You might think twice before handing or giving your child your iPhone or iPad. A new report from two child advocacy groups revealed alarming findings about the App Store’s age ratings for apps, exposing “inappropriate and risky” content labeled as suitable for children as young as four years old.
The study highlights significant shortcomings in Apple’s app review process, raising concerns about the safety of young users.
App Store Hosts Apps with Inappropriately Low Age Ratings
In a 24-hour investigation conducted by Heat Initiative and ParentsTogether Action, researchers reviewed approximately 800 apps on the App Store. The study uncovered more than 200 apps containing dangerous content and features, despite being labeled as age-appropriate by Apple. These apps, downloaded over 500 million times collectively, were rated for users as young as 4+, 9+, and 12+ years old.
Categories reviewed included chat apps, gaming apps, beauty apps, internet browsers, and diet or weight-loss apps, all of which were found to pose safety risks to children.
Among the apps flagged were AI Girlfriend, a virtual girlfriend simulator, and Random Chat, which allows users to message strangers online. Both apps were deemed inappropriate for young users but were still rated suitable for children.
The study also identified nine stranger-chat apps and 24 sexual games, some of which encouraged users to submit personal images. Additionally, researchers found 28 gaming apps featuring violence or sexual content, 40 browser apps providing access to restricted or banned websites, and 75 beauty and diet apps available for download by children as young as four years old.
Within that 24 hours, approximately 800 total apps were reviewed. At the time of reporting, more than 200 of those were rated as appropriate for kids as young as 4, 9, or 12, despite concerning content or features. In some categories, like stranger chat apps and games, most apps were rated 17+, and fewer were rated as appropriate for children. In other categories like weight loss apps and unfiltered internet access apps, nearly all apps reviewed were approved for kids 4+. This indicates Apple’s rating system is missing not only individual apps within risky, adult-oriented categories, but entire categories of potential harm.
Apple Urged to Strengthen Child Safety Measures
These findings underscore Apple’s age-rating system’s inadequacies and its failure to effectively protect young users.
The report criticized Apple for disregarding child safety and called for the company to enhance its app review process. Advocacy groups urged Apple to implement stricter guidelines and more thorough evaluations to prevent unsafe content from being labeled as appropriate for children. The findings highlight the need for greater accountability and improved safety measures on the App Store.
While the report primarily focused on Apple, it also emphasizes the critical role that parents and guardians play in safeguarding their children from inappropriate content. Parents can take several steps to protect their kids, such as limiting device access, enabling parental controls on the App Store, and utilizing new features like the iOS 18 tools for locking and hiding apps on shared devices.
What other strategies can parents use to protect their children in this digital age? Share your suggestions in the comments—we’d love to hear your thoughts and continue the conversation.
