iOS 26 to Improve Child Account Setup Process, Will Allow Parents to Share Child's Age Range With Apps

Apple has announced that it will introduce improved parental controls with its iOS 26 update later this year. A couple of days after its Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDDC 2025) kicked off, Apple announced that it will improve the process of setting up Child Accounts. The company is also introducing more granular age ratings on the App Store, and parents will be able to share their child's age range with an app so that they only see age-appropriate content. Communication Limits will allow parents to approve contacts for children, a feature that will also be supported on third party apps.

iOS 26 to Enable Age Appropriate Protections for Teens by Default

The company explains in a newsroom post that it has streamlined the process of setting up a Child Account for children under 13. A child's account can be connected to a parent's Family group, which will automatically turn it onto a Child Account. This will allow parents to set up appropriate limits on content or screen time for their child's account, according to the company.

In order to protect younger users' privacy, parents will be able to provide apps with their child's age range (for example, 12 or Younger). Apps can use the new Declared Range API, which allows apps to automatically surface content that is appropriate for younger audiences. Apple says that the feature doesn't share a child's birthday and exact age range with third party applications.

The company's post also emphasises that these age ranges will allow younger users to access age-appropriate content, without sharing sensitive information with the App Store. Companies like Apple and Google have been facing pressure to verify the ages of younger users on their respective app stores in the US. Both companies have pushed back, stating that collecting younger users' information could have privacy concerns.

Apple is also expanding Communication Limits, enabling parents to approve requests from their children when they want to communicate with new phone numbers using the Messages, Phone, FaceTime, and iCloud apps. These requests will also be supported in third-party apps, if developers adopt the PermissionKit framework, according to the iPhone maker.

While Child Accounts are designed to protect users under 13, Apple says that it will also enforce similar "age-appropriate protections" for users under 17, even if they set up a regular Apple account. The company is also adding three new age ratings (18+, 16+, and 13+) on the App Store that allow apps to provide more precise age ratings for their apps. The company says these new ratings will arrive by the end of 2025.