Apple age-rating questionnaire response deadline

Analysis

By UA Ledger staff2 min read

Apple age-rating questionnaire response deadline

Apple requires responses to updated App Store Connect age-rating questions by 31 January 2026 or app-update submissions may be interrupted.

Apple’s 24 July 2025 notice Updated age ratings in App Store Connect sets a hard operational gate: developers must provide responses to the updated age-rating questions for each app by 31 January 2026 to avoid an interruption when submitting app updates in App Store Connect.

What the questionnaire covers

The same notice introduced required questions on in-app controls, capabilities, medical or wellness topics, and violent themes, feeding the expanded 4+ / 9+ / 13+ / 16+ / 18+ rating system. Developers may set a higher rating than Apple’s calculated value when their own policy requires a higher minimum user age. Ratings are assigned per country or region.

Why UA and live-ops teams care

Missing answers block the release train for live-ops content that needs a binary update, creative tests gated on a new build, and store-listing changes tied to App Store Connect submission. This dated milestone is separate from the July 2025 rating-overhaul announcement itself: the overhaul can be understood while questionnaires remain unanswered, but shipping stops at the deadline.

Operator action

Reference table
FieldEvidence
Deadline2026-01-31
ConsequenceInterruption submitting updates in App Store Connect
Source notice2025-07-24 Apple Developer News
Related bands4+ / 9+ / 13+ / 16+ / 18+
UA implicationHard gate for operators who delayed questionnaire answers

Confirm completion status in App Store Connect per SKU before planning January–February 2026 update waves. See also the sibling change-log on the July 2025 rating overhaul.

Download the change-log card.

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

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