Apple says Texas App Store age assurance rules start tomorrow after court ruling

Starting tomorrow, June 4, app developers will have to comply with several App Store age assurance requirements tied to new Apple Accounts in Texas. Here are the details.

A short-notice change that has been a long time coming

Last May, Texas Governor Greg Abbott signed SB 2420, also known as the App Store Accountability Act, into law, requiring app marketplaces to verify users’ ages and obtain parental consent for minors under 18.

The signing came despite a heavy lobbying campaign from Apple, which reportedly included CEO Tim Cook personally calling Governor Abbott to urge him to veto the bill.

And while the law was slated to take effect on January 1, 2026, Federal Judge Robert Pitman issued a preliminary injunction against SB 2420 in late December, finding that the law was “more likely than not unconstitutional.”

By then, Apple had already released the APIs and sandbox tools developers would need to comply with the law. When the preliminary injunction blocked SB 2420 from taking effect, Apple paused its previously announced implementation plans, while keeping the tools available for sandbox testing.

Last week, however, the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals issued a stay of Judge Pitman’s injunction, which means Texas can enforce SB 2420, at least, for now.

Even though the stay can still be appealed and reversed, Apple told developers today that the law’s requirements will apply to new Apple Accounts in Texas starting tomorrow.

Here’s Apple:

Due to a recent court ruling lifting an injunction on Texas law SB 2420, new Apple Accounts in Texas are now subject to the law, which introduced age assurance requirements for app marketplaces and developers. As previously announced, this includes age assurance and parent or guardian consent on behalf of minors under the age of 18 for downloads, Apple In-App Purchases, and significant changes associated with an app. Parents or guardians will also be able to revoke their consent for any app they previously approved for their child. These changes will go into effect starting June 4, 2026.

The company told developers to review documentation for the Declared Age Range API, Significant Change API under PermissionKit, New age rating property type in StoreKit, App Store server notification, and to implement the necessary changes to comply with the new law.

Apple added that it is “the developer’s responsibility to determine when there’s a significant change to their app,” and that developers can use its “sandbox testing environment to validate that the APIs have been implemented correctly.”

To learn more about what’s changing for developers distributing apps in Texas, follow this link.

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