Apple Makes App Store Dating Apps and AI Companions 18+ Only

Apple will require App Store dating apps and AI companion apps with romantic or sexual content to carry a minimum 18+ age rating. The company told developers on November 2 that two new age rating questions arrive in App Store Connect on November 16, 2026, and every app must answer them by January 12, 2027.

What Apple Is Changing for App Store Dating Apps

App Store Connect, the web portal developers use to manage their apps, is getting two new content descriptors in its age rating questionnaire. Developers will have to declare whether their app includes either of these features:

• Shared Location: sharing a user’s real-world location with another person or group.
• Dating and Relationships: features that enable dating or relationship connections between real people, or a virtual companion that engages the user in sexual or romantic content.

The second definition is the important one. It covers classic dating services, but it also pulls in AI companion apps built around romantic chat. A general-purpose chatbot that does not engage users romantically does not appear to fall under the wording.

The 18+ Rule and the Deadlines

Any app that declares Dating and Relationships gets a minimum age rating of 18+, with no exceptions mentioned. Developers have to fill in the new answers whenever they submit an update or edit their age rating questionnaire from November 16. Apps that are not updated still have to complete the declarations by January 12, 2027.

Shared Location is treated more softly. Apple says it “may not have an impact” on an app’s minimum age rating in some regions, but it does not list which ones.

Brazil is the only market Apple names. Local rules there require an A16 rating for Shared Location and an A18 rating for Dating and Relationships. Apps that qualify for a lower rating, such as location sharing designed for parents and children, can ask Brazil’s Ministry of Justice and Public Security for an official rating, as described in Apple’s age rating reference.

Why It Matters for Users and Parents

On the App Store, an 18+ rating works together with Screen Time content restrictions. When a parent limits a child’s device to lower age ratings, apps rated 18+ are hidden from the store on that device. In practice, dating apps and romantic AI companions will no longer show up for teens whose parents use those controls.

The move follows growing pressure on tech companies over minors and AI chatbots. OpenAI recently tightened ChatGPT’s safety rules for teens, and lawmakers in several countries are pushing age checks for online services.

Turkey, for example, has just started age verification for social media accounts. Apple’s notice does not cite a specific law outside Brazil, but the change gives the company a cleaner way to keep adult-oriented apps away from younger users.

What Developers Should Do Now

Developers of dating, social discovery, location sharing and AI companion apps should review their features before their next update after November 16. Declaring Dating and Relationships moves an app to 18+, which can shrink its reach among younger users on managed devices. For iPhone owners, the change needs no action, though keeping devices current with updates like iOS 27.2 remains a good habit.