Age assurance frameworks Q&A

Existing Apple Accounts running iOS 18 and iPadOS 18, or earlier — including adult and child accounts for kids and teens — won’t be affected.

Yes. Asking people to share their age range enables you to create age-appropriate experiences for them in your app. To ask people to share their age range, see Declared Age Range API. Starting in iOS 26 and iPadOS 26, parents and guardians can use Age Range for Apps to allow or require children in their Family Sharing group to share age ranges with apps and games, or they can decline to allow sharing. Adults and teens who arenʼt in a Family Sharing group may also choose whether to share their age range. If there are legal obligations required in a particular region, your app's existing age assurance implementation should be tested to ensure you meet the requirements of those local laws.

Yes, developers are responsible for their own age restrictions. In certain regions, where legally required, Apple uses age assurance methods to confirm an Apple Account holder’s age and shares age categories with you through the Declared Age Range API. In those regions, you must check the age of the people using your app. For questions about your compliance obligations, consult your legal counsel.

For significant app updates, you’re responsible for preventing access to your app or features when required, and for handling the response from the parent or guardian. Until the parent provides consent, the child must be prevented from accessing the significant update, which may include all app and account data or specific features. When making changes to your app in certain regions, where legally required, consult your legal counsel for any questions on your compliance obligations. To learn more about the significant update notifications and acknowledgements, see the documentation below:

• Declared Age Range API
  • AgeRangeService.eligibleRegulatoryFeatures
  • AgeRangeService.showSignificantUpdateAcknowledgement(in:updateDescription:)
  • AgeRangeService.RegulatoryFeature
  • SignificantUpdateAction
• PermissionKit
  • SignificantAppUpdateTopic

When a parent or guardian revokes consent for their child to access an app, Apple will prevent the app from launching. To handle consent revocations, use the RESCIND_CONSENT value from notificationType. For more information about receiving App Store server-to-server notifications, see Enabling App Store Server Notifications.

No, there are no changes to the App Review process.

Yes, the Declared Age Range API is available worldwide, and people using your app can decide whether their age information is shared. This includes parents or guardians who share the ages of children in their Family Sharing group. In certain regions, where legally required, Apple will share age categories as defined by law. Outside of those regions, an age range will also be provided for people who have chosen to share their age range with you using Age Range for Apps, which is sent through the Declared Age Range API.

Yes. In regions where legally required, you need to check the age of the people using your app with the Declared Age Range API. In those regions, the Declared Age Range API will share the user’s age category with your app when called. The age rating selected in App Store Connect reflects the frequency and presence of sensitive content as well as capabilities that may introduce sensitive content.

Yes. If app restrictions are enabled in Screen Time and the app rating exceeds the restriction, a child can request an exception from their parent or guardian to purchase or download the app. Please note that age ratings may vary in certain regions. To learn more, see Age ratings values and definitions and Use parental controls to manage your child's iPhone or iPad.

Yes. Starting in iOS 26.2 and iPadOS 26.2, you can use the Sandbox environment to test how your app responds to various age range scenarios, location-based restrictions, approval state changes, and consent revocation. For more information, see Testing Age Assurance in Sandbox.