Apple sets 18+ rating for dating and AI companion apps

The move builds on other steps Apple has already taken to protect younger users, including rolling out age-assurance technology worldwide and adding more parental controls and child-safety features. Under the new policy, every app offering dating or romantic-relationship functionality must carry an 18+ rating — even though most major dating platforms already limit themselves to adult users. Starting November 16, developers must attach new content descriptors so an app’s age rating actually reflects what it offers, Apple said.

The rule may matter most for AI companion apps, or any app where that kind of feature is just one piece of a larger product. Apps such as Character.AI and Replika, often aimed at younger users, let people build AI companions that can take the role of friends, lovers, boyfriends, girlfriends, or other invented characters. xAI, for its part, launched 3D animated AI companions last year that let users unlock NSFW capabilities. As of last summer, the leading AI companion apps on Apple’s App Store and Google Play had together been downloaded 220 million times worldwide.

Apple is also requiring apps to flag it if they share a user’s real-world location with another person or group — a feature the company says raises clear privacy concerns, especially when users don’t realize their location is being shared. One carve-out: in Brazil, apps offering family location-sharing can seek an official rating directly from the Ministry of Justice and Public Security instead of defaulting to the A16 rating local law would otherwise require.

Why it matters

The rule puts AI companion apps under the same scrutiny Apple already applies to dating services, a signal that platform gatekeepers are starting to treat AI-generated romantic and sexual content as a distinct child-safety category rather than folding it into general app review.