Set the right audience and child-safety protections

The store is asking for both an age rating and a target audience. They answer different questions: the rating describes the content, and the audience identifies who you intend to use the app. Start with who you’ve built it for, then answer from what the app actually does.

Review its content, appearance, marketing, chat features, ads, analytics, and purchases. Include software development kits (SDKs), the libraries added to provide features or connect services, and anything users can create or upload.

Set the rating and intended audience

For Apple, complete the age-rating questionnaire using the app’s actual features and content. Read the current definitions: ratings can differ by region and operating-system version.

For Google Play, select the intended age groups under Target audience and content. Use the ages the app is designed for, including children; selecting older ages solely to avoid requirements would make the declaration inaccurate.

If children are part of the audience, check Google’s Families requirements for data, SDKs, advertising, and app behavior. Review the advertising configuration before submitting.

Check safety requirements for social and chat features

Social, dating, anonymous-chat, and random-chat features need a separate check against Google’s child-safety standards. An adult-only audience doesn’t automatically exempt a social app covered by those standards.

Publish the required standards, add reporting tools and the appropriate safety contact, and confirm that reports reach someone who can act on them.

Before submission, check that your audience declaration, rating, advertising setup, and safety controls match the app the reviewer will use. Revisit them when you add chat, uploads, advertising, or other features that change the experience.

If the audience declaration is rejected

Find out whether the problem is the declared audience, the content itself, or a missing safeguard. Changing an age dropdown won’t add a reporting flow or fix an unsuitable SDK. The moderation guide covers the next checks for user content.