Apple Slaps 18+ Rating on Dating Apps and AI Companions

Apple will require every app offering dating or romantic relationship features to carry an 18+ rating starting November 16, a change that lands hardest on AI companion apps often used by teenagers.

The company shared the new rules with developers in an announcement on Monday. Beyond dating, the policy covers any app with AI companions that engage in what Apple calls "sexual or romantic content." Developers must also add new content descriptors so that an app's age rating reflects its actual features, Apple said.

The move follows other child-safety measures from the company, including a global rollout of its age assurance technology, expanded parental controls and additional child safety features.

Who does the 18+ rule actually catch?

Most major dating services already restrict their platforms to adults, so the dating side of the policy formalizes existing practice. The AI companion market is where the rule bites.

Character.AI, Replika and similar apps let users build AI companions — friends, lovers, boyfriends, girlfriends and other fantasy characters — and they're often targeted at younger people. xAI joined the market last year with 3D animated AI companions that allowed users to unlock NSFW capabilities.

The scale is substantial. As of last summer, top AI companion apps across the Apple App Store and Google Play had been downloaded 220 million times globally, according to figures cited in Apple's announcement context.

Under the new policy, any of these apps that offer romantic or sexual content — whether as their core product or as one feature among many — must carry the 18+ rating or strip the functionality.

What else changes on November 16?

Apple is adding a second disclosure requirement alongside the dating rules. Apps will need to indicate whether they share a user's real-world location with another person or group as part of their functionality.

The concern is straightforward: location sharing raises obvious privacy risks, especially when a user isn't aware their location is being passed along.

There's one carve-out, and it's geographic. Apple noted that in Brazil, apps providing location-sharing features aimed at families can request an official rating from the government's Ministry of Justice and Public Security (MJSP, or Ministério da Justiça e Segurança Pública) instead of listing the features with the A16 rating that local law otherwise requires.

Why it matters

For developers, the deadline is tight. Any app in the dating, companion or location-sharing categories must update its ratings and descriptors by November 16 or risk App Store enforcement.

For the AI companion sector, the policy marks a shift from voluntary self-regulation to a hard platform mandate. Apps like Character.AI and Replika have faced scrutiny over younger users, and Apple's rule now gives that concern the force of store policy — an 18+ gate on romantic AI content across one of the two dominant app marketplaces.