Apple will require dating apps and AI companion apps with sexual or romantic content to carry a minimum age rating of 18+ starting November 16, 2026, according to a developer announcement Apple posted on November 2. The change adds a new “Dating and Relationships” content descriptor to the App Store’s age rating questionnaire, alongside a separate descriptor for apps that share a user’s real-world location.
What Apple actually changed
Apple’s announcement adds two new descriptors to App Store Connect’s age rating questionnaire. The first, “Dating and Relationships,” covers apps with features that let real people connect romantically, and also covers apps where a virtual companion engages a user in sexual or romantic content. The second, “Shared Location,” covers apps that share a user’s real-world location with another person or group.
Developers must declare whether their app includes either feature whenever they submit an app update or change their existing age rating questionnaire. Any app that answers yes to the Dating and Relationships descriptor automatically receives a minimum age rating of 18+. The Shared Location descriptor does not necessarily raise the minimum age in every region, Apple’s announcement says.
Which apps are affected
Apple’s own text does not name individual apps, but the Dating and Relationships descriptor’s wording, a “virtual companion that engages a user in sexual or romantic content,” directly covers AI companion apps such as Character.AI and Replika, TechCrunch reported. The descriptor also applies to apps where companion features are only one part of a broader product, not the main draw, meaning an app that primarily does something else but also offers an AI friend, lover, or fantasy-character chat still has to answer yes on the questionnaire.
That breadth matters because AI companion apps have grown well beyond a niche category in the past two years. Teenagers and younger users are among the heaviest adopters of chatbot companions, which is the exact population Apple’s new descriptor is designed to wall off once the 18+ floor kicks in.
The category is not small. TechCrunch reported that the top AI companion apps had been downloaded roughly 220 million times combined across the App Store and Google Play as of summer 2025. Traditional dating apps fall under the same descriptor and will carry the same 18+ floor.
The compliance timeline developers face
The new descriptors become available inside App Store Connect on November 16, 2026. Apple is giving developers until January 12, 2027 to complete the declarations on every affected app. Apps that do not update their age rating questionnaire by that date risk carrying an inaccurate rating, though Apple’s announcement does not spell out an enforcement penalty beyond the rating itself.
Why Brazil gets a separate carve-out
Brazilian regulation ties app ratings to the country’s own classification system, so Apple’s announcement sets the Shared Location descriptor to a mandatory A16 rating and Dating and Relationships to A18 in Brazil specifically. Developers who believe their app deserves a lower rating, Apple gives the example of a family location-sharing app built for parents and children, can apply directly to Brazil’s Ministry of Justice and Public Security for an official rating, which then replaces the default once verified.
Part of a broader child-safety push
The new descriptors do not arrive in isolation. TechCrunch’s reporting places them alongside Apple’s wider rollout of age assurance technology on the App Store and additional parental control features Apple has been adding over the past year. Together, the moves give Apple a more direct way to tie an app’s actual content, not just its self-reported category, to the age rating a parent sees before approving a download.
For developers, the practical effect is a longer age rating questionnaire inside App Store Connect starting November 16, and a hard deadline of January 12, 2027 to have it filled in correctly across every live app, not just new submissions.
Frequently asked questions
Does this ban AI companion apps for minors immediately?
No. The descriptor only becomes available on November 16, 2026, and developers have until January 12, 2027 to complete the declaration, after which the 18+ rating applies to qualifying apps.
Does the Shared Location descriptor also force an 18+ rating?
Not automatically. Apple’s announcement says Shared Location may not affect the minimum age rating in every region, unlike Dating and Relationships, which always sets a floor of 18+.
Which specific apps has Apple named?
Apple’s own announcement names no apps. TechCrunch’s reporting connects the descriptor to AI companion apps such as Character.AI and Replika based on how the policy is written.
Developers now have just over two months to review their apps against the new questionnaire before the January 12 deadline. Watch for how Character.AI, Replika and similar companion apps respond on the App Store in the coming weeks.
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