Hand them the phone.
Two full-screen modes built for a kid's thumbs. They choose; you already decided what they're choosing from.
The "can I watch something" negotiation ends. Picking becomes a thing they do, not a thing they ask for.
The rules both modes follow.
Not settings. None of them can be toggled off.
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A kid never sees a verdict.
No Clean, no Sus, no Hard Pass, no scores, no ratings, no runtimes. The whole vocabulary is tap to want, tap again to un-want.
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The word "no" never renders.
Shows you declined stop turning up. A four-year-old never meets a rejection notice.
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Nothing to buy, nothing to break.
No settings, no history, no filters, no reachable upgrade screen. No path to your subscription or your data.
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The phone never plays anything.
Picking happens on the phone, watching on the TV. The handback screen tells you what to put on and where.
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Getting out takes a deliberate hold.
Press-and-hold, never a tap, and no swipe-to-dismiss. The app says plainly that this is a courtesy, not a lock: for a real lock, use iOS Guided Access.
Mode one: Showtime.
For right now. They pick one show from their rotation, you put it on.
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1
Start it from the Kiddos tab.
A band headed Hand them the phone under each kid's rotation. Also on the Watch tab as Let them pick.
Empty rotation, and the app says so rather than opening an empty room. Build it first.
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2
They browse by picture.
A handoff screen changes the phone over, then their rotation fills it as big artwork cards, because a pre-reader browses by picture. Tap one, confirm, done.
One pick per session, read-only under their fingers. Picking isn't curating.
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3
They hand it back, you get instructions.
Your side: what they chose, which service, and roughly how long you're committing to.
Later the app asks whether it actually got watched. Yes counts toward their Brain Diet; no costs one tap and keeps the data clean.
Mode two: their turn to pick.
Not for tonight. This replaces "can we watch this?" forty times a week with one list you go through once.
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1
Start it from their card on the Kiddos tab.
The line underneath: "They ask for new shows. You OK what gets in." It changes when several shows have gone stale, which is when a turn is worth taking.
Never a schedule, never a notification to your kid. The calendar stays yours.
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2
First they tidy, then they shop.
A stale shelf opens the turn there: tap what you're all done with. Kids are ruthless about this.
Then the deck, drawn from their shelves and already floored, so nothing truly bad is in the pile. No cap: a kid reaching for ten things is information.
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3
You triage the basket.
Handing it back submits one grouped list: what they want, what they're done with, and the ones that wouldn't clear their filters. Even those leave the call with you. Approve one and it overrides the verdict.
Anything you pass on goes quiet for a few months, with a reset that carries the count.
The deck deliberately includes things you'd say no to. A kid who only picks from a pre-approved pile learns nothing about wanting and not getting. The filtering is the value; your later no is the point.
If a grandparent is holding the phone.
Different problem, two fixes.
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Nana + Papa Mode.
A display mode in Settings: big text, no clutter, no slang, no bits, and the three verdicts renamed to match. Per-device, so turning it on at their house changes nothing on yours.
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Or don't install anything.
Send a live rotation link. Opens in a browser, shows one kid's current shows, turns off when you say.
How to send a rotation link
Next.
Both modes are only as good as what is behind them.
Know what's inside before hitting play.
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