Apple delays new rules for kid-focused apps to give devs more room to comply

Apple has pushed back the rollout of new rules for children’s apps on the App Store that block developers in the category from using third-party ads and analytics tools.

The new rules were expected to go into place in September, but an Apple representative now tells The Washington Post that Apple is holding off on the changes for now to help developers understand and be compliant with the changes.

“We aren’t backing off on this important issue, but we are working to help developers get there,” Apple tells The Washington Post.

According to the publication, developers that already have children’s apps on iOS and other Apple-owned platforms are less than happy with the new rules that potentially make free-to-play apps unsustainable. 

Some developers speaking to The Washington Post say that their apps would run afoul of the new rules, despite the fact that the third-party ads and analytics tools that sustain their apps were implemented with children’s privacy in mind. 

Others note that the cost of handling ads in-house is too much for a small developer to shoulder, or that the rule could lead to less transparency surrounding the data gathered by the analytics tools not banned by the rule shift. Despite complaints outlined in that full article, Apple senior vice president Phil Schiller says that Apple has “gathered enough data that we’re doing the right thing,”