Apple complies with Texas age verification law days after federal court reversal decision
Texas law SB 2420 now requires new Apple account holders to be at least 18 years old
Apple began rolling out mandatory age verification for new account creation in Texas on Thursday, after a federal appeals court reversed an earlier ruling that had prevented the state's App Store Accountability Act from coming into force.
The initial block had been imposed by US District Judge Robert Pitman, who found the law likely to be unconstitutional. Both Apple and Google had cited that ruling at the time as the basis for pausing planned updates to their respective app stores.
However, a federal appeals court overturned Pitman's decision in late May 2026, allowing the legislation to proceed — and Apple moved to comply within days.
What Texas law SB 2420 requires
Under Texas's SB 2420, anyone setting up a new Apple account must be at least 18 years of age. Those who do not meet that threshold are required to join a Family Sharing group, within which a parent or guardian must approve app downloads, in-app purchases and significant changes to account settings.
Parents retain full flexibility within this arrangement and may withdraw their approval at any time. When they do, the App Store notifies affected developers via a server-side alert.
The obligations introduced by the law extend beyond families to developers themselves. Those operating in Texas are now required to utilise Apple's Declared Age Range API to determine a user's age group and ensure their applications are appropriate for that audience.
The law had originally been set to take effect on 1 January 2026, before Judge Pitman's intervention delayed its implementation.
Apple's stance: compliance under compulsion
Apple has consistently opposed age-verification legislation on privacy grounds, arguing that compelling users to submit personal information merely to download entirely benign applications — such as weather or sports score apps — introduces risks that are disproportionate to any benefit.
The company voiced its concerns publicly two months before SB 2420's original January deadline, stating that it remained "worried" about laws that could compromise user privacy, not only for minors but more broadly.
That position has not changed; Apple's move to enforce the requirement is driven solely by the court order rather than any shift in the company's own view of the policy.
