Apple Now Shares User Ages With App Developers in Texas—Here's How It Works

Apple has started sharing age information about Texas users with app developers, after a legal dispute over the state's age verification law was resolved in the company's favor. The Apple Developer site now confirms that when users in Texas create new Apple Accounts starting January 1, 2026, developers can request to know whether they are under 13, between 13 and 17, or 18 and older.

This change comes from a Texas law called SB 2420, passed in 2023, which requires app stores to verify a user's age when Texas residents sign up for accounts and get permission from parents before minors can buy apps or make in-app purchases. The law is part of Chapter 121 of the Texas Business and Commerce Code.

How Apple Is Making This Work

Apple's compliance system has three main moving parts, all now active for Texas users. First, there's the Declared Age Range API—a technical tool available in the latest versions of iOS, iPadOS, and macOS—that lets developers find out which age category a user falls into. The age information comes from accounts created on or after January 1, 2026.

Second, Apple now requires anyone under 18 who creates a new Apple Account in Texas to be part of a Family Sharing group, with a parent or guardian signing off before the young person can download apps, buy apps, or make purchases within apps. This is a bigger shift than you might expect: Apple used to let people just enter a birth date on their own when signing up.

The third piece is something called the Significant Change API, which tells developers they need to ask for fresh parental permission whenever they make major changes to an app that could affect how Texas teenagers experience it. Apple also built a new way for developers to rate their apps by age, using a tool called StoreKit, to help with these compliance rules.

What Happened in Court

The law didn't go into effect smoothly. Two lawsuits were filed in federal court in Austin arguing that the Texas law breaks the First Amendment by preventing access to protected speech. A judge issued an order temporarily stopping the law from being enforced, which forced Apple to put its implementation plans on hold.

In this author's view, this pattern is familiar from earlier state-level technology regulation—California's privacy laws and various social media age verification proposals have all faced similar constitutional challenges when states try to regulate companies that operate nationwide. What's different here is how precisely Apple built its technical response and how quickly the legal question got settled.

While the law was paused, Apple kept its Significant Change API in a limited testing mode so developers could practice without real consequences. Looking back, this suggests Apple was fairly confident the court would eventually rule in favor of the law—a bet that turned out to be right.

What This Means for App Developers

For people who build iOS apps, Texas now comes with new compliance work. If your app serves Texas users, you need to use the Declared Age Range API to figure out how old they are and adjust what the app shows or does based on that information. This could touch anything from social features to content filtering to how purchases work.

The timing matters here. Similar age verification laws are starting in Utah and Louisiana in 2026. That suggests Apple's Texas framework is becoming a template for handling age verification across multiple states with comparable requirements. Instead of building something new for each state, developers can set up age-aware features once and use them wherever these laws apply.

The broader picture is worth noting. Apple built its own technical infrastructure to comply with the law rather than fighting it in court, which is different from how many companies react to new regulations. By creating tools that let developers handle age verification themselves, Apple managed to stay on good terms with app makers while still satisfying what the government required.

A Shift for Apple, a Model for Others

This rollout shows Apple is now willing to build state-specific compliance systems when age verification laws demand it—a change from the company's long history of preferring the same policies everywhere around the globe, especially on child safety and parental controls.

Other companies that run app stores are watching what Apple did in Texas. If you're building a platform, the technical playbook here is clear: create APIs that let app developers handle the compliance work. This balances keeping developers happy while meeting regulatory demands, without needing to shut down your business or change how it fundamentally works.

Looking forward, age verification is becoming a standard tool that state lawmakers reach for when they're worried about kids' safety online. Apple's Texas system has now been tested both in court and in real use. It gives other platforms a concrete example of how to adapt to these laws as more states pass similar requirements. The fact that Apple is treating the January 1, 2026 date as permanent, not temporary, signals the company sees age verification as a lasting part of how it will operate—and other states are likely to follow Texas's lead.