Apple will start age verification in the App Store for users in Texas on Thursday, June 4.
The change comes after a federal appeals court allowed Texas’ App Store Accountability Act to take effect while a lawsuit against the law continues.
People in Texas who create a new Apple account will have to prove they are over 18 by using a credit card or a government ID. Apple may also verify a user’s age automatically by checking how old the account is and whether a credit card is already linked to it.
Users under 18 will need to be part of a Family Sharing group. A parent or guardian will have to give approval for app downloads and in-app purchases. App developers will also need to make sure their apps provide age-appropriate experiences for younger users. They can use Apple’s Declared Age Range API to check a user’s age range.
Apple has pushed back against age verification at the app store level, but the company is preparing to follow similar rules in several places, including Utah, Louisiana, Brazil, Australia, Singapore, and the UK. Google is also required to make similar changes to the Play Store and is rolling out age-checking tools for developers.
A judge blocked the Texas law, also known as SB 2420, last December. However, an appeals court has now reversed that decision for now while the legal case continues. Even if the Texas law is later struck down, a federal version with the same name is still moving through Congress and could bring app store age verification rules across the United States.
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Apple Brings App Store Age Verification To Texas Users
