Apple Adds Two New App Store Age Rating Descriptors, Live Nov. 16
Apple notified developers on November 2, 2026 that App Store Connect is getting two new age rating content descriptors — Shared Location and Dating and Relationships — effective November 16, 2026. Developers have until January 12, 2027 to complete the declarations, and the change is the latest step in an age-rating overhaul Apple has been rolling out in phases since mid-2025, most recently adding social-media questions to the same questionnaire in July 2026.
For teams that ship or maintain an iOS app, this isn't a one-click checkbox. Shared Location and Dating and Relationships both carry rating consequences — Dating and Relationships triggers a minimum 18+ rating, and Brazil applies its own A16/A18 thresholds for the two categories — which means the questionnaire answers have to match what the app's code actually does, not just what the original listing said two years ago. Teams without in-house capacity to audit every flow against a shifting rating questionnaire often bring in an iOS development team to handle the compliance pass alongside the next scheduled release, rather than scrambling after a rejection notice.
What's changing on November 16
Starting that date, every app's age rating questionnaire in App Store Connect gains two new content descriptors. Submitting an update, or editing the existing age rating, will require answering both:
- Shared Location — whether the app lets a user share their real-world location with another person or group.
- Dating and Relationships — whether the app includes features that enable dating or relationship connections between real people, or a virtual companion that engages a user in sexual or romantic content.
Apple's guidance is explicit that these aren't optional fields tucked away for a narrow category of apps. Any app with a location-sharing feature — delivery tracking, family-location tools, social check-ins, even some fitness and gaming apps with "share my run" functionality — needs to answer the Shared Location question accurately. Dating and Relationships isn't limited to dating apps either; it also covers AI companion and chat apps that can engage in romantic or sexual roleplay, a category that's grown fast since 2025.
Rating consequences by category
| Descriptor | Default rating impact | Regional variation |
|---|---|---|
| Shared Location | Often no change to the minimum rating in most regions | Brazil requires an A16 rating when this descriptor applies |
| Dating and Relationships | Minimum 18+ rating | Brazil requires an A18 rating when this descriptor applies |
That Brazil carve-out matters beyond Brazil itself: it's a preview of how Apple is layering regional rating rules on top of a single global questionnaire, a pattern that's shown up repeatedly in the age-rating changes Apple has shipped since the original overhaul announcement in July 2025, and again when Apple adjusted ratings specifically for Australia and Vietnam earlier this year. Teams building for one storefront and assuming the rating travels unchanged everywhere are the ones most likely to get caught off guard.
Timeline: what's due and when
| Date | Milestone |
|---|---|
| Nov 2, 2026 | Apple notifies developers via App Store Connect news |
| Nov 16, 2026 | New content descriptors appear live in the age rating questionnaire |
| Jan 12, 2027 | Deadline to complete declarations for both new descriptors |
Apps that haven't updated their questionnaire by the deadline risk the same kind of review friction Apple has applied to prior rating-compliance windows: holds on new submissions, forced re-review, or — in past rounds of this rollout — an inaccurate rating left in place until a developer resolves it, which store-search and discovery algorithms treat as a trust signal.
This is part of a longer pattern, not a one-off
Apple's age-rating system has been in near-continuous revision for over a year. A 2025 notice to developers kicked off the broader overhaul, Apple added social-media-specific questions to the questionnaire in July 2026, adjusted ratings region by region through the back half of 2026, and shifted some content categories — like profanity and crude humor in Korea — between rating tiers as recently as October. The Shared Location and Dating and Relationships descriptors are the next increment in that same cadence, and developers who treat each round as an isolated event tend to fall behind the ones who've built a recurring compliance check into their release process.
A practical checklist before November 16
| Task | Why it matters |
|---|---|
| List every feature that shares a user's real-world location with another person | This is the exact scope of the Shared Location question — broader than most teams assume |
| Check AI companion, chat, or roleplay features for romantic/sexual content paths | Dating and Relationships applies even outside dedicated dating apps |
| Confirm whether Brazil is a target storefront | Brazil's A16/A18 thresholds apply independently of the global rating |
| Update the questionnaire before, not after, the next scheduled submission | Bundling it with a planned release avoids an extra review cycle |
| Document the answer rationale internally | Makes the next rating-questionnaire change (and there will be one) faster to resolve |
If a release is already in flight
Teams with a submission queued for mid-to-late November should expect the new questions to appear in App Store Connect before that build clears review, since the descriptors go live on the 16th regardless of a given app's own release schedule. It's worth re-checking location-sharing and companion-chat flows against the new wording even for apps that haven't touched those features recently — a feature shipped eighteen months ago can still trigger a descriptor nobody re-reads the questionnaire to catch. That kind of audit is also a natural moment to revisit the rest of a store listing; our App Store Optimization guide covers what else is worth checking during the same release window, and our mobile app development process breakdown shows where a compliance pass like this one fits against the rest of a release checklist.
Frequently asked questions
What are the two new App Store age rating content descriptors?
Shared Location (sharing a user's real-world location with another person or group) and Dating and Relationships (features enabling dating or relationship connections between real people, or with a virtual companion engaging in romantic or sexual content).
When do the new descriptors go live?
They appear in the App Store Connect age rating questionnaire starting November 16, 2026. Apple notified developers of the change on November 2, 2026.
When is the deadline to declare them?
January 12, 2027. Developers must answer both questions by that date for existing apps, in addition to any new submission.
Does Dating and Relationships always mean an 18+ rating?
Yes, it carries a minimum 18+ rating globally. Shared Location doesn't automatically change the minimum rating in most regions, though Brazil applies its own A16 and A18 thresholds to the two descriptors respectively.
Which apps need to pay attention to Shared Location besides dating or social apps?
Any app with a feature that shares a user's real-world location with another person — delivery tracking, family-location tools, social check-ins, and some fitness or gaming apps with location-sharing features all fall in scope.
