Apple is changing its App Store policy to make it harder for minors to use online dating apps and AI companions that include sexual or romantic content. The company said the new rules will also affect apps that share a user’s real-world location with another person or group, and it added a Brazil-specific route for some family location-sharing apps.
Age ratings and new app descriptors
Most major dating services already limit access to adults, but Apple said every app that offers dating or romantic relationship features will now need an 18+ rating. Starting November 16, developers will also have to add new content descriptors so app age ratings match the features the app includes. The company said this change is meant to cover features that appear inside AI companion apps as one part of a broader product, since those apps can offer companions such as friends, lovers, boyfriends, girlfriends, and other fantasy characters.
The policy reaches AI companion tools
Apple’s move has wider implications for AI companion apps because those products often include relationship-style interactions alongside other functions. Character.AI, Replika, and similar services let people create AI companions, including fantasy characters that can play the roles of friends, lovers, boyfriends, and girlfriends. xAI also launched 3D animated AI companions last year that let users unlock NSFW capabilities. As of last summer, top AI companion apps across the Apple App Store and Google Play had been downloaded 220 million times globally.
Location sharing and Brazil’s exception
Apple also said apps will need to disclose when they share a user’s real-world location with another person or group as part of their features. That disclosure covers apps with location-sharing functions, including ones aimed at families. The company said apps that provide family location-sharing features in Brazil can request an official rating from the Ministry of Justice and Public Security, known as MJSP/Ministério da Justiça e Segurança Pública, instead of being required to use the A16 rating under local law.
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