Apple is rolling out age verification tools around the world to comply with its growing network of child safety laws

Apple is launching new tools to comply with the growing number of age verification laws in the US and abroad. As part of the changes, Apple will ban downloads of apps rated 18+ in Brazil, Australia and Singapore, while also rolling out other features to comply with laws in Utah and Louisiana in the US.

The company informed developers on Tuesday that it is expanding its suite of “age guarantee” tools, including an announced age range API that is now available for beta testing.

These tools allow developers to obtain a user’s age range without accessing the user’s personal information, such as their date of birth. The need for a technical solution like this has emerged as more governments around the world are putting in place laws to ban or restrict certain apps like social media that can only be used by those aged 18 and above.

In Brazil, for example, developers can use the Declared Age Range API to get a user’s age range, if the user or their parent or guardian chooses to share it.

Additionally, Apple will prevent users in Australia, Brazil, and Singapore from downloading apps rated 18+, starting today, until they confirm they are adults. In this case, the App Store will perform age verification automatically, but Apple notes that developers may still have separate compliance requirements they need to meet.

Also, developers whose games contain loot boxes — a gambling-like mechanism that allows players to spend money for a random chance at in-game rewards that lawmakers believe should not be available to children — will see their apps’ age ratings updated to reflect an over-18 audience in Brazil, specifically.

In the US, new users in Utah and Louisiana will soon have their age ranges shared with developer apps through the Declared Age Range API as well. The company said it has expanded its other tools around age ratings and permissions to meet its compliance obligations.

“New signals are now available through the Age Range Declaration API, including whether age-related regulatory requirements apply to the user and whether the user is required to share their age range,” Apple’s blog post said. “The API will also let you know if you need to get a parent or guardian’s permission to get important app updates for a child.”

Apple worked last October to comply with similar age requirements in Texas, but halted some of its plans in December, as the state law is being debated in court. It also updated its age rating system last year with more detailed age categories than before, and added a variety of new questions for developers who submit apps to Apple for review.