Apple requires 18+ age rating for App Store apps with dating or romantic features, including AI companions, from November 16

Apple has told developers that any App Store app with dating or romantic relationship features must carry an 18+ age rating. From 16 November, developers must use new content descriptors so ratings reflect these features, including AI companions that engage in sexual or romantic content. They must also state whether the app shares users' real-world locations with others. Brazil has a carve-out: family location-sharing apps can seek an official government rating instead of the A16 rating. The announcement itself is not linked in the coverage, so the exact wording and enforcement details are unverified.

Developers of dating apps and AI companion apps face a firm deadline of 16 November to update their metadata and ratings. Companion apps with younger audiences, such as Character.AI and Replika, could lose some of that audience if they are now gated at 18+, although how much is unknown. It is a distribution rule set by one platform owner, so it applies without any new legislation. The location-sharing disclosure adds a compliance step for any app with social or family tracking features. The practical impact depends on how strictly Apple checks ratings and how apps are classified.

The claim that the rule "could notably affect" Character.AI and Replika is the reporter's guess, not a demonstrated outcome. Neither company has been quoted on its plans, and no user or revenue figures are given. The framing as part of a wider child-safety push is Apple's positioning, and it does not show the rule will work. Many of these apps may already say they are 17+ or 18+, so the real change could be smaller than it sounds. The article does not say how Apple will define "romantic features" for AI companions.

1. 01Apple's own developer documentation and App Store Review Guidelines: check the exact definitions of romantic and dating features and the new descriptor wording before and after 16 November.
2. 02Changes to the App Store age ratings and listings of Character.AI, Replika and similar companion apps after 16 November, and any statements from those companies about lost users or changed features.
3. 03Evidence of enforcement in the following weeks: rejected or removed apps, rating disputes reported by developers, and whether Google Play or regulators (including Brazil's MJSP) follow with similar rules.