CHARLESTON, S.C., Aug. 29, 2018 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Dynepic, Inc., creator of the playPORTALTM, platform, today announced the launch of playPORTAL Studio, a suite of software development kits (SDKs) built to enable kid-safe authentication and social play features in apps, games and connected toys with instant child-privacy law compliance.
With 73 million people, Gen Z (born 1995-2015) is the largest population segment in America, generating up to $44 Billion in annual spending. An estimated 75% of the under 13 market owns their own smart device, consuming more mobile content than any other segment. This opens up a massive opportunity for developers and brands to create kid-inclusive games that engage, connect, and entertain.
“Developing child-privacy compliant apps is incredibly challenging since few APIs and SDKs meet child privacy laws without the developer having to spend countless hours writing custom code,” said Krissa Watry, co-founder and CEO of Dynepic. “Our playPORTAL SDKs provide developers with the tools they need to create the next hit app, game, or smart toy while we do all the heavy lifting for data security and child privacy.”
The SDK launch includes everything needed to create cross-platform, personalized and social apps to engage kids and their family, allowing brands to authentically engage this tech savvy generation. playPORTAL SDK initial features include: authentication, profiles, friend’s list, lightning database, push notifications, smart search and leaderboards that come with instant child-privacy compliance since they leverage playPORTAL’s verifiable parental consent, and parent-managed profiles for under 13 users. The playPORTAL SDKs are available for iOS, Android, Unity and Java Script.
The playPORTAL platform addresses the complex data privacy and security requirements surrounding COPPA (Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act) compliance, which require apps to obtain verifiable parental consent, usually via a credit card transaction, before taking any personal data on young users. Additionally, apps must also ensure parents are in control of what data is taken on their children and provide parents the ability to delete it. Failure to comply with COPPA guidelines can result in considerable fines ($41,484 per user, per use) and legal consequences.
Focus On Child Safety
To solve today’s complex child privacy requirements, the playPORTAL platform and SDKs are architected with Dynepic’s portable profile cloud data vault technology, ensuring users are in complete control over personal information on the platform using the playPORTAL app. Applications using the playPORTAL SDKs receive instant child privacy compliance because they do NOT collect, store, or share any personal information on their users. Instead, they associate a user’s personal app data against their playPORTAL secure profile using a non-persistent identifier. Realtime, demographic-based analytics are accessible through playPORTAL Studio, providing critical play-data insight for continued engagement and monetization.
What the SDKs provide:
| Authentication: | All-Ages, Kid-safe Single Sign-In | |
| Profile: | Loads Authenticated User’s Profile | |
| Friend’s List: | List of Parent-approved Friends & Family Accessible Based on Parent Permissions Set From the playPORTAL App | |
| Lightning Database: | Secure Cloud Storage For Application Data With Web Socket Support for Realtime Updates | |
| Smart Search: | Permission-based Search For Users To Find Each Other | |
| Leaderboards: | Create Custom Leaderboards | |
| Push Notifications: | Cross platform App-specific Push Notifications |
Available through the playPORTAL Studio, these SDKs offer developers, innovators, toy makers, and brands everything they need to engage Gen Z in their apps.
“What’s unique about the playPORTAL SDKs is they are powered by our kid-safe family network and app which provides parents a streamlined dashboard to control who and what their kids connect with through the platform. Kids use the playPORTAL app to add friends, who are approved by their parents, and then they can take those friends into apps using the playPORTAL SDKs,” continued Watry. “Developers will be happy to know that playPORTAL is not just for kids and they have been specifically designed to power a safe, all-ages community in their apps and games.”
Apps that Leverage playPORTAL
"As a toy company seeking to create the most advanced and exciting toys, we knew some sort of ‘connected play’ experience would have to be involved,” said Chandler Levine, CEO of Toy Upgrade, an educational startup toy company who has been utilizing the playPORTAL platform to launch their first app-enhanced educational plush toy. “We see playPORTAL as the industry leading solution, and one that will allow us to create the most engaging, and exciting educational companion toy for kids."
Watry, a previous smart toy inventor, explained that “Whether your focus is in toys, games, sports & fitness, entertainment or any other segment where connected play is vital, the playPORTAL Studio will be your innovation hub.” Using the playPORTAL Studio provides more than SDK access, companies can create and manage their Brand Playground on the playPORTAL app to further engage, socially share, and directly link apps for easy discovery and download.
Availability
Creators, innovators, developers, smart toy makers, and brands can get started today by creating their FREE playPORTAL Studio (https://studio.playportal.io) account. The new SDKs are in beta today with full release scheduled for later this year.
About Dynepic
Launched in 2014, Dynepic, Inc. is the creator of playPORTAL, a secure platform that makes developing child privacy-certified apps fast and easy. With cross-platform Software Development Kits (SDKs) backed by a first-ever kid-safe family network, developers can now create apps with instant Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA) compliance allowing game-developers, app-developers and toy-makers to focus on making amazing personalized and social connected products that include kids, while playPORTAL handles the data security and privacy compliance. playPORTAL is architected with Dynepic’s portable profile cloud data vault technology, ensuring users are in complete control of any personal information on the platform.
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