Apple is introducing a set of updated safety features for children, including a feature that will give parents more control over who their children can communicate with. These features will be coming to iOS 26, iPadOS 26, macOS Tahoe 26, watchOS 26, visionOS 26, and tvOS 26, which will be released this fall.
From now on, children will have to get their parents’ permission if they want to communicate with a new phone number. Requests will appear in the Messages app, and parents will be able to click a button to approve or reject them. Apple is also launching a “PermissionKit” that will allow developers to build a similar feature into their applications so that children can “send requests to their parents to chat, follow users, or add them as friends.”
The company’s parental control system automatically applies protections such as web content filters and app restrictions for children under 13, and for children aged 13 to 17, Apple will enable “similar age-appropriate protections.” Apple’s communication safety tool is being updated to “intervene” when it detects nudity during FaceTime calls, as well as blur nudity in shared albums in the Photos app, the company said. Age ratings in the App Store will also expand to include more detailed categories, including 13+, 16+, and 18+.
In addition, Apple will allow parents to indicate the age range of a child in applications without disclosing the specific date of birth. Developers can request information about the age range using the new “Declared Age Range API”.
Companies such as Meta, Snap, and X, as well as a coalition of adult content producers, have advocated for legislation that would require app store operators to verify the age of their users, a requirement that Apple has refused to do for privacy reasons. The states of Utah and Texas have already passed bills on age verification in app stores.
Some of the new features mentioned in today’s press release were previously announced by Apple in a white paper published earlier this year.
