Apple overhauled App Store age ratings in 2025, and the change is not just cosmetic: there are new age bands, a longer content questionnaire, and a hard deadline that has now passed. If you have not completed the new age-rating questionnaire, your app submissions and updates are blocked until you do. The system replaced the old 12+ and 17+ ratings with more granular 13+, 16+, and 18+ bands and asks more detailed questions about sensitive content. Here is what changed, the current bands, and how to set your rating correctly.
Short answer
In 2025 Apple expanded the App Store age-rating system, adding 13+, 16+, and 18+ ratings and removing the old 12+ and 17+, while keeping 4+ and 9+. Per Apple's announcement, all apps had to complete a new, more detailed age-rating questionnaire by January 31, 2026, and that deadline has passed, so apps that have not completed it are blocked from new submissions and updates until they do. Apple auto-updated existing apps to align with the new system, but you are still responsible for answering the new questions accurately so your app carries the right rating. Complete the questionnaire if you have not, and answer it honestly based on your app's actual content.
What you should know
- New age bands: 13+, 16+, and 18+ were added; 12+ and 17+ were removed.
- 4+ and 9+ remain: the lower bands are unchanged.
- A new questionnaire: more detailed questions about sensitive content.
- The deadline has passed: it was January 31, 2026.
- Incomplete means blocked: submissions and updates are held until you complete it.
What changed in the 2025 age-rating overhaul?
Apple made ratings more granular and the questionnaire more detailed. The old system topped out with 12+ and 17+ bands; the 2025 overhaul replaced those with 13+, 16+, and 18+, giving a finer breakdown of maturity, while the 4+ and 9+ bands stayed. Alongside the new bands, Apple introduced an expanded age-rating questionnaire that asks more specific questions about sensitive content in your app, so the resulting rating better reflects what an app actually contains. Apple automatically updated existing apps to map onto the new system, but it requires developers to answer the new questionnaire, and it set January 31, 2026 as the deadline. Because that date has passed, an app that has not completed the new questionnaire cannot submit updates or new versions until it does.
What are the age bands now?
Five bands, from 4+ to 18+. The table lists them.
| Band | Meaning |
|---|---|
| 4+ | Suitable for all ages |
| 9+ | Mild content not suitable for the youngest users |
| 13+ | Content suitable for ages 13 and up |
| 16+ | More mature content, ages 16 and up |
| 18+ | Adult content, ages 18 and up |
The change to remember is that 12+ and 17+ are gone, replaced by 13+, 16+, and 18+, which align more closely with common age thresholds. Ratings are assigned per country or region and can vary based on regional standards, so the same app may carry different ratings in different storefronts. Your job is to answer the questionnaire accurately so the system assigns the band that matches your content.
How do you set your age rating correctly?
Complete the new questionnaire honestly, based on what your app actually contains. Go to your app's age-rating section in App Store Connect and answer the expanded questions about the kinds and frequency of sensitive content your app includes, since the answers drive the assigned rating. Answer based on the app's real content, not an optimistic reading, because an inaccurate rating is a metadata problem that can lead to enforcement, and apps with user-generated or AI-generated content should account for what users or the model can surface, not just the default experience. If you have not completed the new questionnaire since the deadline passed, do it now, since it is what unblocks your ability to submit updates. Then revisit it whenever your content changes, so the rating stays accurate over time.
What to watch out for
The first trap is not realizing the questionnaire is now mandatory, so an app that skipped it is blocked from updates until it is completed. The second is answering optimistically, when an inaccurate rating is a metadata accuracy issue, especially for apps whose content can shift, like user-generated or AI-generated content. The third is assuming Apple's automatic mapping is final, when you still must answer the new questions. Age rating is about content rather than your app's code security, so it sits apart from a pre-submission scan such as PTKD.com (https://ptkd.com), which reads the binary against OWASP MASVS; the rating is set in App Store Connect, though for apps with generated content the content safeguards remain your responsibility.
What to take away
- Apple's 2025 overhaul added 13+, 16+, and 18+ age bands and removed 12+ and 17+, while keeping 4+ and 9+.
- A new, more detailed age-rating questionnaire became mandatory, with a January 31, 2026 deadline that has now passed.
- Apps that have not completed the new questionnaire are blocked from new submissions and updates until they do.
- Complete the questionnaire honestly based on your app's actual content, revisit it as content changes, and remember it is separate from the code-security side a scan such as PTKD.com checks.
