Apple requires 18+ for dating apps and AI companions with romantic or sexual content

Apple has announced to developers a change to App Store policies aimed at making it harder for minors to use dating or AI companion apps that offer "sexual or romantic content." The announcement was made on Monday, according to TechCrunch, which reported the news on November 3, 2026.

The new rule requires any app with dating or romantic-relationship features to carry an 18+ age rating. Starting November 16, developers will have to include new content descriptors so that their app's age rating truly reflects its features. Although most major dating services already restrict their platforms to adults, the more significant impact could lie elsewhere.

That is AI companion apps, or apps that include such a feature among many others. Services like Character.AI and Replika let users create AI companions: friends, partners, boyfriends and girlfriends or other fantasy characters. Many of them often target a young audience. The article also recalls that xAI last year launched animated 3D AI companions in which users could unlock NSFW capabilities. According to the piece, by the middle of the previous year the top AI companion apps on the App Store and Google Play had racked up 220 million downloads worldwide.

The change adds to other Apple measures to protect minors, such as the global rollout of its age-verification technology, more parental controls and more child-safety features.

In addition to "dating and relationships," apps will have to disclose whether they share a user's real-time location with another person or a group as part of their functionality. The article notes that this raises obvious privacy concerns, especially if the user is unaware their location is being shared.

There is one local exception. In Brazil, family location apps can request an official rating from the Ministry of Justice and Public Security (MJSP) instead of being listed with the A16 rating required by the country's law.

In short, the measure extends to AI companion apps an age barrier that already existed for dating apps. It remains to be seen how Apple and developers will enforce it, and how many apps will be forced to change their rating or features. The article offers no further details on enforcement.