Age Verification and App-Store Consent Laws: What They Mean for Your Family

Three states now have laws requiring app stores to verify your child's age and get your approval for every single download — here's what Texas, Utah, and Louisiana actually require, what Apple and Google are doing, and what parents everywhere need to know.

The honest quick answer

Three states — Texas, Louisiana, and Utah — now have laws that require Apple and Google to verify every user's age and get a parent's explicit approval before a minor can download any app, make any in-app purchase, or approve a significant change to an app they already have. This is not a one-time account setting. It's per-download, every time.

In practice, only Texas is fully in force right now. Louisiana delayed its effective date to July 2027. Utah's law is active but enforcement teeth don't arrive until late 2026 at the earliest.

If you're in any other state: no legal requirement applies to you yet, but the same protections are available voluntarily through tools that already exist — and take about 10 minutes to set up.

This is not legal advice. Laws in this space are being actively challenged in court. What follows is an accurate description of where things stand as of July 20, 2026. The constitutional questions remain open.

Why this matters now — what actually changed in 2026

Until recently, app-store parental controls were entirely opt-in. Apple offered Family Sharing and Ask to Buy; Google offered Family Link. Both are solid tools. But parents had to know they existed, actively choose to set them up, and add every child account manually. Most didn't.

Three things shifted the picture in 2026:

Texas's App Store Accountability Act (SB 2420) took effect June 4, 2026. A federal district court initially blocked it in December 2025. The Fifth Circuit reversed that block in late May 2026. When the Supreme Court declined to reinstate the block on July 6, 2026, enforcement began.
The US House passed a federal version of these requirements on June 29, 2026 (267–117). It hasn't cleared the Senate and faces real headwinds, but it marks the first time a version of this legislation made it out of either chamber.
Apple and Google both began rolling out the underlying technical infrastructure — age-verification flows, parental consent APIs, per-transaction approval systems — for affected states, with broader rollout likely as more states follow.

The picture is genuinely confusing because two separate legal tracks are running in parallel, and news coverage often blurs them together. This guide separates them.

Two different legal battles — don't mix them up

Before getting into what the laws actually require, it helps to know there are two distinct tracks:

Track 1 — App-store accountability laws

These require Apple and Google specifically to verify user age and get parental consent for downloads and purchases. Texas, Utah, and Louisiana all have versions. These are the laws described in this guide.

Status: Texas in force. Others pending or delayed.

Track 2 — Social-media age verification laws

These require social media platforms themselves (TikTok, Instagram, Snapchat, etc.) to verify ages before letting minors create accounts. This is a separate approach.

Louisiana tried this path. Its 2023 social-media age verification law required parental consent for anyone under 16 to create a social media account. In December 2025, US District Judge John W. deGravelles struck it down on First Amendment grounds: the law was vague, over-inclusive (burdened protected speech of adults and minors alike), and under-inclusive (teens could access the same content on unregulated websites). The permanent injunction was entered in February 2026. Louisiana's AG has appealed to the Fifth Circuit; no circuit ruling has been issued as of July 2026.

NetChoice had previously won similar permanent injunctions in Ohio and Arkansas using the same legal theory.

Also worth knowing: Texas HB 18 (the "SCOPE Act," effective September 2024) is a separate, older Texas law targeting social media platforms and digital services broadly — not app stores. It is a different law from SB 2420, the App Store Accountability Act.

What the app-store laws actually require

All three state laws share the same core framework.

Age classification

App stores must verify each user's age at account creation using "commercially reasonable methods" and classify users into four tiers:

Tier	Age range
Children	Under 13
Younger teenagers	13–15
Older teenagers	16–17
Adults	18 and over

Minor accounts must be linked to a verified parent or guardian account.

Per-download, per-purchase consent — not one-time

This is the part that surprises most parents: consent is per transaction, not a one-time setup. Specifically:

Every individual app download requires fresh parental approval
Every in-app purchase requires approval
Every "significant change" to a previously approved app (changes to data collection practices, age rating, or monetization) requires fresh approval
Bundled or blanket consent for multiple apps at once is explicitly prohibited

Texas's law states directly: "The owner of an app store violates this subchapter if the owner obtains a blanket consent to authorize multiple downloads or purchases."

This is essentially the Ask to Buy model Apple already offers — made mandatory for all minor accounts, with no opt-out.

Developer requirements

App developers must:

Implement the four-tier age rating system for their apps
Use the age-signal APIs provided by Apple and Google to receive and honor the parent's consent state
Notify the app store when making "significant changes" that require new parental consent
Support parental revocation — parents can withdraw previously given consent for any app

Penalties and cure periods

Texas and Louisiana both allow fines up to $10,000 per violation, enforced by the state Attorney General. Louisiana's law builds in a 45-day cure period before fines can be levied. Utah's law relies on a private right of action (individual lawsuits) rather than state AG enforcement.

Exemptions

Crisis hotlines and government/nonprofit emergency apps are exempt. A teen can still access those without parental approval.

State-by-state: where things actually stand today (July 2026)

Texas — in force since June 4, 2026

Texas SB 2420 is currently being enforced. Any new Apple Account or Google Play account created in Texas by someone under 18, on or after June 4, 2026, is subject to the mandatory per-download consent flow.

Important caveats:

The law applies to new accounts — accounts created before June 4 are not automatically subject to the new rules
The constitutionality of the law is still being litigated; the Fifth Circuit has an expedited hearing scheduled for early August 2026. The Supreme Court's July 6 order declined to block enforcement while litigation continues — it was not a ruling on whether the law is constitutional. The case remains alive.
27 state attorneys general filed a brief urging the Supreme Court to allow enforcement; the challengers (the Computer & Communications Industry Association and Students Engaged in Advancing Texas) continue to argue First Amendment violations

Louisiana — delayed to July 1, 2027

Louisiana's App Store Accountability Act (HB 570) was originally set to take effect July 1, 2026. But on May 15, 2026, Governor Jeff Landry signed HB 977, which formally delayed the effective date by one year to July 1, 2027. The stated reason: wait for constitutional clarity from the Texas litigation before enforcing a near-identical law.

This is entirely separate from Louisiana's social media age verification law, which was struck down in December 2025.

Utah — transitional period

Utah was the first state to pass an App Store Accountability Act (SB 142). The private right of action enabling individual lawsuits doesn't begin until December 31, 2026. Full enforcement of other provisions is delayed to May 6, 2027.

The law is partially active as of May 6, 2026. In practice, Apple and Google are likely implementing consistent approaches across all three states, so parents in Utah with new child accounts may see similar prompts. But the enforcement mechanisms that create real compliance pressure aren't yet in place.

On the horizon

California has enacted similar legislation with an effective date of January 2027. Other states are watching the Texas litigation outcome before moving.

What Apple is actually doing

Apple has been implementing Texas SB 2420 requirements through its developer channels since late 2025, with full rollout for new Texas accounts from June 4, 2026.

For new Apple Accounts created in Texas (from June 4, 2026):

Any Apple Account created by someone under 18 must be enrolled in a Family Sharing group — this enrollment is mandatory and cannot be removed, even by the parent
Ask to Buy is automatically enabled and cannot be turned off, even by the parent
Screen Time features are automatically activated for under-18 accounts
Every App Store download, in-app purchase, and significant app change requires a fresh parental approval notification

What you see as a parent: Your phone gets a notification each time your child wants to download an app or make a purchase. You tap to approve or decline. If you don't respond, the download doesn't happen. This is exactly how Ask to Buy already works for parents who've set it up voluntarily — the law makes it mandatory and non-bypassable.

Age verification method: Adults verifying their age to create a new account in Texas must provide either a credit card (not debit) or a government-issued ID (passport or driver's license). Apple says it won't store the ID unless the user opts to save it. Minors cannot create an Apple Account independently — the parent account is what gets verified.

Note on existing accounts: Apple's implementation applies to new account creation. Accounts created before June 4, 2026 in Texas are not automatically enrolled in the mandatory consent flow. Apple has expressed concern that the law requires collection of sensitive personally identifiable information just to download a free app.

Underlying technical infrastructure: Apple introduced four new developer APIs — the Declared Age Range API (lets apps receive a user's age tier, not an exact birthdate), the Significant Change API (triggers re-consent when an app makes significant updates), an age rating property in StoreKit, and App Store server notifications for when a parent revokes consent. These require iOS/iPadOS 26.2+ for full functionality. Apple plans to expand equivalent requirements to Utah and Louisiana as their laws take effect.

Primary source: Apple Developer News, June 3, 2026 and the Apple Age Assurance Q&A

What Google is actually doing

Google is implementing equivalent changes through its Play Age Signals API (currently in beta), with rollout to new Texas accounts beginning May 28, 2026.

For new Google Play accounts in Texas:

Age verification is required at account creation (methods include government ID, facial age estimation via selfie, credit or debit card, or third-party email verification)
Minor accounts must be supervised under Family Link, Google's parental supervision tool
Parents receive a notification for every download, purchase, or in-app purchase — and each notification must include the app's age rating, the reason for that rating, what data the app collects, and what safeguards the developer has implemented
Developers who make significant changes must notify Google via Play Console; Google then re-requests parental consent
Parents can revoke previously approved apps; Google notifies the developer

What you see as a parent: Approval requests flow through the Family Link app on your device — one per transaction. This is identical to how Family Link already works for parents who've set it up voluntarily; the law makes it mandatory for new minor accounts.

Data restrictions: Google's API terms explicitly limit how developers can use age signals: only for providing age-appropriate content and experiences in compliance with laws — not for advertising, marketing, profiling, or analytics.

Primary sources: Google Play Console Help — App Store Bills and Android Developers — Play Age Signals

If you're not in Texas (or Utah, or Louisiana)

No legal requirement currently applies to you. The US House passed a federal version of these requirements on June 29, 2026 (the KIDS Act, H.R. 7757, 267–117), but it has not cleared the Senate. The Senate's competing bill includes a "duty of care" provision — legally enforceable platform obligations to minimize algorithmic harm to minors — that the House version dropped. Senate sponsors described the House bill as effectively "dead on arrival" in the Senate over this disagreement. As of July 20, 2026, no federal app-store consent law exists.

A separate bipartisan bill, the TOTAL Screen Time Act (H.R. 9692), was introduced July 15, 2026. It would direct NIST to develop a voluntary technical standard so parents could set a single screen-time limit enforcing across all devices — addressing the "device-hopping" problem where a child who hits their limit on one device switches to another. Very early stage; no vote scheduled.

The good news: You can set up the exact same per-download approval system right now, voluntarily, in about 10 minutes.

On iPhone or iPad: Set up Family Sharing and enable Ask to Buy for your child's Apple Account. Every App Store download and in-app purchase will require your approval before it goes through. Our complete Apple Screen Time setup guide has the full walkthrough, including how to add a child account and enable Ask to Buy.

On Android: Set up Google Family Link and add your child's Google account. Every Play Store download and purchase will require your approval. Our Google Family Link guide covers the full setup.

The state laws in Texas make these features mandatory for new minor accounts there. Everywhere else, they're already available — you just have to activate them.

What these laws don't cover (the honest fence)

Per-download parental approval is a meaningful new checkpoint. It is not a comprehensive parental control system. A few things these app-store laws specifically do not address:

What happens inside the app. Approving an Instagram download does not configure Instagram's privacy settings. A parent approving the download of any social app still needs to set up that app's own supervision controls separately. The approval is a gate, not a configuration.

The web browser. A teen can access almost any app's full web version — Instagram, TikTok, YouTube, Discord — through Safari or Chrome, bypassing the App Store entirely. The parental consent requirement applies only to app downloads, not to the open web.

Sideloaded apps on Android. The Google Play requirement applies to Google Play. Apps installed via APK from other sources fall outside it.

Existing accounts. The requirements apply at new account creation. An account predating the law's effective date is not automatically brought into the mandatory consent flow.

Social media platforms directly. These laws regulate the stores that distribute apps, not the platforms themselves. What's in TikTok's For You feed or Instagram's suggested content isn't addressed.

Carrier and network filtering. Cellular data and home wifi aren't touched by these laws. A teen can use a carrier connection to access the web without going through the app store.

The other three layers: what you still need to do

The app-store consent law is Layer 1 — it gates what gets installed. The other layers remain yours to configure regardless of what state you're in or whether any law applies.

Layer 2 — Account controls inside each app. After a teen downloads an app (with your approval), configure the in-app settings. These vary significantly by platform:

Instagram Teen Accounts & Parental Supervision — Family Center supervision, contact limits, content filters
TikTok Family Pairing — screen time limits, restricted mode, direct messages
Snapchat Family Center — who they're friends with, what they're watching
YouTube: Kids vs. Supervised Accounts — which product is right for which age
Discord Parental Controls & Family Center — who can DM them, server visibility
ChatGPT Parental Controls — teen account restrictions and break reminders
Character.ai Parental Controls — what changed in late 2025

Layer 3 — OS-level controls. Screen Time and Family Link enforce time limits and content filters across all apps on the device, regardless of what's installed:

Layer 4 — Network-level filtering. A DNS filter on your home router catches content across every device on your wifi, including the web browser and any app, regardless of what's installed. This covers the "web bypass" gap the app-store laws don't touch:

The conversation to have

A hard rule — "you need my permission for every app" — lands differently depending on how you frame it. The "it's the law" framing often triggers a workaround instinct ("I'll just use the browser"). The more durable version:

"New apps are a conversation, not just a request." You're not approving the download based on a name. You want to know what the app is, why they want it, who they heard about it from, and what the two of you are going to do about settings when it's installed. The notification is a natural opening for that conversation — use it.

A few things worth naming to older teens:

Why these laws exist. Beginning around 2021, internal research from several major platforms emerged suggesting connections between algorithm-driven content and teen mental health outcomes. These laws are partly a legislative response to that pattern. The context is worth knowing.
What the law can and can't do. The per-download approval is a meaningful checkpoint, not a safety guarantee. What's inside apps — the recommendation algorithms, the contact patterns, the content — isn't addressed by the app-store law.
The browser is different. Teens who understand why a rule exists are far more likely to work within it than to look for the workaround. The app approval is a conversation starter, not an enforcement endpoint.

Bottom line — 3 things to do tonight

1. Know what state you're in and whether it applies yet.

Texas (new Apple/Google accounts created on or after June 4, 2026): per-download consent is already in effect for your child's new account. Make sure your own phone is set up to receive and act on approval requests — check Family Sharing settings on iPhone or Family Link on Android.
Louisiana or Utah: requirements are delayed or in a transitional period. Use the voluntary setup below now rather than waiting.
Everywhere else: no legal requirement yet. Go to step 2.

2. Set up the voluntary equivalent yourself — it takes 10 minutes.

On iPhone, set up Family Sharing and enable Ask to Buy (Apple Screen Time guide). On Android, set up Google Family Link (Google Family Link guide). The laws in Texas make mandatory what you can do yourself today in any state.

3. Don't stop at the download.

Approving the install is the beginning, not the end. The next step is configuring each app's own privacy and supervision settings. Run your child's current apps through our interactive safety check — it takes about two minutes and shows you where the risks actually are — then follow up with the specific platform guide for anything that surfaces a concern.

This guide reflects the law as of July 20, 2026. Texas SB 2420 is being actively litigated; the Fifth Circuit is scheduled to hear oral arguments on constitutionality in early August 2026. We'll update this page when that changes.