YouTube Kids app is now available in the United Kingdom and Ireland

While the app is much better for children than the full version, it has been criticised by parenting groups over the number of inappropriate content that is available.

YouTube has its standalone app for child-friendly content in the United Kingdom and Ireland, aiming to offer parents and carers a source of streaming video that they can be assured is suitable for young children.

launched in the USA back in February with the aim of making it easier and safer for kids to watch videos on YouTube. Between them, those 20 channels generated over 5.2bn video views in October alone, with British channel the third biggest channel on YouTube overall, with 428.5m views last month. Although, children using the application can broaden their searches through four different sections that are Shows, Music, Learning, and Explore.

Since it has been launched in the USA the app has been downloaded 10m times by grateful parents and kids alike.

The app, which is free for and Apple devices (but not desktop), features voice search, a timer to limit use, restricted search settings, and removes the ability to make comments.

However, the application also lets parents set up a timer, meaning that they can stipulate when exactly YouTube Kids should stop video playback.

Available on iOS and Android, YouTube Kids distils Google's enormous online video library to a set of child-friendly channels curated by YouTube itself, as well as its content partners like Treehouse, CBC, TVO and National Geographic.

Unfortunately, children within Quebec are not able to partake in the YouTube Kids application.

" The videos provided to children on YouTube Kids intermix commercial and other content in ways that are deceptive and unfair to children and would not be permitted to be shown on broadcast or cable television", they said in an April complaint.