Apple said in a developer news post on November 2 that any app with dating features, or a virtual companion that engages users in sexual or romantic content, will get a minimum age rating of 18+. The new questions arrive in App Store Connect on November 16, and every app has to answer them by January 12, 2027.
Romantic AI companions now fall under Dating and Relationships
The age rating questionnaire is getting two new items: Shared Location and Dating and Relationships. Dating and Relationships covers “features that enable dating or relationship connections between real people and/or a virtual companion that engages a user in sexual or romantic content.” An app that declares it can’t go below 18+.
The second half of that definition describes AI companion apps, though Apple’s post never says “AI” and names no apps. The trigger is what the companion does, which is the right test, since a developer can call an app anything. A companion that stays friendly isn’t described. Apple also doesn’t say how it will treat a general chatbot that users can steer into romantic roleplay.
Developers answer the questionnaire themselves, so the rating depends on what they admit to. Apple pulled Kromix, an AI nudify app, in August, and said the app appeared to have added the prohibited features after it passed App Review. The new post mentions no extra checks on these answers. Apple did tighten its rules on October 16 with guideline 2.5.19, which bars apps from adding features after approval that weren’t in the reviewed version, and threatens removal from the App Store and the Developer Program.
Developers must answer by January 12, and Apple names no penalty
Developers give these answers when they submit an app update or change their questionnaire. All apps, including ones that never update, must have them completed by January 12, 2027.
Apple’s post doesn’t say what happens to an app that misses that date, and a deadline with no stated penalty is easy for a small developer to put off. The last questionnaire deadline, January 31, 2026, came with the 13+, 16+ and 18+ tiers Apple added in 2025 and a warning that app updates could be interrupted without answers.
Apple used the same approach for social media in July. A question added on July 9 asks whether an app has social media features. Answers have been required since September, and apps that say yes get a Social Media label on their App Store page and a minimum 13+ rating. The answers also decide which apps count toward the Social Media category in iOS 27’s Time Allowances, which parents use to cap time by category. The new post doesn’t say whether Dating and Relationships or Shared Location will get a product page label or a Screen Time hook.
Brazil sets its own ratings, with a route to a lower one
Brazil’s rules go further. Local regulations there require an A16 rating for Shared Location and an A18 rating for Dating and Relationships. A developer who believes its app qualifies for less, such as a location-sharing app built for parents and children, can request an official rating from Brazil’s Ministry of Justice and Public Security. Once it’s verified, that rating shows on the Brazilian App Store.
Elsewhere, Apple says only that apps with Shared Location “may not have an impact on their minimum age rating in some regions.” It lists no regions, so the rating for a family location app outside Brazil is still unknown.
In three countries, 18+ also means an adult check
Since February 24, Apple has blocked 18+ app downloads in Australia, Brazil and Singapore until the App Store confirms the user is an adult. An app with Dating and Relationships becomes an 18+ app, so those downloads should sit behind that check too.
Apple doesn’t say when the new ratings will appear on App Store pages, whether as each developer answers or all at once after January 12.
