Apple Sets 18+ Rating for Dating and Companion Apps

Apple is putting dating apps and romantic chatbot companions behind an adult rating on the App Store. In a developer notice published on 2 November, the company said App Store Connect will add new content descriptors to its age-rating questionnaire from 16 November, and that any app declaring dating or relationship features will receive a minimum age rating of 18+.

The rule covers "features that enable dating or relationship connections between real people and/or a virtual companion that engages a user in sexual or romantic content", Apple said. The second half of that definition reaches AI companion apps, though, as iGeeksBlog points out, Apple's notice never uses the word AI and names no apps. A companion that stays friendly is not described.

Two new questions

• Shared Location: whether the app shares a user's real-world location with another person or group. Apple says this "may not" change an app's minimum age rating in some regions, without listing them.
• Dating and Relationships: whether the app connects real people for dating or relationships, or offers a virtual companion with sexual or romantic content. A yes means 18+.
• Developers must answer when they submit an app update or change their questionnaire, and every app, including those that never update, must have the answers in by 12 January 2027.

Brazil goes further. Its local rules require an A16 rating for location sharing and A18 for dating and relationships, and developers who think they deserve less, such as a family location app, can ask Brazil's Ministry of Justice and Public Security for an official rating, Apple said.

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What is still unclear

The ratings depend on what developers admit to. Apple's notice mentions no extra checks on the answers and does not say what happens to an app that misses the January deadline, or whether the new ratings will appear on store pages as each developer answers or all at once, iGeeksBlog notes. It also does not say how Apple will treat a general-purpose chatbot that users can steer into romantic roleplay.

The change follows a run of App Store tightening. Apple added 13+, 16+ and 18+ tiers in 2025, a social media question with a minimum 13+ rating in July, and in October a guideline that bars apps from adding features after review. On Monday WIRED reported that more than 400 linked apps and sites had slipped explicit deepfake tools past App Store and Play review, as TheStak reported, which shows the limits of rules that rely on what developers declare. The Verge and TechBriefly also reported the notice.