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A mobile software content rating system is a rating system which is tailored to users of mobile software.
A comparison of current mobile software rating systems, showing age on the horizontal axis. Note however that the specific criteria used in assigning a classification can vary widely from one country/system to another. Thus a color code or age range cannot be directly compared from one country to another.
Key:
Explanations of specific ratings are available in corresponding articles.
| Country/System | Age rating | Other | |||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 0/1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18+ | ||
| App Store | 4+ | 9+ | 12+ | 17+ | N/A | ||||||||||||||
| Google Play (IARC) | 3 | 7 | 12 | 16 | 18 | N/A | |||||||||||||
ACB  Australia | G | M | R 18+ | N/A | |||||||||||||||
| PG | MA 15+ | ||||||||||||||||||
ClassInd  Brazil | L | 10 | 12 | 14 | 16 | 18 | N/A | ||||||||||||
ESRB  USA Canada Mexico | E | E10+ | T | M | AO | RP | |||||||||||||
| EC | |||||||||||||||||||
GRAC  South Korea | ALL | 12 | 15 | 18 | N/A | ||||||||||||||
PEGI  Europe Israel | 3 | 7 | 12 | 16 | 18 | ! | |||||||||||||
| 7 | 12 | 16 | 18 | ||||||||||||||||
USK  Germany | 0 | 6 | 12 | 12 | 16 | 18 | N/A | ||||||||||||
| Country/System | 0/1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18+ | Other |
| Samsung Galaxy Store | ALL | 4+ | 12+ | 15+ | 18+ | N/A | |||||||||||||
| Huawei AppGallery | 3+ | 7+ | 12+ | 16+ | 18+ | N/A | |||||||||||||
| Amazon Appstore | All Ages | Mature | Adult | N/A | |||||||||||||||
| Guidance Suggested | |||||||||||||||||||
| Blackberry World | G | T | M | A | N/A | ||||||||||||||
| Common Sense Media | N/A | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | Not Yet Rated |
| Country/System | 0/1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18+ | Other |
Apple's rating system for the App Store follows the following rubric: [1]
Rated 4+: Contains no objectionable material.
Rated 9+: May contain content unsuitable for children under the age of 9.
Rated 12+: May contain content unsuitable for children under the age of 12.
Rated 17+: May contain content unsuitable for children under the age of 17.Apps rated 17+ are prohibited from purchase by younger users. [2]
Up until March 17, 2015 Google Play used the following rubric: [3] [4]
Google now uses the International Age Rating Coalition (IARC) in most countries not represented by a rating authority, whilst countries or regions with a superimposed video game rating authority continues applying their own ratings where applicable. [5] This includes Americas (except Brazil), where ESRB is imposed, Brazil with ClassInd, Europe and Israel with PEGI, Australia with ACB and South Korea with GRAC. However, a new Google Play Rating system is used exclusively in Russia and for non-gaming apps in South Korea. [6] These ratings include:
In Australia, IARC applies its own ratings for non-gaming apps. [6]
Huawei AppGallery developed own rating system. Ratings are: 3+, 7+, 12+, 15+ and 18+ [7]
On the Amazon Appstore, "All Ages" is for all ages. "Guidance Suggested" is for recommendation that parents should give guidance to pre-teens/children. "Mature" is recommended to be suitable for mature audiences. "Adult" is advertisements, graphic violence, nudity or other content only suitable for adult audiences. [8]
The Blackberry appstore as the following ratings: [9] [10]
The CTIA – The Wireless Association, an industry trade group, collaborated with the ESRB to largely apply ESRB's rating system to mobile devices. [11] It was launched in 2011, with Apple and Google being notable abstentions from subscribing companies. [12]
The Motion Picture Associationfilm rating system is used in the United States and its territories to rate a motion picture's suitability for certain audiences based on its content. The system and the ratings applied to individual motion pictures are the responsibility of the Motion Picture Association (MPA), previously known as the Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA) from 1945 to 2019. The MPA rating system is a voluntary scheme that is not enforced by law; films can be exhibited without a rating, although most theaters refuse to exhibit non-rated or NC-17 rated films. Non-members of the MPA may also submit films for rating. Other media, such as television programs, music and video games, are rated by other entities such as the TV Parental Guidelines, the RIAA and the ESRB, respectively.
A motion picture content rating system classifies films based on their suitability for audiences due to their treatment of issues such as sex, violence, or substance abuse, their use of profanity, or other matters typically deemed unsuitable for children or adolescents. Most countries have some form of rating system that issues determinations variously known as certifications, classifications, certificates, or ratings. Age recommendations, of either an advisory or restrictive capacity, are often applied in lieu of censorship; in some jurisdictions movie theaters may have a legal obligation to enforce restrictive ratings.
The Entertainment Software Rating Board (ESRB) is a self-regulatory organization that assigns age and content ratings to consumer video games in North America. The ESRB was established in 1994 by the Entertainment Software Association, in response to criticism of controversial video games with excessively violent or sexual content, particularly after the 1993 congressional hearings following the releases of Mortal Kombat and Night Trap for home consoles and Doom for home computers. The industry, pressured with potential government oversight of video game ratings from these hearings, established both the IDSA and the ESRB within it to create a voluntary rating system based on the Motion Picture Association of America film rating system with additional considerations for video game interactivity.
In broadcasting, the watershed is the time of day after which programming with content deemed suitable only for mature or adult audiences is permitted. In the same way that a geological watershed divides two drainage basins, a broadcasting watershed serves as a dividing line in a schedule between family-friendly content, and content deemed suitable only for a more mature audience, such as programs containing objectionable content; this can include graphic violence, strong language, and sexual content, or strong references to those themes, even if they are not shown explicitly. The transition to more adult material must not be unduly abrupt and the strongest material should appear later in the evening.
Television content rating systems are systems for evaluating the content and reporting the suitability of television programmes for minors. Many countries have their own television rating system and countries' rating processes vary by local priorities. Programmes are rated by the organization that manages the system, the broadcaster, or the content producers.
Parental controls are features which may be included in digital television services, computers and video games, mobile devices and software that allow parents to restrict the access of content to their children. These controls were created to assist parents in their ability to restrict certain content viewable by their children. This may be content they deem inappropriate for their age, maturity level or feel is aimed more at an adult audience. Parental controls fall into roughly four categories: content filters, which limit access to age inappropriate content; usage controls, which constrain the usage of these devices such as placing time-limits on usage or forbidding certain types of usage; computer usage management tools, which enforces the use of certain software; and monitoring, which can track location and activity when using the devices.
The Maritime Film Classification Board is a government organization responsible for reviewing films and granting film ratings in New Brunswick, Nova Scotia and Prince Edward Island.
The Videogame Rating Council (V.R.C.) was introduced by Sega of America in 1993 to rate all video games that were released for sale in the United States and Canada on the Master System, Genesis, Game Gear, Sega CD, 32X, and Pico. The rating had to be clearly displayed on the front of the box, but their appearance in advertisements for the video game was strictly optional. It was later supplanted by the industry-wide Entertainment Software Rating Board.
The TV Parental Guidelines are a television content rating system in the United States that was first proposed on December 19, 1996, by the United States Congress, the American television industry, and the Federal Communications Commission (FCC). The guidelines went into effect by January 1, 1997, on most major broadcast and cable networks in response to public concerns about increasing amounts of mature content in television programs. It was established as a voluntary-participation system, with ratings to be determined by the individual participating broadcast and cable networks.
The British Columbia Film Classification Office, part of Consumer Protection BC in the Canadian province of British Columbia, is responsible for rating and censoring films under the province's Motion Picture Act. The BCFCO film ratings are also used by Manitoba and Saskatchewan by bilateral agreement.
A content rating rates the suitability of TV shows, movies, comic books, or video games to this primary targeted audience. A content rating usually places a media source into one of a number of different categories, to show which age group is suitable to view media and entertainment. The individual categories include the stated age groups within the category, along with all ages greater than the ages of that category.
The Movie and Television Review and Classification Board is a Philippine government agency under the Office of the President of the Philippines that is responsible for the classification and review of television programs, motion pictures and home videos.
Microsoft family features is a free set of features available on Windows 10 PC and Mobile that is bundled with the Windows 10, Home edition operating system. On July 17, 2020, Microsoft released Microsoft Family Safety on Google Play and App Store (iOS) as well. Starting in Windows 10, a Microsoft Account is required to use the Microsoft family features. A parent can manage settings for a child if both of their Microsoft Accounts are in the same family. When parents turn on settings for their child, these settings are applied to every device that the child logs into with that Microsoft Account.
A video game content rating system is a system used for the classification of video games based on suitability for target audiences. Most of these systems are associated with and/or sponsored by a government, and are sometimes part of the local motion picture rating system. The utility of such ratings has been called into question by studies that publish findings such as 90% of teenagers claim that their parents "never" check the ratings before allowing them to rent or buy video games, and as such, calls have been made to "fix" the existing rating systems. Video game content rating systems can be used as the basis for laws that cover the sales of video games to minors, such as in Australia. Rating checking and approval is part of the game localization when they are being prepared for their distribution in other countries or locales. These rating systems have also been used to voluntarily restrict sales of certain video games by stores, such as the German retailer Galeria Kaufhof's removal of all video games rated 18+ by the USK following the Winnenden school shooting.
The Manitoba Film Classification Board (MFCB) was a provincial government organization responsible for rating films and video games rented, sold, or shown in the province of Manitoba. In mid 2018, the Board was dissolved, with its duties being outsourced to British Columbia for film classifications, and transferred to the Entertainment Software Rating Board (ESRB) for video games.
An app store, also called an app marketplace or app catalog, is a type of digital distribution platform for computer software called applications, often in a mobile context. Apps provide a specific set of functions which, by definition, do not include the running of the computer itself. Complex software designed for use on a personal computer, for example, may have a related app designed for use on a mobile device. Today apps are normally designed to run on a specific operating system—such as the contemporary iOS, macOS, Windows, Linux or Android—but in the past mobile carriers had their own portals for apps and related media content.
Fire OS is a mobile operating system based on the Android Open Source Project (AOSP). It is developed by Amazon for their devices. Fire OS includes proprietary software, a customized user interface primarily centered on content consumption, and heavy ties to content available from Amazon's storefronts and services.
The International Age Rating Coalition (IARC) is an initiative aimed at streamlining acquisition of content ratings for video games, from authorities of different countries. Introduced in 2013, the IARC system simplifies the process of obtaining ratings by developers, through the use of questionnaires, which assess the content of the product. This new process reduces the costs of video game developers as they seek to obtain ratings for their products that are distributed digitally online.
YouTube Kids is a video app and website for children developed by YouTube, a subsidiary of Google. The app provides a version of the service oriented solely towards children, with curated selections of content, parental control features, and filtering of videos deemed inappropriate for viewing by children under the age of 13, in accordance with the Children's Online Privacy Protection Act, which prohibits the regular YouTube app from profiling children under the age of 13 for advertising purposes.
