- Apple to strengthen its parental orders and children’s account experience
- Later in 2025, global age ratings will be extended and you can convert any standard account into a child’s account
- There is also a new API designed to help personalize the experience in the AGE application
Apple has long been offering parental checks on apparatus and children’s accounts, but now makes changes to strengthen its offer and make it a safer experience for all parties involved. Some of these adjustments are on the side of the end user, such as the creation of a child account and adjustments of the application shop, but several are on the developer side, in the form of API modifications.
The new features and features have been shared in a new white paper entitled “Helping to protect children online”, which you can read in full here. The modifications begin by rationalizing the process of creating a child account. As the latest beta for iOS 18.4 and iPados 18.4, Apple now allows you to select an age group when creating an account; Once selected, this information informs the presets of parental controls.
Of course, the creation of the account adds your child as a user and allows family sharing of iCloud services and purchases in the App Store. However, to rationalize the process, you can always give the child access to the new device with more limited features if you want to finish the rest of the account configuration later.
Probably even more important, and good news for some, is that later in 2025, Apple will allow you to update the age on an Apple account. In this way, if you enter the bad date of birth, you can adjust it. Apple demands that children under the age of 13 have a child account associated with an apple identifier in the United States. The under -18s can choose to be configured in this way for these advanced protections and certain presets.
The experience of the App Store currently offers four age notes worldwide, two of which are 12 years and 17+. Apple aims to create a more organized and safe experience and will expand global age notes later this year. This will bring Apple’s age notes closer to those of Google and its play store, which already offer age -based notes in several categories depending on the region.
Apple’s expansion is a little more targeted and standard in all regions, with four new categories targeting specific age groups.
- 4+, which means that no reprehensible content is in the application.
- 9+, which means that the application could have a content unsuitable for children under nine years of age. It is described in the article as “violence of cartoons or infrequent or light fantasies, blasphemy or raw humor, or mature, suggestive or on the theme of horror or fear”.
- 13+, which is described as potentially featured: “Medical content or focused on infrequent treatment, references to alcohol, tobacco or drug use, sexual content or nudity, realistic violence or simulated play; or frequent or intense competitions, blasphemies or raw humor, horror or content on the theme of fear, or violence of cartoons or fantasy.
- 16+, described as “including by web access without restriction, frequent or intense mature content or suggestive, or medical content or focused on treatment”.
- 19+, “including by game cases, frequent or intense simulated games of chance, references to alcohol, tobacco or drug use, sexual content or realistic nudity”.
This will be the minimum age recommended for the application. This should allow developers to determine the age rating more precisely for the experience they create, and parents could find it easier to decide if it is sure to download. If a parent has activated parental controls for application downloads, the App Store will only serve the apps adapted to age when this will happen later in 2025.
This happens at a time when, in the United States, at the level of the state and the federal government, there is a debate on which should be in charge of age verification for the use of applications, that is to say the Apple App Store-or the developers themselves. It is excited in larger conversations around child protection laws concerning digital experiences and connected devices.
Apple believes that a level by application is better for age verification and reduction of data sharing overall. This is where the API of age group declared to come will come into play. Rather than asking a user to enter a date of birth, the developer can opt for the API. If it is approved via a contextual window in the application, the application will draw the Apple account age group.
It is very in line with how other applications require to use things such as camera or microphone and even to register for application notifications. Apple’s position here is to reduce a potentially over -registration user while ensuring safe experience; Apparently, the application approach is a better way to do so.
The company also says in the newspaper that it is similar to the purchase of alcohol in a store in a shopping center “,” After all, we ask merchants who sell alcohol in a shopping center to check the age of a buyer by checking identity documents – we do not ask everyone to transform their date of birth to the shopping center if we just want to go to the catering area. “”
Apple’s approach is in contradiction with other companies and even legislators, who think that the application and verification should be managed where you get the application. The information is there because Apple requests the age group to create an Apple account, and one is required for a user under the age of 13. From the point of view of confidentiality, Apple not only puts back this information but wishes to use it safely via this API.
Apple’s approach to age verification is undoubtedly better from the point of view of confidentiality for everyone, but requires an involvement of active parents.
Avi Greengart, Techsponental
Avi Greengart, founder of Techspponental, wrote in a declaration to Techradar: “Apple tries to film the needle between forcing everyone to share data that proves their age and give parents the possibility of protecting their children from the content that is inappropriate for them. Apple’s approach to age verification is no longer better – and perhaps cannot do the perspective of the police for the police applications. Algorithms to avoid damage to minors.
The approach here with the API of declared age group is probably linked to the strengthening of children’s accounts by Apple, which makes them easier to create and control them and bind them to make devices such as iPads and iPhones and safer services.
We already see some of these changes, such as selecting the new age group to create a children’s account. However, updated age notes for applications, the possibility of adjusting the age of an account and the new API will all arrive before the end of 2025.
In the end, the time will indicate who is responsible for verification of age. However, it is excellent to see Apple facilitate the creation of children’s accounts that offer a little more protection and guarantees. The full paper published by Apple can be viewed here.
