Getting started

Creating and managing child profiles

In short

Add one profile per child from the parent dashboard. Each profile carries its own library, daily limit, break schedule, content-filter settings, PIN, and watch history. Nothing is shared between profiles except your account.

Adding a profile

Open profiles in the dashboard
From the parent dashboard, go to the profiles area and choose to add a child. There is no limit worth worrying about — add one per child rather than trying to economise.
Name it something your child recognises
The name appears on the profile picker, so use whatever they are actually called at home. It is visible to anyone using the device, so a first name or nickname is the right level of detail — there is no reason to enter a full name.
Pick an emoji avatar
Each profile gets an emoji avatar and a colour gradient. This is not decoration for its own sake — pre-readers identify their profile by the picture, so letting your child choose their own tends to make the profile picker work without help.
Set a 4-digit PIN
Every profile has a PIN. Whether it is required to enter the profile is a separate per-profile setting, so you can leave the profile picker open for a young child and require a PIN for an older one.
Add a birth year (optional but recommended)
The birth year sets age-appropriate defaults for the content filter. It is not a hard gate and you can override any of those defaults afterwards — it simply gives the filter a sensible starting point instead of a neutral one.

What a profile carries

Everything in this list is per profile. Changing it for one child does not affect a sibling.

Its own library: The videos and channels that profile can watch. Libraries can overlap between siblings — adding the same channel to two profiles is normal and they stay independent.
Time limits and breaks: A daily viewing cap in minutes, plus intermission breaks at an interval and duration you choose. You can also set per-day viewing windows if you want YouTube unavailable before school.
Content-filter settings: Which of the 21 content patterns block a video outright and which only flag it for your review. Seeded from the birth year, then adjustable per profile.
A PIN and a PIN requirement: A 4-digit PIN, an optional hint visible only to you, and a per-profile toggle for whether the PIN is required to enter the profile.
Watch history: Every video that profile played, with timestamps. Separate per child, so a shared device still gives you an accurate picture of who watched what.
Display preferences: Sound on or off, subtitle preferences including size, font, and colour, and the profile’s position in the profile picker.

Editing, reordering, and removing profiles

Everything on a profile is editable after the fact. Names, avatars, PINs, birth years, and every control setting can be changed from the dashboard at any time, and changes apply immediately on whatever device the child is using.

Profiles can be reordered in the profile picker, which is worth doing if one child uses the device far more than the others — putting their profile first saves a small amount of friction several times a day.

Deleting a profile removes its library assignments, its settings, and its watch history. If you are removing a profile because a child has outgrown the setup rather than because it was created by mistake, consider exporting or reviewing the watch history first, since it is not recoverable afterwards.

Common questions

How many profiles can I create?

Enough for a normal family — there is no limit you are likely to reach in practice. Create one per child rather than sharing, since the library, limits, and history are all per profile and a shared profile makes all three less useful.

Can my child change their own profile settings?

No. Profile settings, including the PIN, are managed only from the parent dashboard. A child cannot change their PIN, extend their own time limit, add videos to their library, or alter the content filter from the child screen.

What does the birth year actually change?

It seeds the content-filter defaults — which of the 21 content patterns block a video outright versus only flag it for your review. It is a starting point rather than a hard gate, and every one of those defaults can be overridden per profile afterwards.

Can two children share one profile?

Technically yes, but it is worth avoiding. A shared profile means one library, one daily allowance shared between them, one set of filter settings, and a watch history that cannot tell you which child watched what. Separate profiles take about a minute each.

How child PINs work

Setting and resetting PINs, guest PINs, and the lockout behaviour.

Quick start: set up Watchly in about ten minutes

Account, first child profile, first library, first time limit — the whole first run.

Time limits, breaks, and viewing windows

Daily caps, intermission breaks, viewing windows, and remote pause.

Try it with your own kids

The free trial needs no card, and nothing installs — build a library, set a limit, and hand the device over.

Start Free Trial See how it works