2026 App Store Age Rating Changes: Australia Removes 15+ Rating, Vietnam Introduces New System

Overview of Apple App Store Age Rating Changes

Apple has announced that starting June 18, 2026, the App Store will implement major adjustments to app age rating systems in both the Australian and Vietnamese markets. These changes will directly impact developers' app rating strategies and reflect the global trend of increasingly strict digital content regulation.

The content rating system for apps traces its origins to the gaming industry's self-regulatory rating frameworks, such as the ESRB (Entertainment Software Rating Board, established in 1994) in the United States and PEGI (Pan European Game Information, established in 2003) in Europe. As the mobile app ecosystem experienced explosive growth, the Apple App Store and Google Play Store gradually established their own platform-specific content rating mechanisms in the 2010s. However, in recent years, governments worldwide have broadly concluded that platform self-regulation is insufficient and have begun using legislative measures to mandate localized rating standards. Beyond Australia and Vietnam, regulations such as the EU's Digital Services Act (DSA), the UK's Online Safety Act, and South Korea's Game Industry Promotion Act all impose differentiated mandatory requirements on app content ratings and minor protection. This trend means that global developers will face an increasingly fragmented compliance landscape in the future, making a single unified global rating strategy unsustainable.

Australian Market: Removing 15+ Rating, Upgrading to 16+

Specific Changes

The Australian market will no longer retain the 15+ age rating. Apps currently rated 15+ that contain the following content descriptors will be automatically adjusted to 16+:

• Unrestricted web access
• Frequent medical or treatment information
• Loot boxes

The new 16+ rating will be displayed directly on the app's Australian product page. Apple requires developers to ensure that the age rating questionnaire completed in App Store Connect accurately reflects the app's actual content.

Regulatory Background on Loot Box Mechanisms: Loot boxes are a widely used random reward system in games and apps where users pay real or virtual currency to receive random content such as game items, skins, or characters. Due to their randomness and paid characteristics being highly similar to gambling behavior, they have become a key focus of regulatory bodies worldwide in recent years. Belgium was the first to classify specific forms of loot box mechanisms as gambling and ban them in 2018, while the Netherlands, the UK, and other countries have subsequently launched investigations or legislative discussions. Multiple studies by Australian gambling research institutions have shown that loot box mechanisms have a significant impact on adolescents' gambling awareness and spending behavior, which is one of the core drivers behind Australia's decision to raise the age rating for apps containing loot box mechanisms from 15+ to 16+.

Policy Background Analysis

Australia has been highly active in digital content regulation in recent years, particularly regarding the protection of minors. While the upgrade from 15+ to 16+ may seem like merely a numerical change, it actually reflects the Australian government's stricter stance on adolescents' access to specific digital content—especially loot box mechanisms and unrestricted web access.

A notable detail: Australia had previously passed legislation banning minors under 16 from using social media, and this App Store rating adjustment aligns with that policy direction. In November 2024, Australia passed the Online Safety Amendment (Social Media Minimum Age) Act, becoming the first country in the world to explicitly prohibit minors under 16 from using social media platforms through legislation. The act requires mainstream platforms including TikTok, Instagram, Facebook, and X (formerly Twitter) to take reasonable measures to verify user age, with non-compliant platforms facing fines of up to AUD 49.5 million. Behind this legislation is the Australian government's strong emphasis on youth mental health, cyberbullying, and exposure to harmful content. The App Store's adjustment from 15+ to 16+ is a complementary response within this broader policy context, demonstrating proactive alignment between the platform and government regulatory direction.

Vietnamese Market: Introducing a Region-Specific Age Rating System

New Rating System and Compliance Requirements

To comply with Article 38 of Vietnam's Decree 147, all apps listed on the Vietnamese App Store will need to obtain a region-specific age rating. Apple will automatically assign one of the following four ratings to apps based on the age rating questionnaire completed by developers in App Store Connect:

Rating	Applicable Scope
00+	All ages
12+	Ages 12 and above
16+	Ages 16 and above
18+	Adults only

This rating will be displayed on the app's Vietnamese product page. Apple states that more details—including specific rating criteria and definitions—will be published on App Store Connect and its help documentation on June 18, 2026.

Policy Impact on Developers

Vietnam's Decree 147/2024/ND-CP (Decree 147) was officially promulgated at the end of 2024 and represents a significant regulatory upgrade in Vietnam's internet content management domain, taking effect in January 2025. The decree provides systematic provisions on online information services, cross-border platform operations, content classification, and user protection, with Article 38 specifically imposing mandatory requirements on age rating management for applications. The decree requires app platforms operating in the Vietnamese market to establish content rating systems compliant with local standards and implement technical blocking measures to prevent minors from accessing age-inappropriate content. The background for this decree is the Vietnamese government's ongoing efforts in recent years to strengthen territorial management of foreign internet platforms, requiring international technology companies including Apple and Google to assume greater local compliance responsibilities. The introduction of region-specific ratings means that an app's age rating in the Vietnamese market may differ from its rating in other markets, imposing additional compliance requirements on developers targeting the Vietnamese market.

Developer Response Recommendations and Compliance Guide

App Store Connect Age Rating Questionnaire Mechanism

The App Store Connect age rating questionnaire is Apple's core tool for assessing app content age-appropriateness. When submitting an app, developers must answer a series of standardized questions about app content, covering multiple dimensions including violence level, sexual content, gambling mechanisms, drug use, horror content, and unrestricted web access. Each dimension is typically classified as "None," "Occasional/Mild," or "Frequent/Intense."