App Store’s New Age Questions Put Romantic AI Companions in the 18+ Group
Apple’s next App Store age-rating questions cover relationships with virtual companions as well as relationships between people. In its November 2 developer notice, the company says apps declaring Dating and Relationships will receive a minimum rating of 18+. The new questions arrive in App Store Connect on November 16.
The wording is more specific than a rule for every app using artificial intelligence. It describes features that enable dating or relationship connections between real people, or a virtual companion engaging a user in sexual or romantic content. A general-purpose assistant is not automatically described by that definition simply because it uses AI.
Two dates for developers to track
From November 16, developers must provide the new declarations when submitting an app update or changing their age-rating questionnaire. Apple separately sets January 12, 2027 as the date by which all apps must have the declarations completed.
Those stages matter when reading an app listing over the coming weeks. The first date opens the revised questionnaire and its requirements for those submissions; the second is the catalogue-wide completion deadline. The notice does not say every existing listing will change simultaneously on November 16.
Shared Location has a different effect
The second new descriptor is Shared Location, which Apple defines as sharing real-world location with another person or group. Its effect on a minimum rating can vary by region. Apple says it may not affect that minimum in some places.
Brazil is the specific regional example in the announcement. Apple lists A16 for Shared Location and A18 for Dating and Relationships under local requirements. A reader should therefore keep the descriptor and the storefront together, rather than assuming a location-sharing app has one universal age floor everywhere.
Apple also describes a route for an official lower rating in Brazil. A developer that believes its app qualifies, such as location sharing designed for parents and children, can request a rating from Brazil’s Ministry of Justice and Public Security. The official rating appears on the Brazilian App Store after verification. The example is a review route, not an automatic exemption for any app describing itself as family-friendly.
Read the feature behind the label
For iPhone owners, a familiar category name can hide quite different functions. Location sharing and relationship features are separate declarations, and an app can contain more than one kind of feature. Check the description and rating of the particular app in your storefront when deciding whether it suits the intended user.
These ratings should also be kept distinct from eligibility rules for Apple’s own services. Our Siri AI availability report explains how device and region requirements can limit an Apple intelligence feature independently of its language support. The new App Store questions classify an app’s content and functions; they do not announce a change to an iPhone model’s hardware capabilities.
Apple says the added descriptors are intended to make ratings reflect app features and local requirements. The immediate work is for developers completing the questionnaire. For readers, the practical dates are November 16 for the new questions and January 12 for completion across all apps, with the Brazilian distinctions checked separately.