Age Ratings and Apps for Children

Apple: the age rating questionnaire

Apple's help page Set an app age rating explains that you answer an age rating questionnaire in App Store Connect. It asks about:

• In-app controls, such as parental controls and age assurance;
• Capabilities, such as unrestricted web access, user-generated content, social media, messaging and advertising;
• Content, rated by how often it appears: mature themes, medical or wellness information, sexuality or nudity, violence, and chance-based activities such as gambling, contests and loot boxes.

Apple turns your answers into a global rating, plus regional ratings where a country requires one; Apple names Australia, Brazil and Korea. The rating powers parental controls on Apple devices.

Apple lets you override the calculated rating to a higher one, and says that if your app's end user licence agreement (EULA) sets a minimum age above the calculated rating, you must override to a rating that matches it. Answer for what the app actually does, including features you might not think of as content: a feed, a chat, an embedded browser or ads all count.

Apple's rating tiers

Apple's reference page Age ratings values and definitions lists the current values as 4+, 9+, 13+, 16+ and 18+, plus Unrated. Apple says ratings can differ by OS version: these values apply to devices running iOS 26 and the matching versions of Apple's other systems. Its examples of what moves an app up include:

• 4+: may still include parental controls, age assurance, user-generated content, messaging, advertising and infrequent contests.
• 9+: infrequent profanity, horror or cartoon violence, health and wellness topics, and loot boxes.
• 13+: social media, frequent profanity or cartoon violence, infrequent realistic violence and infrequent simulated gambling.
• 16+: unrestricted web access, frequent medical or treatment information and frequent mature themes.
• 18+: real-money gambling, frequent simulated gambling, frequent realistic violence and frequent sexual content.

An Unrated app "can't be published on the App Store", although Apple says it may be distributed through alternative marketplaces or websites.

There is a newer tool for age-aware apps: Apple's page for developers of kids' apps describes the Declared Age Range API. Parents can let a child share the age range on their Child Account with your app, without sharing the actual birth date, so you can adjust content. The ratings page also lists a separate capability, "social media disabled for users under 13", where at minimum the app checks age ranges through this API before turning on social features.

Apple's Kids Category

If your rating comes out at 4+ or 9+, you can choose "Made for Kids" and an age range to appear in the App Store's Kids category. Apple warns that you cannot change this once App Review approves the app. Every later update must then follow the Kids rules, which are set out in guideline 1.3 of the App Review Guidelines:

• no links out of the app, purchase opportunities or other distractions unless behind a parental gate, an adult-level task a child should not be able to complete;
• no sending personally identifiable information or device information to third parties;
• no third-party analytics or advertising, except in limited cases Apple describes, where nothing identifying the child, their location or their device is collected.

Apple adds that apps must comply with children's privacy laws worldwide. Why apps get rejected over rules like these, and how to respond, is in our guide to App Store review rejections.

Google Play: IARC content ratings

Google Play uses the International Age Rating Coalition (IARC). Its content ratings policy says every app needs an IARC rating. You complete a questionnaire in Play Console, and your app then gets ratings from several regional rating authorities. Apps without a rating "will be removed from the Play Store". If you change content or features in a way that affects your answers, you must submit a new questionnaire.

Google points out what the rating does not cover: it describes the app's content only, not consumer agreements or ads. Telling users about other age-based matters, such as age-specific privacy practices, is your job. Misrepresenting content "may result in removal or suspension".

Google Play: target audience and Families

Before publishing, you also declare a target audience by age group. Google's page on target audience and app content settings says any app with at least one age group that includes children must follow the Google Play Families policies. They include:

• content accessible to children must be appropriate for them;
• ads shown to children must come only from Families Self-Certified Ads SDKs, with no personalised ads;
• apps for both children and older users need a neutral age screen;
• apps aimed solely at children must not send the Android advertising ID or other listed device identifiers, and must not collect precise location;
• APIs and SDKs not approved for child-directed services are not allowed in apps aimed solely at children;
• social features for children need an in-app reminder about online safety, and some actions need an adult action such as a PIN;
• apps built mainly for chatting with strangers or anonymously must not target children.

Google also says imagery and wording that look aimed at children can bring an app under these rules, whatever audience you selected. Your Data safety answers must match too; our guide to app privacy labels covers that form.

The law: COPPA and beyond

Store rules sit on top of the law, not instead of it. In the US, the FTC's COPPA Rule page says the rule applies to operators of websites or online services "directed to children under 13", and to other operators with "actual knowledge" that they collect personal information from a child under 13. The FTC published the latest amended text in the Federal Register on 22 April 2025.

Other countries have their own rules. As Google's Families policy puts it, "children" can mean different things in different places, and it advises consulting legal counsel. Your privacy policy also needs to describe what you collect from children; our guide to terms and policies covers the documents.

What to decide early

• Who the app is for: only children, children and adults, or adults only. This drives the rating, the Families and Kids rules, and the law.
• Which features raise the rating: chat, feeds, user uploads, a web view or loot boxes. Decide whether each is worth it.
• Which SDKs you use for ads, analytics and crash reporting, and whether they are allowed in apps for children on each store.
• Where a parental gate, a neutral age screen or Apple's Declared Age Range API fits into the design.
• Who keeps the questionnaires up to date when features change.

The store steps themselves are covered in our guide to publishing on the App Store and Google Play.

Frequently asked questions

What age ratings does the App Store use?

Apple lists 4+, 9+, 13+, 16+ and 18+, plus Unrated, which cannot be published on the App Store. Apple calculates the rating from your answers to the age rating questionnaire in App Store Connect, with regional ratings for Australia, Brazil and Korea.

How does Google Play rate apps?

Google Play uses the International Age Rating Coalition (IARC). You fill in a content rating questionnaire in Play Console and receive ratings from regional authorities. Apps without a rating are removed.

Can a kids' app show ads?

On Google Play, ads to children must come only from Families Self-Certified Ads SDKs and must not be personalised. Apple's Kids Category says apps should not include third-party advertising, with limited exceptions Apple describes.

Does COPPA apply to my app?

The FTC says COPPA applies to websites and online services directed to children under 13, and to other operators with actual knowledge that they collect personal information from a child under 13. Take legal advice if either may apply.

Planning an app for families or young users? See our mobile app development service and all our services, or email [email protected].