Apple tipped to introduce App Store age restrictions

Online age-checks are the topic of the day, as they are now slated to affect whole swathes of the internet from Reddit to X (formerly Twitter).

They are (ideally) intended to protect underage users from potentially harmful content, and are now allegedly coming to an App Store UI near you.

The new kind of age barrier might kick in when one tries to download a new social media app, as well as those apps and services that concern user health.

It might also be intended to prevent minors from accessing content of a "violent" nature, which might pertain to some games.

The new measures might also manifest in the form of different, age-specific, versions of the same app over time.

The claims come courtesy of a typically accurate leak account - which, as it also typically posts on Weibo, might be a hint that these new plans of Apple's might be destined for the Chinese market only.

The report of new App Store rules comes at a time at which Apple has (ironically enough) been obliged to relax some others, particularly those that concern how apps are paid for on the platform and which apps can be used for functions such as browsing the internet on iPads or iPhones.