Apple will give App Store apps that include dating and relationship features, or a virtual companion that engages users in sexual or romantic content, a minimum age rating of 18+, according to a post on Apple's developer news site dated 2 November 2026. The change comes through two new declarations in the age rating questionnaire developers fill in on App Store Connect, and it starts on 16 November.
What Apple is asking for
From 16 November, Apple says, the age rating questionnaire includes two new items:
- Shared Location: the app shares a user's real-world location with another person or group.
- Dating and Relationships: the app enables dating or relationship connections between real people, or includes a virtual companion that engages users in sexual or romantic content.
Developers have to answer both whenever they submit an app update or change their age rating questionnaire. Apple's deadline for every app to have both declarations completed is 12 January 2027.
The two declarations don't carry the same weight. Apple says apps that include Dating and Relationships receive a minimum age rating of 18+. Shared Location, by contrast, may not affect an app's minimum rating in some regions.
AI companions are in scope
The detail that stands out is the virtual companion clause. As MacRumors puts it, Apple's Dating and Relationships category covers relationship connections "regardless of whether that's with a real person or a virtual companion" that engages in sexual or romantic content. 9to5Mac framed the news the same way, as an 18+ requirement for both dating apps and AI romantic companions.
In practice that means an AI chat app that offers romantic or sexual companion features falls under the same 18+ floor as a conventional dating app, going by Apple's wording. Apple's post doesn't name specific apps, and it doesn't say how it will check the answers developers give.
Brazil gets its own ratings
Apple's post singles out Brazil, where it says local regulations require an A16 rating for apps with Shared Location and an A18 rating for apps with Dating and Relationships.
There is a route to a lower rating there. Apple says apps that qualify, giving the example of location sharing between parents and children, can request an official rating from Brazil's Ministry of Justice and Public Security (MJSP). Once that rating is verified, Apple says, it shows on the App Store in Brazil. MacRumors and 9to5Mac report the same Brazil requirements and the same family-app example.
What it means for you
If you're a parent, the practical upshot is that dating apps and romantic AI companion apps should carry an 18+ rating on the App Store once developers complete the new declarations, at the latest by Apple's 12 January deadline. Location-sharing apps, including family trackers, are now flagged as such in the questionnaire, but outside Brazil that may not change their rating.
If you make apps, the new questions arrive with your first update or questionnaire change after 16 November, and they have to be answered for every app by 12 January either way.
Mia's take: Putting AI companions in the same bucket as dating apps is the sensible call, and it's good to see it written down rather than left to guesswork. The catch is that this is still a questionnaire the developer fills in, and Apple's post doesn't say how answers will be checked. Parents should treat the rating as a useful floor, not a substitute for knowing what's on the phone.
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