Apple has announced new App Store policies that restrict dating apps and AI companion apps offering sexual or romantic content to users aged 18 and older. This change, effective November 16, requires developers to update their apps’ age ratings to 18+ and add specific content descriptors reflecting their features. The move is part of Apple’s broader efforts to protect minors, building on its recent global rollout of age assurance tools and enhanced child safety controls.

While most dating platforms have traditionally limited their services to adults, Apple’s policy explicitly extends this requirement to AI companion applications like Character.AI and Replika, which allow users to create virtual friends, lovers, or partners. These AI apps are particularly popular among younger users, with combined downloads of top AI companion apps reaching 220 million globally by last summer. The policy will likely influence how such apps classify and market their offerings on Apple devices.

In addition to app ratings, Apple will now require apps that share real-world user locations with other individuals or groups to include appropriate disclosures due to privacy concerns. Interestingly, in Brazil, family location-sharing apps may seek an official rating from the government’s Ministry of Justice and Public Security as an alternative designation to Apple’s standard 16+ category, complying with local legislation.

Apple’s tightened rules reflect growing attention to content appropriateness and child safety on its platform amid the expanding variety of AI-driven social and interactive apps. By enforcing stricter age verifications and transparency requirements, Apple aims to ensure that sensitive content is only accessible to adult users, while increasing awareness around privacy practices in apps that involve location sharing or intimate interactions.