After a federal judge on Tuesday blocked Texas since implementing a new age verification law for app stores, Apple has announced it will halt previously announced plans for the state as it continues to monitor the “ongoing legal process.”
Apple said that the developer tools it had previously announced for age assurance would remain available for testing and use.
The law, SB 2420 or the App Store Accountability Act, would require app stores, such as those run by Apple and Google, to verify the age of users and require parental consent for those under 18 to download apps or make purchases. Additionally, it would require sharing age data with developers.
A judge, citing First Amendment concerns, blocked enforcement of the law that was set to take effect in January. The ruling was a victory for the tech giants and a setback for Texas lawmakers, who said the legal battle would continue. The Texas attorney general’s office noted in a court filing that plans to appeal the decision, a Reuters report said.
To comply with the impending law, Apple in October announced a series of new requirements for apps in Texas, which included requiring all users under 18 to join a Family Sharing group, where parents or guardians would provide consent for all App Store downloads, app purchases and in-app transactions. Parents will be able to withdraw consent for an app at any time.
Apple said so too Declared age range APIa technology the company debuted to help it comply with the growing number of age assurance laws worldwide will be updated in the coming months to provide the required age ranges for new account users in Texas. Apple had planned to release new APIs for developers to request parental consent again if their app was significantly updated.
Apple had opposed that law, and similar laws will arrive next year in Utah and Louisiana, on the grounds of privacy rather than child protection.
“While we share the goal of strengthening children’s online safety, we are concerned that SB2420 affects users’ privacy by requiring the collection of sensitive, personally identifiable information for downloading any app, even if a user just wants to check the weather or sports scores,” Apple explained. a developer announcement earlier this year.
Apple announced Thursday that other developer tools to comply with the new age assurance laws will remain available for testing, including Declared age range API, Major API change in PermissionKit, New age rating property type in StoreKitand App Store Server Notifications. Additionally, the Declared Age Range API is still available globally on iOS 26, iPadOS 26, and macOS 26 and later.
