Everything a parent needs.
Nothing a child can bypass.
Six core protections, running silently in the background every time YouTube is open.
AI Content Filtering
Google Gemini reads video titles, descriptions, and metadata to decide if a video is appropriate — based on your rules.
Daily Screen-Time Limits
Set a daily cap. Separate limits for weekdays and weekends. When time is up, YouTube stops — no negotiating.
PIN-Protected Settings
All parent controls are locked behind a PIN. Kids can't change rules, extend time, or disable the extension.
Custom Rules in Plain English
Type your rules naturally: "Only math, science, and nature videos. Nothing scary. No gaming." WatchBuddy understands.
Homepage & Search Filtering
Inappropriate videos are hidden from the homepage and search results — not just blocked when clicked.
Activity Dashboard
See exactly what your child watched, what was blocked, and when. A full log, visible only to the parent.
How WatchBuddy filters content
Every video on YouTube goes through a fast three-step check before your child can watch it.
When a video page loads, WatchBuddy extracts the title, description, channel name, and category from the page.
The metadata is sent to Google Gemini with your parent-defined rules. Gemini returns an ALLOW or BLOCK decision with a reason.
Allowed videos play normally. Blocked videos are replaced with a clear message. The result is cached so repeated visits are instant.
Every minute on YouTube counts toward the daily limit. When the limit is reached, a full-screen "time's up" screen appears.
You set the rules.
WatchBuddy enforces them.
First-run setup takes under two minutes. Every setting is adjustable later from the PIN-gated dashboard.
What parents can configure
| Setting | What It Does |
|---|---|
| Content mode | Choose from presets (Education, Kids Entertainment, Family-Friendly) or write fully custom rules in plain language. |
| Custom rules | Natural-language instructions for Gemini: "Only cooking and science. No scary content. No gaming or unboxing." |
| Daily time limit | Set a cap in minutes. Optionally split into separate weekday and weekend limits. Toggle "no limit" for holidays. |
| Allow / block lists | Whitelist specific channels that should always be allowed. Blacklist specific channels that should always be blocked. |
| YouTube Shorts | Block all Shorts entirely, or let them through the same filtering rules as regular videos. |
| Parent Mode | Temporarily suspend all filtering for a set duration — for when a parent is watching with the child. PIN-gated. |
Transparent about data.
Minimal by design.
WatchBuddy only touches YouTube. Here's exactly what it does and doesn't do with data.
Rules, time config, PIN hash, and activity logs live in Chrome's local storage on your device — never on our servers.
Video titles and descriptions are sent to the Gemini API for classification. WatchBuddy never stores or logs these after the call.
WatchBuddy only runs on youtube.com. It has no access to any other website or browsing activity.
We operate no backend. No data is ever sent to GoManzanas. We have zero visibility into usage.
Read the full Privacy Policy for a complete breakdown of every permission and data practice.
Install in seconds.
WatchBuddy is a free Chrome extension. No account required, no subscription, no cloud setup.
Click "Add to Chrome" on the store listing. Chrome will confirm the permissions — WatchBuddy only requests access to YouTube.
The wizard opens automatically on first install. Create a PIN, choose a content mode, set the time limit. Takes under 2 minutes.
WatchBuddy runs silently. Every YouTube video is checked. Time is tracked. Settings are locked behind your PIN.