Age rating questionnaire updates that block F2P updates mid-season

On 9 July 2026 Apple published Age rating questionnaire now includes social media questions. The App Store Connect age rating questionnaire now asks about social media capabilities: redistributing, amplifying or interacting with user-generated content through a social feed or similar discovery method. Apps with those capabilities show a new Social Media content descriptor. Responses could be answered from that day; beginning in September 2026 they are required when submitting new apps or updates to the App Store, or when submitting apps for notarization for alternative distribution.

For mid-season F2P live-ops, the risk is not abstract policy — it is a submission gate. An update that ships a clan feed, UGC showcase, or similar discovery surface without answered questionnaire fields can stall App Review while a battle pass or hotfix is waiting.

Operator action

1. Re-answer the age rating questionnaire before any mid-season binary that adds feed-like UGC redistribution.
2. If social capabilities exist but are disabled for under-13 users, declare that accurately; Apple states that case is excluded from the Social Media Time Allowance category for under-13 users.
3. Do not treat “Games” category selection as a substitute for the capability questions — Apple ties Time Allowances Social Media to the capability answers regardless of category.
4. Keep a freeze window: questionnaire + metadata ready before the live-ops binary is submitted.

Facts vs limits

See also Set an app age rating.

Download the artifact.

Research checked 20 September 2026. Local draft; human editorial review pending.