I used to own a Tonie Box but it's not even remotely closed to Yoto. I switched my kids from Tonie Box to Yoto about two years ago and it was the best decision I made. I love how affordable Yoto cards are, soooo many varieties. My sons look forward to bedtime story every night. With the Tonie box, you have to physically remove the character to stop the story, and the volume is barely there even at the max level. However, with Yoto, I can turn their stories on and off from my phone via the Yoto app. I can adjust the volume from my phone as well. And whenever I purchase a new Yoto card, it's instantaneously downloaded into the library in the Yoto app so we can listen to it right away while waiting for the physical card to come home. The cherry on top from purchasing Yoto product is their EXCEPTIONAL customer service! They are so prompt in responding and will do anything in their power to resolve your issue or concern. I HIGHLY and STRONGLY recommend Yoto!!!! I love the Yoto app, user friendly and allow you to pick a story, fast forward, pause, stop, turn volume up/down at your fingertips. Can't say enough good things about Yoto!

Our family has used the Yoto player since it was first released. It is great for kids who enjoy audio stories or making their own music playlists. It allows them autonomy in creating their own albums without the distractions of internet, video games and the like, which are often found on many kids devices or audio/mp3 players. The make-your-own cards are good for also making special audio recordings for the kids (ie grandparents recorded reading a story). The podcast option is a nice feature. We recommend the monthly subscription for anyone interested in the product. A suggestion would be the ability to download the actual story audio files to a computer for back up purposes. The actual audio file is in the cloud and on the Yoto device, but if either goes down then all content is lost/inaccessible. Also, the app requires wifi connection to use. Which means if you want to select an audio story/card from the app to play on the device then it needs to be wifi connected. Wonder if it is possible to download actual file content to the phone/ipad so the card content (not podcasts) can still be played from the app when offline. Or the device and player could connect via bluetooth in order to continue playing audio from the app on the Yoto player.

Yoto is cool but the app is seriously lacking in parental control and just plain regular intuitive stuff that should be normal by now. I should be able to blacklist certain times of day for the yoto to work or have a total daily limit for it. If I’ve just given a command to yoto from my phone, it should not be able to be overwritten from the device immediately after. It needs a cooling off period. If I quickly need to silence Yoto to get my kids to do something and resume it once they are finished then having them override my control over it means it isn’t a tool at all, it becomes too consuming for them, like screen time, and I won’t be able to let them use it. The only options for timer should not be preset durations and then more preset durations under “customizations”. Let me type in the exact amount of time left in a chapter or let me say “turn off when this chapter ends”. Allow the app to override the volume limit via quick passcode without needing to go allllllll the way in to change it and remember to change it back, because some podcasts just play too low or some situations have louder background noise. This is a very cool device but the app is not good enough and I think you guys should develop it some more. Said with love because I want to keep using it, I promise.

What’s good: beautiful retro designed device. Wonderful content for kids (but very $$$ at $30-40 each for the good stuff). What’s bad: the app delivery and its UI. They claim simplicity but it’s a mess. Nothing is clear. The Yoto universe includes the player, cards, this app, and a club. You put cards in the device to play things. Yet confusingly, there are things that play on the mini that are not on a card! The app asks you to join the Yoto Club ($5/mo, 2 wks free) yet what you get in return is ambiguous. You are supposed to put content in groups, but it’s not clear where/how. No where can you easily see what’s loaded on your app, your cards, your device and selected in the club. Everything is scattered or buried. There are libraries of content in the app yet you are directly to a website for similar titles. Nothing plays on the device unless loaded via the app. Yet you still have to use a card!? My son hates this thing because it’s so confusing. Nothing here is intuitive for a 5 year old. I’m a professional in the design, marketing and content industry. I was so looking forward to this experience. Your content is great. Your execution is confusing, complicated, maddening. I sincerely hope they are rethinking the entire platform. Anyone telling you different is paid or too close to it.