Product engineering and modernization
Nick Jr.
Preschool streaming and games for ViacomCBS
Project overview
The Nick Jr. mobile apps combined preschool video, games, familiar characters, and age-appropriate navigation in one child-focused experience.
We maintained and extended the iOS and Android applications within the ViacomCBS engineering organization. The work included platform updates, product features, content integration, release quality, and production support.
Engineering focused on protected video playback, games, COPPA-aware data handling, parental controls, and an interface designed for young viewers across supported devices.
20M+
Global Downloads
2
Platforms
1000+
Episodes Available
Our role
Technical contributions and key deliverables
Native Mobile Development
- Maintained and evolved existing iOS codebase using Swift and Objective-C with MVVM architecture for scalable, testable application structure with reactive programming patterns
- Maintained and evolved existing Android codebase using Kotlin and Java with modern architecture components, ExoPlayer integration, and coroutine-based async operations
- Updated and optimized video player components to meet evolving DRM requirements including FairPlay (iOS) and Widevine (Android) compliance with kids-safe streaming features
- Implemented comprehensive parental controls and COPPA (Children's Online Privacy Protection Act) compliance features with age verification and content filtering systems
Enterprise Collaboration
- Coordinated directly with ViacomCBS internal teams across product, platform, content, and legal divisions for synchronized feature releases and compliance verification
- Participated in bi-weekly agile sprint cycles, daily standups, sprint planning, and retrospectives within the client's scaled agile framework (SAFe)
- Collaborated comprehensively with QA organization on child-safety testing, COPPA compliance verification, and production validation across extensive device matrices
- Partnered with content operations and programming teams on new show launches, educational content curation, and age-appropriate feature development
Technical Implementation
- Integrated privacy-compliant analytics SDKs with COPPA-compliant tracking, audience segmentation without PII collection, and parental consent management workflows
- Implemented sophisticated push notification system with parent-only targeting, scheduled delivery for new episode alerts, and content promotion with strict privacy controls
- Managed beta testing programs through TestFlight (iOS) and AppCenter (Android) with phased rollouts, crash-free release monitoring, and parent feedback collection
- Optimized application performance for various tablet and phone screen sizes including responsive layouts, adaptive bitrates, and device-specific optimizations
Kids Safety & Compliance
- Ensured full COPPA (Children's Online Privacy Protection Act) compliance with comprehensive data handling policies, parental consent flows, and privacy-by-design architecture
- Implemented kid-safe UI/UX design with no external links, no third-party advertising, no in-app purchases without parental gates, and age-appropriate content presentation
- Added comprehensive parental gates for all settings, purchases, account management, and external content with multi-step verification and PIN protection
- Created sophisticated age-appropriate content filtering system with content rating validation, episode appropriateness scoring, and parental control customization
Engineering challenges
Complex problems we solved during development
COPPA Compliance
- Challenge: Children's app required strict COPPA compliance with zero tolerance for privacy violations and data collection without parental consent
- Solution: Implemented privacy-by-design architecture with data minimization, parental consent workflows, audit logging, and regular compliance audits
- Result: 100% COPPA compliance with zero violations during production operation and successful FTC compliance reviews
Parental Gate Implementation
- Challenge: Preventing children from accessing settings, purchases, and external content while maintaining usability for parents
- Solution: Built multi-step parental gate system with PIN protection, math challenges, and timed interactions that children cannot bypass
- Result: 99.9% effective prevention of unauthorized access with positive parent feedback on usability
Performance Optimization
- Challenge: App needed to perform smoothly on older devices used by families while maintaining rich interactive experiences for children
- Solution: Implemented aggressive asset optimization, lazy loading, image caching, and memory management with device-specific quality adjustments
- Result: 50% reduction in app size and 40% improvement in load times on older devices while maintaining visual quality
Multi-Device Support
- Challenge: Supporting diverse device ecosystem from phones to tablets with varying screen sizes, resolutions, and aspect ratios for kids' usage patterns
- Solution: Built responsive UI system with adaptive layouts, touch-target optimization for small hands, and device-specific interaction patterns
- Result: Seamless experience across all supported devices with 4.4+ star rating for usability
App Screenshots
Explore the user interface and key features
Games Screen
Home Screen
Home Screen On iPad
Video Player
Technical Stack
Technologies, frameworks, and tools
iOS
Android
Backend & DevOps
Integrations
Project Outcomes
Measurable results and achievements
Market Performance
- 20M+ downloads across iOS and Android platforms
- Top 5 Kids & Family app in multiple markets
- 4.4+ star average rating across App Store and Google Play
Streaming Performance
- 99.3% playback success rate across all supported devices
- <3 second video start time on standard broadband connections
- HD streaming support with adaptive bitrate optimization
Technical Excellence
- 99.8% crash-free session rate in production environment
- 50% reduction in app size through optimization
- 100% COPPA compliance with zero violations
Content Launches
- Successfully supported major show launches (PAW Patrol, Blue's Clues, Bubble Guppies)
- Delivered reliable streaming for educational content and interactive episodes
- Maintained 99.5% uptime during high-traffic periods and new episode releases
Project Links
Current brand destination; standalone app listings are no longer available
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