TellytideGood old-fashioned telly, built from the YouTube creators you choose. Put on Science, History or Animals and let the programmes play, without picking another video every few minutes. For curious kids and grown-ups too.
Free for iPhone & iPad.
Illustrative lineup. You choose the creators in each channel.Earth photograph: NASA / Apollo 17
The same creators you choose. A different way to settle in.
We call it GOFT (non-creatively). Make a Science, History or Animals channel, choose which YouTube creators go into it, or start with a template.
Then turn it on and let the programmes play, without scrolling or choosing something new every few minutes. Sometimes we all need to decompress. And discover something we never thought to ask.
Have something in mind? Browse videos from your chosen creators and pick what interests you. For children, parents choose which creators are available.
Both ways stay within that selection. A telly channel brings several creators together around a subject; a YouTube creator is one of the sources you put into it.
For the things you’ve always wanted to understand.
And the questions they never stop asking.
Give their curiosity room to wander, with programmes from creators you’ve chosen yourself.
Put on a documentary channel and settle in. You don’t need to know what you want to learn before you start watching.
A good explanation gives you something to take away.
How a rocket lifts off. Why mountains form. Educational videos can help you understand things you’ve seen a hundred times but never quite understood.
There’s a whole world beyond the subjects you already know you like. Give yourself and your child room to discover it.
Plenty of families are dusting off DVDs, CDs and record players. Not for nostalgia, but because a shelf you chose is easier to live with than an endless scroll.
Every programme comes from creators you picked. Nothing recommended from elsewhere slips in, so choosing what to watch takes a moment, not an evening.
Set a daily limit, or one per creator or telly channel. When time’s up, the screen says “All done for today”. On demand tells you when you’re all caught up.
Put an Animals or History channel on the iPad and settle in on the sofa. The next programme comes on by itself, so nobody has to reach over and pick.
Set it up on the web.
Enjoy it on iPhone or iPad.
Create an account, then add a profile for yourself or your child.
Add YouTube creators you trust. Build telly channels around subjects, or start with a template. Set time limits and decide whether to include Shorts.
Download Tellytide and connect it with a six-character code. The app needs no Google or YouTube login.
See what you can choose with Tellytide,
YouTube Kids and Apple Screen Time.
| The controls | Tellytide | YouTube Kids | Apple Screen Time |
|---|---|---|---|
| Who picks what shows up | You choose the YouTube creators | The algorithm, unless you hand-approve on the kid's device | Blocks apps, not what's inside them |
| Recommended & autoplay | Telly and on-demand videos stay within your selected creators | Yes, except in its strictest mode | Can't see inside YouTube |
| Per-creator time limits | Yes, plus a daily total | No, one on-device timer for everything | App-level only |
| Shorts | Block them per creator | Shows them | Can't target Shorts |
| Price | Free | Free, with ads | Built into iOS |
Swipe the table to compare all three.
Still curious? We’re here to help.
Good Old-Fashioned Telly (GOFT) lets you turn on a topic channel and let the programmes play, without choosing another video every few minutes. You choose the YouTube creators in each telly channel, or start with a template. On demand lets you browse and pick individual videos from your approved creators instead.
Yes. Create a profile for your own interests, choose your favourite YouTube channels, and pair your iPhone or iPad. You get the same channel choices, time limits and History as a family profile.
YouTube Kids recommends from its own catalog unless you approve content on the child's device. Tellytide shows videos from the channels you add on the web.
The paired iPhone or iPad does not use a Google or YouTube login. You manage channels on the web and pair the app with a six-character code.
Tellytide does not add its own ads, but it uses YouTube's official embedded player, so ads served by YouTube may still play. You choose the channels; YouTube controls the ads it serves.
Yes, per YouTube creator and as a daily total. When the daily time is up, watching stops until the next day.
You can block Shorts by default and adjust that choice per YouTube creator.
Yes. It pairs to an existing iPhone or iPad with a six-character code.
I built Tellytide for my son because the quality of what he watched mattered as much as the minutes. I wanted him to turn on something interesting without choosing a new video every few minutes. My wife and I now use it too. (Mert, founder of Tellytide).
Tellytide is free on iPhone and iPad.
Put on a telly channel for yourself or your child. There’s plenty worth watching.
Set up your TellytideFree on iPhone and iPad.