Tech trends aren’t always easy to spot at an early stage, but there’s a very clear exception right now: the age verification requirement a growing number of countries and US states are introducing.
Apple is impacted by at least some of this legislation as certain apps are rated as suitable only for adults, and the company has so far introduced age verification in three countries …
Apple age verification in the UK
The highest-profile launch of Apple age verification has been in the UK. Those on the developer beta track last month got a preview of the new age verification process in iOS 26.4 Beta 2. The company later said that this was an error and that it shouldn’t have been included in the beta at the time, but it went live last week.
For me, the experience was an entirely painless one, taking less than 30 seconds. All I had to do was tap a confirm and continue button, and Apple told me that the length of time I’d had an Apple account was used to confirm that I’m 18+.
Others, however, experienced difficulties with the process timing out or failing to complete. We summarized some of the steps you can take to try to address this. Apple has since listed additional acceptable ways to verify your age.
You can confirm your age with a credit card, or by scanning a driver’s license or one of the following PASS-accredited Proof of Age cards: CitizenCard, My ID Card, TOTUM ID card, or Young Scot National Entitlement Card.
If you don’t verify your age, then you’ll be treated as a child or teenager, meaning that both the web content filter and communication safety features are switched on.
Now live in Singapore and South Korea too
A new Apple support document reveals that age verification has also gone live in Singapore and South Korea.
These age confirmation requirements apply to Apple Accounts in Singapore, South Korea, and the UK. Adults will have to confirm their age to use certain services or features, or take certain actions on their account.
You can confirm your age with a credit card or by scanning a driver’s license or government-issued ID. Passports, debit cards, and gift cards aren’t supported.
Singapore age verification:
You can confirm your age with a credit card, or by scanning a driving licence, National Registration Identity Card, or Foreign Identification Number (FIN) card. Passports, debit cards, and gift cards aren’t supported.
South Korea age verification:
To download or stream mature content through Apple services in South Korea, you must verify that you’re at least legally 19 years old. When prompted, tap or click Verify Age. Enter your name exactly as it appears on your mobile carrier account. The capitalization and spelling must match what’s on file with your mobile carrier. Then enter your birthday, mobile carrier information, mobile phone number, your gender, and your nationality.
This process reflects the fact that mobile carriers are required to carry out age verification when opening an account. Bizarrely, the law here requires Apple to re-verify someone’s age annually.
Minimum age requirements for child accounts
In most countries, a child cannot have their own Apple account – they must instead be part of a family sharing group. In the US, the minimum age for a solo child account is 13.
However, certain countries have imposed higher age requirements for individual accounts, and Apple has listed these:
- 14 in Austria, Bulgaria, China mainland, Cyprus, Israel, Italy, Lithuania, South Korea, and Spain
- 15 in Czechia, France, Greece, Peru, and Slovenia
- 16 in Croatia, Germany, Hungary, Ireland, Kosovo, Liechtenstein, Luxembourg, Malaysia, Netherlands, Philippines, Poland, Romania, Singapore, and Slovakia
- 18 in Brazil
We can expect additional countries to be added to the list as age verification legislation continues to roll out globally.
- Official Apple Store on Amazon
- Apple’s iPhone cases: iPhone 17 | iPhone 17 Pro and Pro Max | iPhone Air
- Wireless CarPlay adapter (2026 update)
- AirTag holders and accessories
- Mac Pro-style Mac mini casing
- NordVPN – privacy-first VPN with no logs and independent audits to verify
Photo by Christopher Ryan on Unsplash
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