Apple to Require 18+ Ratings for Dating and AI Companion Apps on the App Store

Developers must declare from November 16 whether their apps offer romantic or sexual AI companions, real-world dating or location sharing, and must answer for every app by January 12, 2027.

By Nakoda News Desk

2 days ago·2 min read

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Apple will add new age rating questions on dating, AI companion and location-sharing features to App Store Connect on November 16.Photo: Engadget

Apple will require developers to disclose whether their apps offer dating or romantic relationships, including with AI companions, and will give every such app a minimum age rating of 18+, Engadget reported.

The change comes through two new content descriptor questions in App Store Connect, the web platform developers use to manage their App Store listings. One asks whether an app has features that enable dating "between real people and/or a virtual companion that engages a user in sexual or romantic content." The other asks whether an app shares a user's real-world location with another person or group.

According to the report, the questions will appear in App Store Connect on November 16. Developers will need to answer both as part of the age rating questionnaire whenever they submit a new app or update an existing one, and must have answered them for all their apps by January 12, 2027.

What Changes for Users

Apps declared to contain dating and relationship content will be rated 18+. They will be hidden from under-18 users whose parents or guardians have set content restrictions on the device. Underage users who can still see such apps in the store will have to prove to Apple that they are adults before buying or downloading them, Engadget said.

The location-sharing question will not change age ratings in most markets, but some countries have their own rules. Brazil, for example, requires apps that share location to carry a rating of 16 and over, according to the report.

Why It Matters

The explicit inclusion of virtual companions is the notable part of the update. AI companion apps, which let users hold ongoing romantic or emotional conversations with a chatbot, have grown quickly and drawn scrutiny from regulators and parents over their effect on minors. By folding them into the same category as human dating services, Apple is treating romantic AI chat as adult content by default across its store.

The move builds on Apple's 2025 overhaul of App Store age ratings, which added 13+, 16+ and 18+ tiers and introduced mandatory new questions in the age rating questionnaire. For developers of AI chat, social and dating products, the new descriptors mean another compliance step before the January deadline, and potentially a smaller reachable audience if their apps fall into the 18+ category.