Apple to set 18+ rating for dating apps — Engadget

Apple will introduce a minimum 18+ age rating for apps that contain dating features or relationships between real people or with a virtual AI companion featuring romantic or sexual content. To do this, the company will add new questions to the age-rating questionnaire in App Store Connect.

New requirements for developers

As Engadget reports, developers must indicate whether their app allows dating between people and/or interaction with a virtual companion that offers romantic or sexual content. Apple will also separately ask whether the app shares a user's real location with another person or a group of people.

Restrictions for minors

Apps marked as containing dating and relationship content will not be displayed in the App Store for users under 18 if their parents or guardians have set age restrictions on their devices. Minors who can still see such apps in the store will have to confirm to Apple that they are adults before downloading or purchasing them.

More current news is available on the UA.News Telegram channel Telegram.

The location-sharing feature will generally not affect the age rating. At the same time, separate requirements apply in some countries: in particular, in Brazil, apps that transmit location must have a rating of 16 or older.

The new descriptors will appear in App Store Connect on November 16. Developers will answer these questions when submitting new apps or making changes to existing ones, and must complete them for all their apps by January 12, 2027.