Apple Sets 18-Plus Rating for Dating and Romance Apps

Apple is adding new age-rating requirements for App Store apps with dating or relationship features, including services where users engage romantically or sexually with virtual companions. The company is also asking developers to disclose whether an app shares a user’s real-world location with another person or group.

Apps that offer dating or relationship features will be rated no lower than 18. Where parents or guardians have enabled content restrictions, those apps will be hidden from children under 18. Other underage users who can access the listings must prove they are adults to download or buy them.

Location sharing will not generally change an app’s age rating, though local rules may apply. In Brazil, for example, location-sharing apps are subject to a minimum rating of 16; certain family-location apps can seek an official government rating instead.

The new questions will appear in Apple’s App Store Connect developer platform on November 16. Developers must answer them when submitting new apps or updating existing ones, and complete the declarations for every app by January 12, 2027.

The requirements could affect AI companion apps that let users create virtual friends or romantic partners, even when those features are only part of a broader service. Apple says the additional disclosures are intended to make age ratings more accurately reflect app content.