The App Store Connect age rating questionnaire will add two new content descriptors on November 16, as per the latest update from Apple. Developers must answer both for every app by January 12, 2027, and apps that include Dating and Relationships get a minimum age rating of 18+.
Apple said the new content descriptors are meant to keep age ratings accurate and in line with local regulations. They sit alongside the updated global age ratings from iOS 26, where social media and unrestricted web access are already separate answers.
Apps With Dating and Relationships Get a Minimum 18+ Age Rating
Dating and Relationships applies to features that let real people make dating or relationship connections. It also applies to a virtual companion that engages a user in sexual or romantic content, so an app with that kind of companion gets the same 18+ minimum.
Apple’s 18+ tier currently includes apps with frequent sexual content or gambling. The new descriptor adds a feature-based route to the same tier, since an app that offers dating connections gets at least 18+ whatever else it contains.
Shared Location applies to sharing real-world location with another person or group. Apple said it may not change an app’s minimum age rating in some regions, and Brazil is one region where it does.
Brazil Rates Shared Location A16 and Dating and Relationships A18
Brazil’s local regulations require an A16 rating for Shared Location and an A18 rating for Dating and Relationships. Dating and Relationships reaches the top age tier in both places, while Shared Location is the descriptor whose effect depends on the region.
Developers who believe their app qualifies for a lower rating in Brazil can request an official rating from the country’s Ministry of Justice and Public Security. Apple’s example is an app with location sharing built for parents and children, and the official rating appears on the App Store in Brazil once it is verified.
Brazil’s App Store shows different rating pictograms for self-rated apps than for apps the ministry has rated. When the ministry issues a rating, Apple updates the app’s regional rating and descriptors on the developer’s behalf.
Apps Must Update Their App Store Connect Age Rating by January 12
Developers have to answer both questions whenever they submit an app update or change their age rating questionnaire. Apps that have neither feature still have to complete the declarations, which join a questionnaire where developers already answer for in-app controls such as age assurance and capabilities such as social media.
Apple builds each app’s rating from those answers, and the scale on iOS 26 and later runs from 4+ to 18+. The January 12 deadline falls 57 days after the questions first appear on November 16.
