AI & TechnologyApple Age Rating Questions Update: What to Answer

Apple's updated age rating system adds 13+, 16+ and 18+ to the existing 4+ and 9+ ratings, and Apple asked developers to answer the new questions for every app by January 31, 2026. Apple's own pages warn of "an interruption when submitting your app updates", and Apple's reminder email, as a developer posted it on the Apple Developer Forums, said you wouldn't be able to submit app updates in App Store Connect. If you haven't answered yet, do it before your next build goes up.

The facts below come from Apple Developer News, App Store Connect Help and the App Review Guidelines, as shown in the sources. I checked each one on October 18, 2026. Apple can change a rule, so open the linked page before you plan around it.

Disclosure: App369 is my studio. I build and fix Flutter and Firebase apps, and the last section mentions what I sell. Apple doesn't pay me for anything on this page.

The dated timeline

Apple's Upcoming Requirements page also says ratings for all apps and games on the App Store were automatically updated to the new system. They show on devices running iOS 26, iPadOS 26, macOS Tahoe 26, tvOS 26, visionOS 26 and watchOS 26 or later.

The new tiers

The default tiers on Apple's definitions page are 4+, 9+, 13+, 16+ and 18+, plus Unrated. A few examples of what sits at each level, taken from that page:

• 4+: for example parental controls, age assurance, user-generated content, messaging and chat, advertising and infrequent contests.
• 9+: for example infrequent horror themes, health and wellness topics, infrequent cartoon or fantasy violence and loot boxes.
• 13+: for example social media, frequent profanity, infrequent medical or treatment information and infrequent realistic violence.
• 16+: unrestricted web access, frequent medical or treatment information and frequent mature or suggestive themes.
• 18+: for example gambling, frequent realistic violence and frequent sexual content or nudity.
• Unrated: graphic sexual content or prolonged graphic or sadistic realistic violence. Apple's help page says an Unrated app can't be published on the App Store.

Ratings are assigned per country or region. Apple has since made region-specific changes. From June 18, 2026 the 15+ rating is no longer available in Australia, and Vietnam apps get a region-specific rating of 00+, 12+, 16+ or 18+. Apple's definitions page also says that in Australia, apps with social media capabilities or loot boxes display 16+. I'm not covering Brazil or Korea in detail, so read Apple's posts if you sell there. For Korea, Apple's August 12, 2026 post says two descriptors move from All to 12+ starting October 2026.

My advice: don't guess a tier from the old system. Answer the questions and let Apple's calculation show you the result.

What the new questions cover

Apple's July 2025 post says the new required questions cover in-app controls, capabilities, medical or wellness topics and violent themes. Apple's definitions page lists these categories, with the definitions I quote or paraphrase below.

In-app controls

• Parental controls: settings or tools that let parents monitor, manage or restrict a child's access, such as content filtering, usage limits or purchase restrictions.
• Age assurance: a mechanism to confirm someone's age meets the requirement for content or services. Apple's examples include the Declared Age Range API, age estimation and age verification by government-issued ID.

Capabilities

• Unrestricted web access: users can navigate to any webpage in the app or freely browse. Apple says this may include embedded browser functionality.
• User-generated content: broad distribution of content users create, such as videos, photos, text or audio.
• Messaging and chat: users can directly communicate through features in the app, including text, voice or video chat, direct or group messaging, or public posting.
• Advertising: paid promotion of products or services in the app, including banner, video, playable, rich media and native ads.
• Social media: added July 9, 2026. Apple defines it as the ability to redistribute, amplify or interact with user-generated content through a social feed or similar discovery method.

Medical or wellness

• Medical or treatment information: diagnoses or guidance on managing medical conditions, such as medication guidance or emergency care.
• Health or wellness topics: self-care or lifestyle recommendations, such as calorie tracking, dieting advice or exercise recommendations.

Violence

• Cartoon or fantasy violence is exaggerated or fantastical and easily distinguished from real life.
• Realistic violence is aggressive physical conflict or harm involving humans in lifelike situations.
• Guns or other weapons and prolonged graphic or sadistic realistic violence are listed as separate items.

The same page also covers mature themes, sexuality or nudity, and chance-based activities such as gambling, simulated gambling, contests and loot boxes. For these, you choose a frequency, either Infrequent or Frequent. I didn't find a definition of those two words on Apple's page, so pick the answer that honestly matches how often the content appears in the shipped app.

What happens if you didn't answer

The sources word this in three ways, and I'll keep them separate.

1. Apple's Upcoming Requirements page: provide responses by January 31, 2026 "to avoid an interruption when submitting your app updates in App Store Connect." It doesn't describe the interruption.
2. Apple's reminder email, as a developer reproduced it on the Apple Developer Forums in December 2025: "If you don't answer these questions by January 31, 2026, you won't be able to submit app updates in App Store Connect."
3. Apple's July 9, 2026 post: from September 2026, responses to the social media questions are required when submitting new apps or updates, or when submitting apps for notarization for alternative distribution.

So the stated consequence is a blocked submission of updates. The pages I read don't say a live app is removed, and I found no Apple statement on what happens to an app that stays unanswered and never submits again. I would not assume either way.

I also can't give you a verified account of how App Store Connect behaves today, because I didn't test it on a live account. Open each app's App Information page to see its status.

My advice: don't discover this on release day. A blocked update during a bug fix is the worst time.

How to answer, step by step

Apple's help page gives the path:

1. In App Store Connect, open the app.
2. Under General, click App Information.
3. Below Age Ratings, click Set Up Age Ratings.
4. Review the list of in-app controls and capabilities, select the ones your app includes, then click Next.
5. Work through each section, answering the questions and choosing a frequency for each content description.
6. Under Age Categories and Override, choose Not Applicable unless you need Made for Kids or a higher rating.
7. Click Save. You return to App Information, where you can see global and region-specific ratings.

To change it later, click Edit at the top of App Information. The required role is Account Holder, Admin, App Manager or Marketing.

Two limits are worth knowing. Apple's help page says you can't change the Made for Kids selection once App Review approves the app. And an override can only raise a rating, since the page describes it as increasing the rating above the one Apple assigned.

How to answer honestly for a Flutter app

Guideline 2.3.6 says to "answer the age rating questions in App Store Connect honestly so that your app aligns properly with parental controls." It adds that a mis-rated app could surprise customers or trigger an inquiry from government regulators. In practice, I'd check these before I answer:

• Web views. A webview_flutter screen that loads only your own pages is different from a browser that can open any URL. Apple's definition of unrestricted web access is users navigating to any page or freely browsing.
• Ads. If you use an ad SDK, the app has advertising. Check the SDK, not just your own screens.
• Chat and comments. A support chat with your team is not the same as users messaging each other. Apple's definition is users communicating with one another.
• Uploads. If users post photos or text that other users can see, that is user-generated content.
• Health content. A water tracker and a medication guide are different answers. Calorie tracking and exercise recommendations are wellness examples on Apple's page. Medication guidance is a medical example.
• Third-party packages. A Flutter plugin can add a capability you never wrote. Skim your pubspec.yaml before you answer.

If you have a minimum age in your EULA, Apple's help page says you must override to a rating that meets it.

My advice: print the list above, check your app against it once, and save your answers in your release notes so the next developer doesn't have to guess.

Social media and the Texas note

Apple says an app with social media capabilities gets a Social Media content descriptor and, per the June 8 post, a minimum age rating of 13+. If those capabilities are disabled for anyone under 13, the app isn't in the Social Media Time Allowance category for those users. That option requires the Declared Age Range API at a minimum to check users' age ranges, and your overall answers may then produce a rating lower than 13+.

Most small business apps have no feed, so this question will usually be a plain no. If you have a community feed with likes, comments and shares, read Apple's definition carefully.

The reminder email also said Texas SB2420 took effect January 1, 2026, and that changing an age rating for apps distributed in Texas would be a significant change that may trigger a consent process. If you serve Texas, treat a rating change as more than a form edit. I'm not a lawyer, and I haven't tested the consent flow.

A short checklist

1. List every app under your account, including the old ones you rarely touch.
2. Open App Information for each and check whether the age rating setup is complete.
3. Answer from the shipped build, including SDKs, web views and ads.
4. Check the calculated rating for each region you sell in.
5. Override upward if your EULA requires a higher minimum age.
6. Re-answer after big features. Adding chat, a feed or a browser changes your answers.

For every other dated Apple, Google Play and Firebase requirement in 2026 and 2027, see App Store and Google Play deadlines for 2026 and 2027.

Need a hand?

If an update is stuck on age rating questions, or an iOS build won't go through App Store Connect, the App Fix Ticket covers it in two fixed-price steps. A $450 Diagnosis gives you the root cause with evidence and a fixed repair quote within 3 business days, credited toward the fix. If you go ahead, the $1,200 Fix takes 5 business days and comes as a pull request. Or send me a short description.