Apple's new age rating makes romantic AI companion apps 18+

Apple has added a question to the form every App Store developer fills in to get an age rating. From November 16, apps must say whether they offer dating, or "a virtual companion that engages a user in sexual or romantic content". If they do, the app is rated 18+ at the least. This page sets out what Apple's notice says, which apps it reaches, the dates, and what it means for people under 18, for apps that miss the deadline and for Android.

What Apple announced on November 2

Apple posted "Upcoming: New age rating content descriptors in App Store Connect" on its developer news page on November 2. App Store Connect is where developers submit their apps, and the age rating questionnaire is part of it. Starting November 16, Apple says, the questionnaire includes two new content descriptors, and every developer must declare whether its app includes either:

Descriptor	Apple's definition	What it does to the rating
Dating and Relationships	"Features that enable dating or relationship connections between real people and/or a virtual companion that engages a user in sexual or romantic content"	A minimum of 18+ (A18 in Brazil)
Shared Location	"Sharing of real-world location with another person or group"	Apple says it "may not have an impact" on the minimum rating in some regions (A16 in Brazil)

"Apps that include Dating and Relationships receive a minimum age rating of 18+," the notice says. Apple gives its reason as helping "ensure your app's age ratings accurately reflect its features and are in accordance with local regulations". In Brazil, where local rules set the A16 and A18 ratings, a developer that thinks its app qualifies for a lower rating can ask Brazil's Ministry of Justice and Public Security for an official one.

Which apps it covers

The notice doesn't use the word AI, and it names no apps. What counts is what the companion does: one that "engages a user in sexual or romantic content". The same descriptor covers ordinary dating apps that connect real people. Each developer answers the question for its own app, as with the rest of the questionnaire. When Apple last updated the questions, in July 2025, it reminded developers that they "must consider how all app features, including AI assistants and chatbot functionality, impact the frequency of sensitive content appearing within your app".

An 18+ rating does not open the App Store to explicit material. Apple's age ratings page classes "graphic sexual content and nudity", infrequent or frequent, as Unrated, and says: "An Unrated app can't be published on the App Store."

The dates

Date	What happens
July 24, 2025	Apple adds 13+, 16+ and 18+ ratings and new questions, with answers due by the end of January 2026
October 16, 2026	Apple's rule on user content starts naming AI content creation apps (our story)
November 2, 2026	Apple announces the two new descriptors
November 16, 2026	The new questions appear in App Store Connect; developers answer them when they submit an update or change their questionnaire
January 12, 2027	"All apps must have these declarations completed"

Because developers answer when they next send in an update, apps may move to their new ratings at different times between November 16 and January 12.

What it means for users under 18

The notice doesn't mention age checks, so the rating on its own doesn't ask anyone to prove their age. What it does is feed Apple's parental controls. Apple says its age ratings "work with parental control features like Screen Time and Ask to Buy". When a parent has set an app age limit, apps rated above it "will not appear on the App Store in places like the Today, Games, and Apps tabs, or in editorial stories". With Ask to Buy on, the parent can make an exception for one app and later withdraw it in Screen Time, after which "the child will no longer be able to use the app".

Apple said in June 2025 that, from iOS 26, teens aged 13 to 17 get age-appropriate protections from the start, whether their account was set up as a Child Account or a standard one, and that these use the App Store's age ratings. Its support page adds that certain settings are switched on automatically for accounts under 18, and that in some places content restrictions for apps can't be turned off. So on a teenager's iPhone with these controls, an app that moves to 18+ becomes harder to find and needs a parent's approval to install. For adults, the notice describes no change beyond the rating itself.

The law is moving too. New York's chatbot law, S 9051B, signed on October 28, takes effect on January 1, 2027, eleven days before Apple's deadline. It lets operators offer what it calls unsafe AI companion features only to users an age check has found are not minors. Our age verification guide covers which apps check ages today, and our laws tracker lists the rules state by state.

Will apps be removed from the App Store?

Apple hasn't said. The notice sets the January 12 deadline but not what happens to an app that misses it. The July 2025 round of questions came with a softer warning: answer by January 31, 2026 "to avoid an interruption when submitting your app updates". That was about updates, not removals, and Apple hasn't said whether the same applies this time.

Three AI chat apps did leave the App Store in October, before this notice came out:

• PolyBuzz's iPhone app went first, on October 15, and the company has not explained it. The PolyBuzz story.
• Chai's followed on October 22; its founder says it is unavailable while Chai improves it. The Chai story.
• Tipsy Chat's was gone by October 22, and Tipsy has not said why. The Tipsy Chat story.

All three were still missing from the App Store in the US, UK, Canada and Australia at 5:11 a.m. Eastern on November 6, and all three still loaded on Google Play. None of the companies has tied its removal to the new age rating questions, which Apple announced afterwards. Earlier removals are in our table of shutdowns and store removals.

What about Google Play?

We found no matching announcement from Google. Google Play's Age-Restricted Content and Functionality policy, introduced on October 30, 2025 and widened on July 15, 2026, requires apps whose core purpose is dating, real-money gambling, or connecting strangers at random or anonymously to block minors with Play Console tools. It does not mention AI companions or virtual characters (read November 6).

What happens next

Two dates matter: November 16, when the question opens, and January 12, when every app must have answered. Our change watch reads the App Store listings of 15 AI chat and companion apps twice a day. If one of them leaves or comes back, we will add it here with its date, and to our change log.