Apple Reveals New App Requirements for Texas Starting 2026

Apple has stated that adjustments will be made to applications available in Texas in response to a new state law that will soon compel apps to provide users with a type of “age assurance.”

Texas SB2420 prompts Apple to create new app requirements

The following was posted by the firm today on the Apple Developer site:

Beginning January 1, 2026, a new state law in Texas — SB2420 — introduces age assurance requirements for app marketplaces and developers. While we share the goal of strengthening kids’ online safety, we are concerned that SB2420 impacts the privacy of users by requiring the collection of sensitive, personally identifiable information to download any app, even if a user simply wants to check the weather or sports scores.

According to Apple, anyone who establish a new Apple Account once the law takes effect will have to verify that they are at least eighteen years old.

In order for parents or guardians to give their consent for all purchases, downloads, and other activities, the new user must join a Family Sharing group if they are under the age of 18.

In other words, teens’ new Apple accounts will need to be explicitly monitored by adults using Apple’s current Family Sharing system.

Apple claims developers are also impacted. For developers to comply with legal requirements, they “will need to adopt new capabilities and modify behavior within their apps.”

To assist developers in meeting their obligations in a privacy-preserving way, we’ll introduce capabilities to help them obtain users’ age categories and manage significant changes as required by Texas state law. The Declared Age Range API is available to implement now, and will be updated in the coming months to provide the required age categories for new account users in Texas. And new APIs launching later this year will enable developers, when they determine a significant change is made to their app, to invoke a system experience to allow the user to request that parental consent be re-obtained.

Since SB2420 is a Texas-specific bill, only customers who are based in Texas will be impacted.

Apple claims that, in accordance with state laws, similar requirements will apply to customers residing in Louisiana and Utah later in 2026.

Coincidentally, earlier this year, Apple said that iOS 26 would provide a few new family capabilities for child accounts. One of those is the Declared Age Range API mentioned above, which enables users to communicate their age range with apps without having to enter their real birthdate and protects their privacy.