The Pulse
Apple Sets 18+ Minimum for Dating and Relationships Apps
Apple will require developers to declare whether apps include dating and relationship features or shared location. Apps with Dating and Relationships features will receive a minimum age rating of 18+, with a separate provision for certain l
AI.info Team · Written with AI · fact-checked ·
Apple’s definition covers virtual companions
Apps with features Apple classifies as “Dating and Relationships” will receive a minimum age rating of 18+, the company said in a November 2 developer announcement. Apple’s definition includes features that enable dating or relationship connections between real people. It also covers a virtual companion that engages a user in sexual or romantic content.
The announcement sets the rating according to the features an app includes, as declared in App Store Connect’s age-rating questionnaire. The listed category is “Dating and Relationships”; Apple’s description does not use the term AI. Its stated scope is the connection or interaction described in the questionnaire, including romantic or sexual engagement with a virtual companion. The announcement does not set out a separate rating category for virtual companions: they are included in the broader Dating and Relationships descriptor when they meet Apple’s description.
Declarations begin November 16
Starting November 16, 2026, App Store Connect will add two content descriptors to the age-rating questionnaire. Developers will need to declare whether their app includes “Dating and Relationships” and whether it includes “Shared Location,” which Apple defines as sharing real-world location with another person or group. The two descriptors concern different app features: one covers dating or relationship connections, while the other covers sharing a person’s real-world location with another person or group.
Developers must provide the declarations when submitting an app update or making changes to an app’s age-rating questionnaire. Apple requires all apps to have the declarations completed by January 12, 2027. The announcement does not describe a separate submission process for virtual-companion apps; it places the declaration in the same questionnaire as the other new descriptor. The new declarations are therefore required both for developers submitting an update and for those who change an app’s age-rating questionnaire, with all apps subject to the stated completion deadline.
Shared Location gets a separate treatment
Apple says Shared Location may not affect an app’s minimum age rating in some regions. The company gives Brazil as a specific case where local regulations require an A16 rating for Shared Location and an A18 rating for Dating and Relationships. Those ratings are tied to different descriptors: the announcement lists A16 for Shared Location in Brazil and A18 for Dating and Relationships.
For an app that shares location specifically for parents and children, Apple says developers can request a lower official rating directly from Brazil’s Ministry of Justice and Public Security. Once verified, that official rating will appear on the App Store in Brazil. Apple’s announcement presents this route as an option for apps that qualify for a lower rating in Brazil, giving parent-and-child location sharing as an example. The route concerns the official Brazilian rating; Apple separately states that apps with Dating and Relationships receive a minimum 18+ age rating.
The questionnaire defines the change
Apple frames the new descriptors as a way to help age ratings accurately reflect app features and comply with local regulations. The requirement applies when developers submit an update or change the age-rating questionnaire, with January 12, 2027 set as the deadline for all apps’ declarations. The announcement identifies the questionnaire as the place where developers make both declarations and gives November 16, 2026 as the date the descriptors will be added.
For virtual companions, the threshold turns on Apple’s stated description: whether the companion engages a user in sexual or romantic content. Apps meeting that description fall under Dating and Relationships and receive a minimum 18+ rating. The announcement’s definition also covers features enabling dating or relationship connections between real people, so the descriptor is not limited to virtual companions.