Age rating and IARC classification match actual content

An inaccurate age rating misdirects parental controls and content filtering on both platforms. Apple and Google use age ratings to enforce parental control features: a gambling mechanic in a 4+ app bypasses every parental restriction a parent has set. COPPA §312.2 and CCPA §1798.120(c) extend protections to users under 13 — an under-rated app with data collection features triggers child-privacy obligations the developer may not have implemented. Apple rejects apps with gambling or casino mechanics rated below 17+; Google will restrict or remove apps where the rating does not match detected content.

Use Apple's rating questionnaire in App Store Connect to obtain an accurate rating — do not estimate. The questionnaire maps specific content types to specific rating levels and removes the guesswork.

For gambling or casino content, the minimum rating is 17+ on iOS and Teen (13+) with a gambling content disclosure on Android. For apps in the Kids category, the content rating must be 4+ or 9+. Search your codebase for slots, spin, wager, casino, poker in component names or game logic files before submission — any match in a 4+ app is a rejection waiting to happen.

• ID: age-rating-accuracy

• Severity: low

• What to look for: Count all relevant instances and enumerate each. Check declared age rating signals: app.json ios.appStoreMetadata.ageRating or equivalent; fastlane/metadata/ios/ rating-related files; fastlane/metadata/android/ IARC classification files; any store-listing/ directory. Compare to actual content: look for violence (damage, kill, weapon, blood, gore in UI components or game logic); gambling (slots, poker, casino, betAmount, wager, spin-to-win, gacha); alcohol/drug references (beer, wine, cannabis, drug in non-health contexts); sexual content indicators (nude, explicit, adult, 18+ in component names); horror themes; strong language (search for profanity in string literals rendered to users). Flag mismatches where the rating appears too low for the detected content, or where a Kids category app (4+/ages-5-and-under) has content that would violate Kids category rules. Also look for simulated gambling features in apps rated for younger audiences — this is a common rejection pattern.

• Pass criteria: Declared age rating is consistent with detected content types in the source. At least 1 implementation must be verified. No obvious under-rating or Kids category content violations.

• Fail criteria: Not applicable — this is a low-severity informational check. Result is pass, fail (with detail for clear mismatches), or skip.

• Skip (N/A) when: No age rating metadata files found and no content markers detected.

• Detail on fail: "App declared as 4+ in app.json but source contains casino/gambling mechanics (spin logic in src/games/slots.ts) — gambling content requires 17+ rating" or "Kids category app detected but Ad SDK without child-directed treatment flag initialized — violates Kids category policy"

• Remediation: Under-rated apps are rejected; over-rated apps miss their target audience.

  1. Use Apple's rating questionnaire in App Store Connect to get the accurate rating based on your content — don't guess
  2. For gambling/casino content, the minimum rating is 17+ on iOS and Teen (13+) with gambling content disclosure on Android
  3. For Kids category apps, the content rating must be 4+ or 9+

  Review the configuration in src/ or app/ directory for implementation patterns.