday party. My heart just melted when I heard this for the first time, when the announcer wished their child a happy birthday. (Unfortunately, the birthday shout is until the end of 2021.)

Click the orange button and bring back Yoto Radio, which is just a fun song for kids. And we’re not talking about Raffi and The Wiggles, but Disney movie songs and artists known as One Direction and Florence + the Machine. (As I write this, Kim Wilde’s “Kids in America” ​​is playing.)

That’s why there’s a lot of value in Yoto Player out of the box, though I wouldn’t say $ 100 is worth it. To use the player, you will need to pick up some cards from the Yoto store or a page like Amazon. There is a file on starter packet of the five cards you can buy for $ 10, while some cards run for $ 6 to $ 12. The price is usually linked to the length of the program, which is why you get more with the most expensive cards.

This is a good difference from Tony, who is $ 15 each regardless of how much he has – Disney’s 30-minute program spends about 90 minutes of public access. Yoto doesn’t rely on selling the way Tonies does, but there are other licenses in his library, which are popular children’s books from authors like Roald Dahl and Beverly Cleary. There are also several BBC programs in the mix, including old children’s cartoons such as Winnie the Pooh and Wind in Willows, which offers the highest quality type you can expect from the BBC. On the contrary, nothing feels diminished; even the furnishings of Yoth’s house are sound.

Apart from stories and music, Yoto it also contains a wide variety of materials, including some study cards and a meditation program. Each card is similar to a hotel arrival card, and it approaches the top of the Yoto Player with a little effort – it takes energy to insert or remove any card, which is good because it prevents kids from going out unwanted and discarded, but bad for small children those who do not have the power may need the help of elders to change programs.

This is where the Tonys probably have the greatest chance, as playing what is as simple as throwing statues at the top of the room, and removing them when you’re done. The features on Yoto Player are a bit limited, but still easy to learn. The left orange cord changes volume, which is displayed in front of the player as a black bar. When playing a card, the left mouse button allows you to repeat a chapter, while the right mouse button allows you to skip one chapter. To turn the dial on when you press and skip or rewind. The number of this chapter is displayed, but it doesn’t take long to respond and I often confuse my target.

However, I really like Yoto Player. It is small and can fit in a pocket for easy access; if there is no internet connection you can still play what you have already downloaded or send the player to the player from your phone, even if you do not have a credit card. The app also allows you to create your own favorites and place them on blank cards, such as reading your child’s favorite stories, creating lists of favorite songs or simply sending them a friendly message. I could finish making his nephew, because the app makes it so much easier.

The biggest stumbling block in purchasing any wireless video: We don’t know how long it will last. That is not stored on Tony’s photos or inside Yoto cards. It has to be lowered per unit. When the servers die, it is also possible to re-download what you have. But in the meantime, Yoto has enough users that you can probably find in a few years, and if the hard ones can be used as a Bluetooth speaker. I would say that $ 100 is the best price for a good podcast-radio-clock-nightlight.