[DigitalToday reporter Lee Ho-jung] Kakao has overhauled KakaoTalk in an update that covers child protection, chat organization, message summaries, checking friends' updates and mini emoticons. The update reinforces convenience and safeguards in line with the growth of chat, content and relationship features within KakaoTalk.

A review of the KakaoTalk update on April 13 shows the most notable change is the expansion of child protection functions based on Family Accounts. Family Account representatives can now directly manage short-form and open chat usage environments for children under 19. The protection features apply after a parent invites a child as a protected user and the child accepts. A key point is that settings can be applied immediately without customer centre applications, submission of family relationship certificates or identity verification steps as before.

Items parents can adjust have also been further detailed. They can set not only whether short-form content can be used, but also comment posting and searches. They can also manage the creation of open chatrooms and joining new ones. The update supports a system where a parent approves or rejects a child's request to join a specific open chatroom. Children can also check what a guardian has set. Even if they are under 19, they can disconnect the Family Account link without a guardian's consent. Child protection functions are automatically removed when they turn 19.

◆Convenience features also revised... Folder, summary and profile improvements

The update does not only strengthen protection functions. In chatroom folders, users can now change the order of all folders except the All tab by pressing and holding, and can delete folders immediately from the same screen. Users can create and manage up to 10 chatroom folders.

How unread messages are handled has also changed. The AI-based chat summary service 'Kanana' summarizes messages accumulated in the Unread folder, and the update adds a 'mark as read' button to the summary card. Users can organize accumulated messages at once after checking the summary. The design was improved so users can also see on the card the chat participants and whether it is a summary they have already checked.

How users check friends' updates has also changed. In updated profiles, users can view friends' profile photos, posts and 'Pung' updates in a continuous series of cards. Mini emoticons can be downloaded for free up to 100. Users of the paid subscription service 'Emoticon Plus' can use them without limit.

The update can be summed up as a revamp that makes it easier to organize the increased conversations and content within KakaoTalk, while enabling families to manage the usage environment. For general users, folder management and organizing unread items are expected to be the biggest noticeable changes. For guardians, managing short-form content and open chat functions is expected to be the most noticeable change.

Child protection functions can be turned on via the More tab > Settings > Family Account > Child Protection menu, and Kanana chat summaries via the More tab > Settings > Kanana menu.