Apple is pausing App Store changes in Texas after court blocked age guarantee law

After a federal judge on Tuesday blocked Texas from implementing a new age verification law for app stores, Apple announced it would pause previously announced plans for the state while it continues to monitor “ongoing legal proceedings.”

Apple said its previously announced developer tools for lifetime guarantee will remain available for testing and use.

The law, SB2420, or the App Store Accountability Act, would have required app stores, such as those run by Apple and Google, to verify users’ ages and require parental consent for those under 18 to download apps or make purchases. Additionally, it would have required age data to be shared with developers.

A judge, citing First Amendment concerns, blocked enforcement of the law that was scheduled to take effect in January. The ruling was a win for the tech giants and a setback for Texas lawmakers, who said the legal battle would continue. The Texas Attorney General’s Office indicated in a lawsuit that it intends to appeal the decision, a Reuters report indicated.

To comply with the upcoming law, Apple in October announced a series of new requirements for apps in Texas, which included that all users under the age of 18 would have to join a Family Sharing group, where parents or guardians would provide approval for all App Store downloads, app purchases, and in-app transactions. Parents will be able to revoke their consent to the app at any time.

Apple also said that the Declared Age Range API, a technology the company debuted to help it comply with the growing number of age guarantee laws around the world, will be updated in the coming months to provide the required age ranges for new account users in Texas. Apple planned to release new APIs for developers to require parental consent again if their app is updated significantly.

Apple had objected to this law, and similar laws that will arrive next year in the states of Utah and Louisiana, on the grounds of privacy, not the protection of children.

“While we share the goal of promoting children’s online safety, we are concerned that SB2420 impacts users’ privacy by requiring the collection of sensitive and personal information to download any app, even if the user simply wants to check the weather or sports scores,” Apple explained in a developer announcement earlier this year.

Apple announced on Thursday that other developer tools to comply with the new age guarantee laws will remain available for testing, including the Declared Age Range API, the Significant Change API within PermissionKit, the new age rating property type in StoreKit, and App Store server notifications. Additionally, the Declared Age Range API remains available worldwide across iOS 26, iPadOS 26, and macOS 26 and later.