Building an app for kids – stricter rules than you think
Apps for kids follow stricter rules than regular apps. If the app targets children, guardian consent is required for personal data – in Sweden, the age limit under GDPR is 13. Both the App Store and Google Play have special kids categories with requirements on ads, content, and data collection. Dark patterns that pressure kids into buying are effectively prohibited too.
Building an app for kids looks like any other app project – until the regulations show up. Children are a protected group, and both lawmakers and the app stores set requirements that go well beyond what a regular app needs to meet. Miss them and you risk not just rejection in review but regulatory scrutiny too. Here’s what you as a client need to know before the build starts.
Consent and age limits in Sweden
The foundation is the data protection regulation, GDPR. When an app targets children and processes their personal data, guardian consent is required up to a certain age. GDPR lets each country choose the limit between 13 and 16, and Sweden has chosen 13.
In practice, that means: if children under 13 are to create an account, save data, or get personalized content, you need to build in a reasonable process to obtain and verify parental consent. A checkbox where the child confirms that a parent approves isn’t enough. It affects the whole flow – onboarding, account management, and how you store data – and should be designed in early, not bolted on afterward. It ties closely to how the app handles personal data overall.
The App Store and Google Play have their own kids’ rules
Beyond the law, the stores have their own, often stricter requirements. Placing the app in a kids category opens up a tighter rulebook.
| Area | Typical requirement in the kids categories |
|---|---|
| Advertising | None or heavily restricted behavioral advertising |
| External links | Behind a parental gate, not freely accessible to the child |
| Data collection | Minimization, often a ban on collecting data for tracking |
| Content | Age-appropriate, reviewed more strictly |
| Purchases | Behind a parental gate, without pressuring design |
Apple’s category is simply called Kids; Google’s program is called Designed for Families. Both come with a stricter review that takes longer. Account for that in your timeline, and expect that an app built without the kids’ rules in mind may need to be rebuilt to be admitted.
Important: the app doesn’t need to formally sit in the kids category to be covered. If it clearly targets children – through characters, language, and theme – it’s treated as a kids’ app regardless. If the audience is mixed, you usually need an age gate that splits users and adapts the experience.
Design principles: avoid dark patterns
Dark patterns are design tricks that steer the user toward something they didn’t intend, usually a purchase. Toward adults, they’re questionable; toward kids, they’re effectively incompatible with the stores’ kids rules and can also breach consumer protection law.
A few to actively avoid:
- Artificial time pressure – countdowns and “offer disappearing” messages that rush purchases.
- Hidden costs – purchases disguised as game moves, where the child doesn’t understand it’s real money.
- Hidden exits – close buttons that get hidden or made small, while the purchase button is lit up.
- Social pressure – messages like “your friends already have…” aimed at kids.
The sound principle is simple: anything that costs money should sit behind a clear parental gate, and nothing in the design should exploit that kids are less able to resist manipulation.
A parental gate in practice is a small hurdle a child isn’t expected to clear on their own – often a question or a step that requires reading or math skills beyond the target age group – before reaching purchases, external links, or settings. The point isn’t to make it complicated for complication’s sake, but to ensure an adult is involved in decisions that cost money or lead out of the app’s protected environment.
A concrete example
Say you want to build an educational game app for kids aged 6–9. You immediately get a series of follow-on requirements: parental consent for accounts since the kids are under 13, placement in the stores’ kids category with stricter review, no behavioral advertising, and a parental gate in front of both purchases and any outbound links. If you want to charge money, the payment flow must sit behind that gate and be free of pressuring design. The conclusion is that a kids audience by itself makes the project more extensive than an equivalent adult app – that’s work that has to be budgeted from the start.
Considering an app for a young audience and want to know how the requirements affect scope and cost? Get in touch and we’ll walk through the specifics of your idea.
Frequently asked questions
At what age can kids consent to data handling themselves in Sweden?
Sweden has set the age limit at 13. GDPR lets member states choose between 13 and 16, and Sweden chose the lower option. Under 13, guardian consent is required to process the child's personal data for things like accounts and personalization. If the app targets younger children, you need to build in a process for parental consent.
What's required to get into the stores' kids categories?
Both the App Store (Kids category) and Google Play (Designed for Families program) have extra requirements. Common conditions include heavily restricted or no behavioral advertising, no external links without a parental gate, age-appropriate content, and strict control over what data is collected. Review is stricter and often takes longer than for regular apps.
What are dark patterns targeted at kids?
Dark patterns are design tricks that deceive or pressure the user into doing something they didn't intend – like making a purchase. Toward kids, it's especially sensitive: countdowns that rush purchases, buttons that get hidden, or purchases disguised as game moves. That kind of design is effectively incompatible with the stores' kids rules and can violate consumer protection law.
Does my app count as a kids' app if kids use it anyway?
What matters is whether the app targets kids – through theme, language, characters, or marketing. An app that clearly appeals to children is treated as a kids' app even if it hasn't been formally categorized that way. If the audience is mixed, you usually need an age gate that separates kids from adults and adapts the experience accordingly.
Can a kids' app include purchases and ads?
With clear restrictions. Purchases must sit behind a parental gate and can't be designed to pressure kids. Behavioral advertising based on a child's data is effectively excluded in the kids categories; contextual, age-appropriate advertising may be allowed but is tightly regulated. Assume that both purchases and ads require special care and clear parental control.