Apple adds age ratings of 13, 16, 18 and above to apps and games: What do you know?
Efforts to help parents decide which apps to download or avoid for their children iPhone, iPad, MacBooks, Apple Watches, Apple TV and Apple Vision Pro, Apple has added three new age ratings: 13 Plus, 16 Plus and 18 Plus. To make things a little more clear, Apple removed ratings above 12 and above 17 (but kept ratings above 4).
Apple said New Age Ratings exists on Apple devices running iOS 26, iPados 26, Macos Tahoe 26, TVOS 26, Visionos 26 and Watchos 26.
By increasing the granularity of its age rating system, Apple adds it Help protect your kids online That initiative It has been announced In late February, parents will be given more control over the amount of data they are being shared with developers, part of a national effort to improve the safety of their children’s platform.
Fareedah Shaheed, founder of Child Online Safety Company As Members of Forbes in 2021″Less than 30 30“In the case of enterprise technology, I told CNET that Apple’s older ageing rating was a major step in the right direction. “Most parents in my community didn’t trust it, but I believed that with this change it would instill more confidence.
Shaheed says parents need to develop strong communication with their children.
“The best way to protect children using different apps is to build open and honest relationships with them.
In a note This week, Apple said it must answer more questions to help app developers determine the age at which the app is rated. Developers should provide information on in-app controls, violent themes, and medical or wellness topics and features.
Developers can set a minimum age higher than Apple allocated, and after seeing which age ratings are given to the app under the new system, they can answer new questions. Apple said that developers should make sure that “all app features, including AI assistants and chatbot features, affect the frequency of sensitive content displayed within the app and receive appropriate ratings.”
Robbie Torney, Senior Director of AI Programs Common sense mediasaid that the use of the company is increasing. AI chatbot Determining whether an app is right is becoming more and more difficult.
“These chatbots are unpredictable and trained in adult content from across the internet, making them easier to generate harmful content and dangerous advice,” Torney told CNET. “In testing these products, we’ve seen this even if we think it’s ‘safe’ for teenagers. ”