Oh bless the holiday season! I’m counting down the hours to when we can kick it into high gear. It’s going to be a busy one with family and friends coming over. I’m ready (sort of) so BRING IT ON! Toss in a few meetings and a quick jaunt to the Big Apple and yes, my head is spinning out of control. But I thrive on chaos, you know that already.
My kids can keep up…thank goodness. They know there will be times where they need to wait and entertain themselves. They’re excited that they don’t have to worry about school work for a couple of weeks. Me too — to be honest! It’s a time of chillaxing whenever possible. Like many kids, they are into their “devices”. We have a rule in our house. School work always comes first and whatever extra-curricular stuff they do. Once they’ve met their commitments they have choices – watch TV, play games, skype grandma, etc.
Little one loves watching SpongeBob. Yes, a trip to Bikini Bottom to visit Mr. Crabs always gives me the giggles. Who comes up with this stuff? The show’s not necessarily on when we tune into YTV but here comes my choice for app of the week…
Shaw Go YTV and Shaw Go Treehouse were brought to my attention this week. Since it’s the holiday season it is a great time to try it out!
The process is simple. If you’re a Shaw Cable or Shaw Direct subscriber you have access to the Shaw Go YTV and Shaw Go Treehouse apps. Shows like SpongeBob SquarePants, Big Time Rush Christmas, Fairly Oddparents, How to be Indie, iCarly, and others are available. My sister’s younger tot loves Treehouse shows so you’ll also find popular shows like Dora the Explorer, Fireman Sam, Are We There Yet? ni Hao Kai Lan, Toopy & Binoo and more. Nothing like an impatient toddler right? Several episodes of each show can be accessed through the apps. Perfect for those drawn out wait times on road trips, in line at the airport, and restaurants. Or…er, while you’re busy getting the turkey going for the big day!
The apps are both easy to navigate right from the start. The kid got it right away…who wants to wait to download? Not him!
What I like about the apps…
There are parental controls on Shaw Go YTV if you’re not sure about age-appropriate content. That is, if you are concerned that your child may not understand the story lines, you can set your “preferred rating limits.”
Navigating the categories is easy. You can search for shows as well as individual episodes. Each episode provides a brief description and running time. The app also has a “predictable smart search” ability that helps find content faster as well as the ability to pause and play at your leisure. I’ve closed the app and re-opened several hours later to resume viewing and find this very handy. I definitely don’t enjoy trying to figure out where I’ve left off on a show.
What the Kid likes about the Shaw Go YTV app…
“Cool!!! I can watch my shows at the airport?”
What you need to know…
The quality of video viewing depends on the strength of your Internet signal. The apps use innovative “adaptive streaming” to give you the best viewing quality available.
When trying to access the content outside of a WiFi area, your device might access data through a cellular network and roam — which may incur data costs. In preference settings you can opt for “WiFi Only” or “Cellular Playback Warning” to keep this in check. Also best to look into data roaming packages with your cellular carrier if you’re travelling.
The shows can only be viewed within Canada due to licensing agreements.
The Bonus! Shaw Internet customers west of Ontario are able to complement their use of both apps by accessing the Shaw Go WiFi service. Customer can view exclusive content in thousands of locations. A full list of locations is available at www.shaw.ca/wifi or by downloading the speically-created Shaw WiFi Finder app.
The Shaw Go YTV and Shaw Go Treehouse apps are FREE and available for all Shaw Cable and Shaw Direct TV customers with an active subscription to Treehouse or YTV on iOS and Android devices. Best for iPad, iPad mini, iPhone and iPod touch devices running on iOS 5.X or newer. Android devices running Android 4.0 (Ice Cream Sandwich) and later.
Now, how can you not love Almost Naked Animals? lol
Happy Holidays!!
What’s your child’s favourite YTV or Treehouse show?
This post is sponsored without sponsor content editing. As always, reviews and all opinions expressed are my own…and SpongeBob is my saving grace.
Leave a Reply