Dating apps on the App Store will have to carry an 18+ age rating, and so will apps whose main draw is a virtual companion that flirts or talks romantically with you. Apple has told developers to declare these features in App Store Connect, its submission portal, starting 16 November 2026.
The new question is called Dating and Relationships. It applies to apps that put people in touch for dating, and to chatbot-style companions that carry on sexual or romantic conversation. Any app that answers yes gets a minimum rating of 18+.
Deadlines for developers
Apple’s developer news post says the answers are due whenever a developer submits an app update or edits the age questionnaire. Every app on the store must have them on file by 12 January 2027, so even apps nobody updates before then need a visit to App Store Connect.
A second declaration, Shared Location, is for apps that let users see where others are. Apple says it may leave the minimum rating unchanged in some regions, so a family-tracking app is unlikely to jump to 18+ everywhere.
Brazil sets stricter numbers
Brazil is the one country Apple spells out. Local regulation there means A16 for Shared Location and A18 for Dating and Relationships. A developer who thinks the app deserves less, for example a tool that lets parents and children share locations, can apply to the Brazilian justice ministry for an official rating, which then appears on the Brazilian store.
The change builds on the age rating overhaul Apple introduced in July 2025, when it added 13+, 16+ and 18+ tiers next to the older 4+ and 9+ ratings and made developers answer a longer questionnaire by 31 January 2026. The same developer post also covers earlier tweaks: new Time Allowances categories that let parents set limits for Entertainment, Games and Social Media apps, and a social media question that tags apps with a Social Media label on their product page.
The companion wording is the new part. A chatbot app built around romantic role-play now has to declare it the same way a dating app does. The questionnaire sits in the App Store Connect age rating settings, and the new descriptors appear there on 16 November.
