App Store age ratings: the 5 tiers and how to answer Apple's questions (2026)

By Sigsten Gustavii· 20 September 2026· Updated 27 October 2026· 8 min read

Every app on the App Store shows an age rating, and parental controls use it to decide what a child's iPhone can download. Since 2025 the rating is calculated from a longer questionnaire, and the scale changed. Apple added 13+, 16+ and 18+ to the existing 4+ and 9+, asked every developer to answer the new questions by 31 January 2026, and tied future update submissions to having them answered.

This guide covers the five tiers, what pushes an app into each, how the questionnaire works step by step, and how to answer it honestly, including for apps with AI chat, which Apple now asks you to think about explicitly.

The five App Store age ratings

There is a sixth outcome to avoid: Unrated, for graphic sexual content or prolonged graphic violence. Apple says an Unrated app cannot be published on the App Store.

Two details from Apple's reference are worth knowing. The rating is set once for the whole app and applies on every platform it runs on. And iPhones still on versions before iOS 26 show Apple's earlier scale, which used 12+ and 17+.

What raises an age rating

Most people expect only violence or adult content to matter. Under the current scale, features matter just as much:

Frequency matters for content. Apple asks how often each kind appears, and "infrequent" cartoon violence lands an app at 9+ where "frequent" cartoon violence lands it at 13+. Social media also has a narrow exception: an app can answer that social features are disabled for people under 13, which requires calling Apple's Declared Age Range API to check a person's age range before turning those features on.

How to answer the age rating questionnaire, step by step

You need the Account Holder, Admin, App Manager or Marketing role in App Store Connect.

1. In Apps, open your app, and in the sidebar under General click App Information.
2. Below Age Ratings, click Set Up Age Ratings (or Edit at the top of the page if you have answered before).
3. In-app controls and capabilities: tick any your app includes, such as parental controls, age assurance, unrestricted web access, user-generated content, messaging and chat, social media or advertising. Click Next.
4. Content: work through each section of the progress bar, giving how often each kind of content appears: profanity, horror, alcohol and drugs, medical information, health topics, sexual themes, violence, weapons, gambling, contests and loot boxes.
5. Age Categories and Override: choose Not Applicable unless you want a higher rating or the Kids category.
6. Click Save, and check the calculated global and regional ratings on the App Information page.

Answer for the app as people really use it, not for the screens you designed. Apple's announcement says to consider how all features, explicitly including AI assistants and chatbots, affect how often sensitive content can appear. An app that lets people chat with an AI model can produce text you did not write, and the answers should reflect that.

Choosing a higher rating, and Made for Kids

Apple calculates the rating; it does not let you go lower. Under Override to Higher Age Rating you can raise it if your app is meant for a specific age group, if your terms set a minimum age, or if you simply think it should be rated higher. If your end-user licence sets a minimum age above Apple's rating, Apple says you must override to match it. The App Store then shows your chosen rating, while the content descriptions still reflect your answers.

In the same step, apps rated 4+ or 9+ can choose Made for Kids with an age band of 5 and under, 6 to 8 or 9 to 11, which places them in the Kids category. That choice cannot be changed after Apple approves the app, and the Kids rules in guidelines 1.3 and 5.1.4 apply to every update after it. Our guide to App Store categories covers those rules.

There is also an optional Age Suitability URL, for apps with a page of their own that explains who they are suited for.

Regional age ratings

Apple assigns ratings per country or region, and some places have their own scale. Australia, Brazil, France, Korea and Vietnam each show region-specific values for some apps. Korea, for example, applies its own rules to games and entertainment apps and can ask for a Rating Classification Number, and Brazil requires a licence for apps with fixed-odds betting. If a regulator asks for a different rating, App Review contacts you.

Why honest answers matter

Guideline 2.3.6 asks you to answer the questions honestly so the app works properly with parental controls. Apple warns that a mis-rated app can surprise the people who download it or trigger questions from government regulators. The features below are the ones most easily left out of the answers.

How Borel answers the age rating with you

When you publish with Borel, the age rating is part of the review card in Publish, as plain questions instead of Apple's long form. Publishing is part of Borel Pro, from $20 a month.

• Seven plain questions: whether people can message or chat with each other; whether people can post things others see, or the app shows AI-made replies or pictures; whether it shows content that belongs to someone else; whether it is about health, fitness or wellbeing; whether it can open any website; whether it shows ads; and whether it has violence, sexual content, drugs or alcohol, horror, crude jokes, gambling or medical advice.
• Suggested answers with a reason. Borel reads your app's code and suggests each answer, with the reason beside it, such as "The app talks about health, fitness or wellbeing." An app with AI replies is suggested as showing content you did not write yourself.
• Written into Apple's questionnaire. Borel turns your answers into Apple's age rating fields and saves them at Apple, so you do not fill in the form in App Store Connect. Social media is answered yes only when people both chat and post, which is how Apple defines it.
• You grade the strong stuff. If you say the app has mature content, Borel leaves the how-often grades to you and points you to the page in App Store Connect, because only you can judge how strong it is.
• Your statement. You tick "These answers are true for my app" before submitting, because Apple treats them as yours.
• Checked before review. If any age rating question is still unanswered at Apple, Borel says so before the app goes to review, instead of letting Apple turn it back.

The same card covers the reviewer's demo account and the notes for App Review. The Ready for Apple page explains the check Borel runs before you submit, and the Publishing page shows every step.

Before I publish, list every feature in this app that affects the App Store age rating: chat, AI replies, posts, web pages, health topics, ads and anything mature. For each one, tell me which screen it is on.

The bottom line

App Store age ratings are 4+, 9+, 13+, 16+ and 18+. Apple calculates yours from a questionnaire in App Information, and features like health topics, social media, web access and gambling raise it as surely as violence does. Answer for the app as it really behaves, AI chat included, raise the rating yourself if your terms need it, and keep Made for Kids for apps built for children. With Borel, the questions come in plain words with suggested answers, and Borel files them at Apple for you.

I would rather an app be rated a step higher than surprise a parent. Answer for the app as it really behaves, AI replies included, and the rating takes care of itself.

– Sigsten

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