As Meta, and others, continue to push Apple and Google to take more responsibility for restricting kids’ access to apps, as opposed to having to implement age verification measures themselves, Apple has today announced some new features that will enable more restriction in this respect, without actually imposing those restrictions itself.
The main update is a refreshed app age rating system, which provides more granular categorization for apps, especially among teen audiences.
As you can see in this overview, Apple’s moving from its current, four bracket age classification system for apps, to one that has five categories, but more specific nuance in the teen segment.
Apple’s current thresholds are:
- 4+ years old
- 9+ years old
- 12+ years old
- 17+ years old
The new system shifts this slightly, while also adding an additional teen bracket for increased safety.
The 16+ age bracket also aligns with the Australian government’s proposed age restriction on social media access, which could effectively provide the mechanism to enforce such a law, without Apple having to impose any such restriction itself.
Which is really the main focus.
Apple’s long resisted calls to impose age restrictions at an app store level, and it’s still not looking to initiate such with these new changes.
As explained by Apple:
“When a developer submits an app to us for distribution, they confirm the types of sensitive content within the app and how frequently it appears, and if the app has certain features that impact what kind of content will be presented. Apple automatically generates an appropriate age rating for their app indicating the minimum age appropriate to use the app.”
So the app providers still submit their age rating, not Apple itself, but the new system could provide a means to re-categorize certain apps, and then enforce access limits, if Apple was asked to do so.
Which goes some way towards addressing calls for Apple to implement its own age checks, which have come from the apps themselves.
Back in 2023, Meta issued a call for federal legislation that would force the app stores to take a bigger role in keeping young kids out of adult-focused apps, by requiring the Apple and Google app stores to obtain parental approval whenever teens aged under 16 sought to download new apps.
As Meta explained:
“With this solution, when a teen wants to download an app, app stores would be required to notify their parents, much like when parents are notified if their teen attempts to make a purchase. Parents can decide if they want to approve the download.”
That way, parents, who, in most cases, are already overseeing teen accounts in regards to payment, would have more capacity to control such, as opposed to the apps having to come up with their own measures to detect user ages.
And that makes sense, in that it would facilitate broader-reaching control, at a provider level, in variance to each individual app coming up with their own programs. That would also even the playing field, and take such requirements out of the hands of app developers.
But as noted, thus far, Apple’s been keen to maintain a more hands off approach in this respect.
As reported by The Wall Street Journal, last September, Apple successfully side-stepped a proposed amendment to a social-media bill that would have required the company to help enforce age restrictions, and prevent minors from downloading some apps. Apple used its lobbying power to dilute the bill before it reached debate, which is in line with its approach to any proposal to make it enforce device user age.
But with Zuckerberg cozying up to the Trump Administration, Apple might also be looking ahead, and considering how Zuck and Co. could use that potential influence to force it into action, and alleviate Meta’s responsibility in this respect.
Which could be why Apple’s looking to add related solutions, which don’t quite go as far as Apple checking on user ages itself, but do provide clear provisions for legislators to categorize whichever apps they may choose as being in higher age brackets.
That could eventually see some regions make, say, Instagram a 16+ only app, or Facebook. Both are currently in the 12+ age category, but maybe, by providing a direct mechanism for such classification, that could enable the argument that they should be in a higher age access tier.
Or they could be used to force Meta to impose its own limits on what younger users can access.
Essentially, these new provisions establish the structure to age gate social apps, without actually going to the next step of Apple doing so itself.
Which is a better situation, maybe, but it still relies on another party forcing the issue. Meta’s not going to censor its own apps, but if a government or other legislative body wanted to categorize them as such, Apple now has a way to potentially keep younger users out.
