Science & Tech · Big Tech & Internet · 1 hr ago
Apple Sets January 2027 Deadline for App Dating and Location Disclosures
Apple is asking all App Store developers to disclose dating and shared-location features in their apps.
The new descriptors will appear in App Store Connect on November 16, and developers have until January 12, 2027, to make the declarations.
Dating and relationship features will receive an 18+ rating, including those involving AI chatbots.
Apps that share location will be rated according to local rules; Brazil, for example, requires an A16 rating for these features.
Apple says the changes are part of its age-rating system, which it has been adjusting as regulations increase around the world.
Developers can submit the information with an app update or by changing the age-rating questionnaire, and those seeking a lower rating in Brazil for apps used by parents and children can request an official assessment from the country's Ministry of Justice and Public Security.
Apple will require app developers to disclose whether their apps offer shared location or dating and relationship features.
The disclosures must be submitted through App Store Connect by January 12, 2027.
The new descriptors will appear in App Store Connect starting November 16, 2026.
Apps with dating or relationship features will receive a minimum age rating of 18+.
Shared location ratings may depend on local laws, including Brazil’s A16 requirement.
- Who
- Apple is requiring app developers to make the disclosures.
- What
- Developers must declare whether their apps offer shared location or dating and relationship features. These disclosures will inform age ratings.
- When
- The new descriptors appear November 16, 2026. Disclosures are due by January 12, 2027.
- Where
- Through App Store Connect, Apple’s app-management platform.
- Why
- To assign age ratings appropriately and comply with increasing global regulations.
This story does not have two clearly opposing sides.
Apple began requiring developers to self-report age-rating details.
New content descriptors for shared location and dating and relationship features are to appear in App Store Connect.
Deadline for developers to submit the disclosures.
- Disclosure platform
- App Store Connect
- Descriptors available
- November 16, 2026
- Submission deadline
- January 12, 2027
- Dating and relationship rating
- Minimum 18+
- Brazil shared location rating
- A16