Maka launches a kids’ streaming app without ads, autoplay or endless scrolling

Maka launched a subscription streaming app for children ages 0–6 on October 15, 2026, offering families an alternative to engagement-driven kids’ video. The service costs $15 a month or $107 a year. Maka says it has no ads, autoplay or endless scrolling, and does not design its algorithms to maximize watch time.

The launch catalog contains 25 shows, including Sesame Street, Franklin, The Wiggles, Pocoyo and Vida the Vet. Programming comes from global studios and independent creators. As WIRED reports, Maka is positioning that curated selection as an answer to low-quality AI-generated videos packaged as children’s entertainment or learning.

An episode review, and a planned stopping point

Each episode undergoes evaluation by child-development experts using Imprint, a framework created with researchers at the Yale Child Study Center. It examines content across seven developmental domains. Reviewers consider details such as scene cuts and pacing, alongside how stories portray kindness, emotional regulation and relationships between children and caregivers.

The review also looks at whether a story might support language development or critical thinking. That makes the selection process more specific than a check for age-inappropriate material. Cofounder and CEO Isabel Sheinman says Maka was built around child-development science and children’s behavior, rather than adapting a service originally designed for adults.

How a viewing session ends

• Parents set a timer at the beginning of each session, establishing a stopping point before viewing starts.
• As the show concludes, a character called Scoot appears to help prepare the child to leave the screen.

Sheinman describes the transition feature as a way to reduce family tension by preparing children to stop. That is the company’s intended benefit, not an established outcome. The launch leaves open whether its combination of reviewed programming and viewing limits will work as the founders hope.

The gatekeepers have been replaced by a metric, minutes watched

Yalda Uhls, UCLA researcher, speaking to WIRED

The gap between appropriate and educational

Michael Robb, research director at Common Sense Media, argues that filtering out inappropriate videos sets too low a bar. He says carefully designed educational shows can sit beside low-quality videos that merely look educational, making parents’ choices harder. The distinction matters to Maka’s pitch: its review process asks what children might learn, not only what they should avoid.

YouTube disputes the suggestion that its children’s service is an unrestricted outlet for AI videos. A spokesperson told WIRED that YouTube Kids limits AI content to a small set of high-quality channels and lets parents block channels entirely. The company says content intended for younger viewers faces stricter standards.

YouTube’s own support guidance also acknowledges the limits of automated filtering: not every video has been manually reviewed, and children may encounter content their parents do not want them watching. Parents can approve specific content themselves. Those controls offer families choices, but they do not amount to an expert review of every episode.

A paid service competing with free

For Maka, winning parents’ confidence is only part of the business challenge. Robb points out that YouTube is free and already available on household devices, making a switch difficult. He says Maka must also grow with children and remain sustainable without returning to the engagement metrics it rejects.

Cofounder and chief product officer Tanyella Leta frames the service as support for parents, not a judgment on using screens. She says families will sometimes reach for a device on a train or in a restaurant. The founders want to improve that choice rather than make parents feel guilty for making it.