Apple Moves Dating Apps and AI Companions to 18-Plus on App Store

Apple will require dating apps, romantic AI chatbots and location-sharing services to carry a minimum age rating of 18, with the new declaration questions arriving in App Store Connect on November 16 and mandatory for all apps by January 12, 2027.

The changes, announced on Monday, take the form of new content descriptors in Apple's age rating questionnaire. Developers must now declare two things: whether their app lets users share their real-world location with others, and whether it includes features that enable dating, relationships or sexual behaviour — either between real people or with virtual companions.\n The dating declaration carries a hard consequence. Any app with dating or relationship features will receive a minimum age rating of 18. Location sharing is softer: it will affect the minimum age rating in some regions, with the exact outcome depending on local regulations.

What does the timeline look like?

The rollout has two fixed dates. The new declarations enter the App Store Connect age rating questionnaire on November 16, and every app on the store must complete the new declarations by January 12, 2027. That gives developers more than a year to audit their features and file accurate answers, but the deadline leaves no room for apps that simply ignore the questionnaire.

Apple has not said what happens to apps that miss the deadline, but the rating system itself is the enforcement mechanism: an undeclared feature risks a wrong rating, and a wrong rating risks removal under existing store rules.

Why is Apple extending an existing category?

The App Store already has an 18-plus rating category. Until now it has largely covered apps featuring gambling, violence, references to drugs, alcohol or tobacco, and nudity or sexual content. Most dating platforms also restrict themselves to adults already.

The extension closes two gaps. The first is minors slipping through the cracks on conventional dating apps that had not triggered the existing descriptors. The second, and newer, target is AI: chatbots that support sexual or romantic interactions, and virtual "girlfriend/boyfriend" simulators. Apple's stated aim includes keeping young users away from these products, which the company flags as potential mental health risks.

That puts Apple in step with a wider regulatory turn. Governments in several markets have pressed platforms on both child safety and AI companion products, and the region-dependent treatment of location sharing reflects the same patchwork of local rules.

Who feels the change first?

The developers most affected are those whose apps mix audiences or features. A social app that added AI companionship, or a fitness app that shares live location, may now sit on the wrong side of an 18-plus line it never designed for. Developers of purely adult dating products face mostly paperwork: they already restrict users by age.

For the AI companion market, the rule sets a clearer boundary. Romantic and sexual roleplay features now define an app as adult content in Apple's system, whatever the app's branding or primary purpose suggests.

The practical takeaway: from November 16, developers should expect the new questionnaire, and by January 12, 2027 every app on the store must have declared its dating, companion and location-sharing features — or face the rating consequences.