Safe search, safe YouTube and a family VPN for kids

Cove is one place for your kids to search, watch, learn and chat, with rules you set and a short email each night about how it went.

Features marked experimental work today but rely on outside services, so they could change.

Safe YouTube for kids

A video library you choose, with every video checked before it plays.

  • Channels you approve

    Kids watch from a library of channels you pick, and can ask for more.

  • Every video checked

    Blocked channels, age-restricted videos and sensitive topics are stopped before they play.

  • Reads the actual words experimental

    Song lyrics and video transcripts are checked, not just titles. Lyrics are never shown.

  • Not sure? It asks you

    When a check can't decide, the video waits for your answer.

  • Daily minutes and bedtime

    Video time, watch hours and screen breaks, set for each kid.

  • Earn more time

    Quizzes, typing practice, games and a focus timer earn extra minutes.

  • Search YouTube safely experimental

    Kids can search YouTube, and nothing plays without passing the same checks.

  • A short “what's new” feed experimental

    New videos and music from approved channels, and then it ends.

  • A calm start to the day experimental

    One short video on the first visit each day, from a channel or teacher you choose.

Family VPN and website approvals

Our VPN filters websites on your kids' devices at home, at school and on cellular.

  • Filtering that leaves the house experimental

    Block categories of websites on phones, tablets and laptops, on any network.

  • Blocked sites become requests experimental

    Your kid says what they need the site for, and Cove reviews it and emails you a recommendation.

  • Reasons that don't add up come to you experimental

    If the reason doesn't fit the site, like homework on a shopping site, it waits for you instead of opening.

  • Approve in one tap experimental

    Allow a site for an hour, a day or always, for one kid or the whole family.

  • Lockdown mode experimental

    Block everything except the sites you've approved.

  • Pause or schedule the internet experimental

    Turn a kid's internet off now, or on a schedule like bedtime and school hours.

  • App schedules experimental

    Choose when apps like Roblox or YouTube can reach the internet.

  • Hard to switch off quietly experimental

    Lock the VPN switch, and see when a device stops connecting.

Kid-safe AI chat

CoveAI explains homework, quizzes and writes stories with your kid, inside rules you set.

  • Off until you turn it on experimental

    Choose which kids can use it, which activities they get and how many messages a day.

  • Checked both ways experimental

    Messages and answers are screened before anyone sees them, and crisis words email you at once.

  • Your house rules experimental

    Add your family's rules and blocked words, then test a conversation yourself first.

  • Every chat saved for you experimental

    Read any conversation, with flagged messages in your nightly email.

Homework, coding and learning

Screen time they finish with something to show for it.

  • Coding studio

    Guided projects in real HTML, CSS and JavaScript, with hints instead of answers.

  • What's due this week experimental

    School assignments and the teacher's materials on your kid's home page.

  • Missing homework alert experimental

    An email at 6 PM if homework due today isn't turned in on Canvas. Permission slips and forms are left out.

  • Homework help by class

    Trusted sites and video channels for each class, in one place.

  • Write about what they watched

    Short write-ups after videos, checked for real effort.

  • Eagle Scout trail

    Track badges, ranks and service hours, with a study plan and quiz drills.

  • Pictures to PDF

    Turn photos into one printable PDF, right on the device.

Parental controls and alerts

Every setting works per kid, because a 5th grader and an 8th grader aren't the same.

  • Nightly email

    One short summary each evening: searches, videos and blocks, with each kid named.

  • Alerts that can't wait

    Searches that suggest a kid is in danger reach you right away.

  • Day-by-day review

    Every search, video and minute, for any day you pick.

  • Limits for each kid

    Separate video time, search limits and learning focus for every child.

  • Requests you approve

    Channel and site requests wait for your yes or no.

  • Preview as your kid

    See exactly what they see, without using any of their time.

  • Lock the screen or add time

    Freeze Cove instantly, or grant extra minutes for a rainy day.

  • School form filler

    Fill school and camp PDF forms from answers you save once.

Every device, every parent

Works on the devices your kids already have, and for everyone who helps raise them.

  • iPhone and iPad experimental

    Our VPN app blocks websites, and Screen Time with your passcode keeps it from being deleted. Optional: Apple's free Shortcuts app can also send you app opens, arrivals and incoming texts.

  • Android phones, Chromebooks and Windows PCs experimental

    The Cove app on each device tells you what they're doing and lets you know if it gets switched off. On Android it also shows you the messages they receive.

  • Tells you when the filter is off experimental

    On Android and Chromebooks, Cove checks that the device is really going through our VPN and warns you if it isn't — so a switched-off filter can't sit there unnoticed.

  • Roughly how long each app was online experimental

    With nothing installed on the device, Cove estimates how long each app was active today and how late, from the filter's own network log. It's an estimate of time online, not screen time — background apps run high — and it's labelled that way everywhere.

  • Phone rules: block apps, time limits, bedtime, lock experimental

    The Cove app can stop an app from opening, cap how long it's used a day, hold a new app until you okay it, keep a bedtime, and lock the phone on demand — all set from Cove. Android only; a kid can switch it off but you're told the instant they do.

  • Screen time per app, and daily limits experimental

    See how long each app was actually used — not just how often it was opened — and set a daily limit that cuts that app's internet when it's reached. Android only; needs Usage access on the phone.

  • Family chat experimental

    A private family message thread that keeps working when the internet is paused.

  • School chat window experimental

    Read, and if you allow it post to, the school Discord channels you pick.

  • More than one parent

    Co-parents and grandparents each get the access you give them.

  • Simple sign-in

    Parents sign in with Google. Kids join with a family code or a Google account you link.

  • Private to your family

    Approvals, limits and history are never shared with other families.

Works alongside Screen Time and your router

Keep what you already use. Each one covers a different part of your kid's day. See how Cove compares with other parental controls.

Your router

Filters every device on your home Wi-Fi, including TVs and game consoles. It stops helping once a phone leaves the house or switches to cellular.

Screen Time or Family Link

Limits apps, screen time and app installs on the device itself.

Cove

Goes wherever your kid goes: safe search, videos checked before they play, sites they can ask you for, and a nightly email about their day.

Common questions

Does Cove work away from home Wi-Fi?

Yes. Our VPN app filters websites on each kid's phone, tablet or laptop on any network, including cellular, school and a friend's Wi-Fi. A home router filter only covers your own Wi-Fi.

Does Cove replace Apple Screen Time or Google Family Link?

No, it works alongside them. Keep using them for app limits and app installs. Cove adds safe search, checked YouTube videos, website requests you approve, and alerts.

Can my kid turn the filter off?

You can lock the VPN switch so it can't be turned off with a tap. Deleting an app is still up to your phone's parental controls, and Cove shows you when a device stops connecting.

Is CoveAI safe for kids?

It's off until you turn it on for each kid. Messages and answers are checked before anyone sees them, crisis words email you right away, and you can read every conversation.

What devices does Cove work on?

Cove runs in any web browser. Our VPN app and companion tools cover iPhone, Android, Chromebook and Windows.

How much does Cove cost?

Cove is free during the invite-only beta.

What's new

Cove is built for one family first and shared from there.

  • Sep 2026Missing homework now gets its own email, and permission slips no longer count as homework.
  • Sep 2026A blocked site now asks your kid what they need it for.
  • Sep 2026CoveAI's parent Try it box is now a conversation.
  • Sep 2026A signed-out family browser is no longer a dead end.
  • Sep 2026CoveAI: an AI chat that looks like ChatGPT, built for kids.
  • Sep 2026Previewing as your child no longer spends their day.
Earlier updates (90)
  • Sep 2026The home page now has a row for the classes they actually take.
  • Sep 2026The day's first video can now be the teacher's.
  • Sep 2026This week's class materials, from the teacher's own Canvas modules.
  • Sep 2026Cove can be chosen as the browser's search engine.
  • Sep 2026Kids can sign in with Google on a new device.
  • Sep 2026Sign out, at last.
  • Sep 2026Lockdown: Cove's own videos play again.
  • Sep 2026Lockdown: Cove's own pictures load again.
  • Sep 2026Your child hears back when you say yes.
  • Sep 2026The thank-you button no longer loops.
  • Sep 2026Asking for a site: one press, and homework sites that were never supposed to be blocked.
  • Sep 2026App activity with nothing installed.
  • Sep 2026Screen time per app, and a daily limit you can set on it.
  • Sep 2026Lockdown: two things it was blocking that it shouldn't have been.
  • Sep 2026Phone rules — the Cove app now enforces on the phone, not just reports.
  • Sep 2026Auto-approve: two reasons an obviously-educational site was being blocked.
  • Sep 2026Chromebook: “the filter is off” is now a tamper alert.
  • Sep 2026Homework in the nightly digest.
  • Sep 2026Family Internet: phone-service providers are always routed around the tunnel.
  • Sep 2026Family chat — a private channel for your family inside the Cove app.
  • Sep 2026Family Internet: pause and schedule a kid's internet, per child.
  • Sep 2026Lockdown mode no longer breaks notifications.
  • Sep 2026Family Internet: Reconnect now actually picks up new permissions.
  • Sep 2026Devices: “message access off” is now a tamper alert.
  • Sep 2026Devices: the VPN-switch lock now shows where it matters.
  • Sep 2026Location is off unless you turn it on.
  • Sep 2026iPhones, at last — without an app.
  • Sep 2026Devices: “Behind the filter”.
  • Sep 2026Timeline: purple dots.
  • Sep 2026Auto-approve turns down the obvious cases instantly now.
  • Sep 2026A child can't switch their own device off any more.
  • Sep 2026The phone app no longer asks to be a VPN.
  • Sep 2026App time limits now actually bite.
  • Sep 2026The Cove apps don't block websites, and now they say so everywhere.
  • Sep 2026The companion apps are installable.
  • Sep 2026Devices: one activity timeline.
  • Sep 2026Devices: pair a child's phone (or a Windows PC or Chromebook) to Cove and it reports to a parent-only page — the messages a companion app reads, where the…
  • Sep 2026Family Internet: a site scanner now gets a vote on auto-approve.
  • Sep 2026Family Internet reads site sizes through your VPN connection.
  • Sep 2026Family Internet: a bare root is treated as the whole site it is.
  • Sep 2026Family Internet: the route-around now excludes the site's addresses too, not only its name.
  • Sep 2026Family Internet: sites that refuse the VPN are now handled automatically.
  • Sep 2026Family Internet: “Skip tunnel” for sites that refuse the VPN.
  • Sep 2026Family Internet, three things parents asked for.
  • Sep 2026Family Internet: auto-approve now works on the page your child actually opens — no “Request access” press needed.
  • Sep 2026Family Internet, closed a gap: search engines can no longer slip in through an allowed app.
  • Sep 2026Family Internet now installs the device certificate for you: “Set it up for me” generates and activates the VPN's certificate and turns on auto-install to…
  • Sep 2026Shows & Movies: a kid-safe way to look up who's in a movie or TV show — search a title, see the cast with photos, tap an actor to see everything else…
  • Sep 2026Pause the internet: one tap on the Family Internet page blocks everything on the kids' phones — for dinner, homework, focus — then Resume to go back.
  • Sep 2026More Family Internet controls: opt-in auto-approve for clear-cut educational/reference sites (AI is one signal, never the arbiter — search/social/streaming…
  • Sep 2026Allowlist (lockdown) mode: flip Family Internet from “open web minus blocked categories” to “everything blocked except sites you approve.” Approvals become…
  • Sep 2026Category blocking now works without installing anything: it's a DNS policy (was an HTTP policy that silently did nothing on phones without the VPN certificate).
  • Sep 2026Manage the filter from inside Cove: a category picker (tick which website categories to block — saved per family and pushed to the VPN) and a “lock the VPN…
  • Sep 2026One-click VPN sign-in: connect Family Internet by signing in to your VPN account and approving — no token, no Account ID, nothing to paste.
  • Sep 2026Search YouTube, gated: a parent can turn on open video search for a kid — she searches and watches freely, but results are strict-SafeSearched and run…
  • Sep 2026Apps & Services: per-child, time-of-day internet access for recognized apps (Roblox, YouTube, Discord, Spotify) enforced by our VPN — schedule,…
  • Sep 2026Family Internet: a website-approval workflow that works with our VPN.
  • Sep 2026Language-learning videos (Spanish and the other Languages channels) no longer spend daily video minutes — like Scout study, they're off the clock but still…
  • Sep 2026Homework Help page — teacher-recommended study resources for each class, with the kid's own subjects on top; video channels play in Cove, tools and sites…
  • Sep 2026Canvas bridge: each kid's upcoming school assignments on their home page — a due-soon list linking into Canvas, turned-in work checked off, and study picks…
  • Sep 2026School-chat window: a teen can read and (if allowed) send to parent-picked channels of one Discord server through Cove, via a family-owned bot the server…
  • Sep 2026Learning focus, per kid: pick channels for a topic (physics for her, coding for him) and they get a pinned "For you" row — plus optional focus-first…
  • Aug 2026The form filler can now copy answers from a filled-out copy — last year's form or another version, as a PDF or a photo.
  • Aug 2026The form filler now offers to keep what you typed: after a fill, hand-typed values and corrections appear in a save panel — tick what's worth keeping, pick…
  • Aug 2026The form filler's info sheet now has three tiers — parents & household, school, and a section per kid — and you pick which kid a form is for before it…
  • Aug 2026Form filler for parents — save your family's details once, then drop a school or camp PDF and its boxes are matched to your info and filled in your browser.
  • Aug 2026Pictures-to-PDF pages are now real Letter-size sheets: each picture centered with margins and sized to print sharp — a low-res photo prints smaller instead…
  • Aug 2026Pictures-to-PDF quality fix: rotated phone photos now go into the PDF byte-for-byte — the page does the rotating instead of re-compressing the photo — and…
  • Aug 2026Pictures-to-PDF tool — combine JPG or PNG photos into one PDF, built entirely in the browser; nothing is uploaded.
  • Aug 2026Morning intro now has a tone screen on top of the safety gates — no Shorts or premieres, and an AI judgement call on whether the pick is a pleasant way to…
  • Aug 2026Scouting progress and write-ups now show on the parent dashboard, in the nightly email, and on the day-by-day review page.
  • Jul 2026Study writing is now one reflection a week rather than one per item — after two items, the third waits for it.
  • Jul 2026Rank study plan with a watch-then-write gate — and study videos no longer count against daily video time.
  • Jul 2026Scout skills guides and quiz drills — knots, first aid, navigation, camp craft, citizenship and emergency preparedness.
  • Jul 2026Eagle trail is now per child, so it only appears for the kids actually in Scouting.
  • Jul 2026Eagle trail — a Scout's own advancement record: badges, ranks, service hours and tenure, linking to the official requirements rather than copying them.
  • Jul 2026Coding studio grew from 3 projects to 18, in five ordered tracks — real JavaScript, canvas games, searching and sorting, recursion, and debugging.
  • Jul 2026Day-by-day parent review page — any past day, nothing truncated, including the writing kids do about the videos they watched.
  • Jul 2026Fixed: an evening curfew block was reported in the digest as a morning one, and the "tried to watch late" count never rose above zero.
  • Jul 2026Blocked videos now disappear from kids' rows and channel pages, not just from the player — with an hourly pre-screen of new uploads so it happens before the…
  • Jul 2026Block any single video from the dashboard, for your family only.
  • Jul 2026Grade floors on the broad documentary and college-level channels, so younger kids stop seeing their whole back catalogue.
  • Jul 2026Rewatch limit now counts real watching only — a reload or a video opened and abandoned no longer spends a play.
  • Jul 2026Coding studio — guided HTML/CSS/JavaScript lessons with a sandboxed live preview and an AI tutor that hints instead of solving.
  • Jul 2026Nightly parent digest, scoped per guardian, with immediate alerts for distress searches.
  • Jul 2026Multi-parent support — different parents controlling different kids.
  • Jul 2026Page reader — kids request any web page; it's screened and rendered clean inside Cove.
  • Jul 2026Text-only channel discovery, so a kid can find a channel to ask for without seeing any imagery.
  • Jul 2026Unified video verdict pipeline — one decision path for playback, music and the morning intro.
  • Jul 2026What's-new feed and full-screen reel for teens — finite by design.

Want in?

Cove is in private beta with a handful of families.

Join the waitlist