Apple has announced it will pause its compliance efforts for Texas's new app store age verification law after a federal judge blocked the legislation. The tech giant confirmed it would halt its previously announced plans for the state while it monitors the "ongoing legal process."
The law, known as SB2420 or the App Store Accountability Act, would have mandated that app stores, including those operated by Apple and Google, verify user ages. It also required parental consent for individuals under 18 to download apps or make purchases and would have compelled the sharing of age data with developers.
A federal judge issued an injunction against the law's enforcement, citing First Amendment concerns. The ruling, which came just ahead of the law's scheduled January implementation, marks a significant win for tech companies and a setback for Texas lawmakers. The Texas Attorney General's office has indicated its intention to appeal the decision.
In anticipation of the law, Apple had outlined new requirements in October for apps available in Texas. These included mandating that all users under 18 join a Family Sharing group, where parents or guardians would provide consent for all App Store downloads, app purchases, and in-app transactions. Parents would also have had the ability to revoke consent at any time.
Apple had also planned to update its Declared Age Range API, a technology designed to help comply with global age assurance laws, to provide the necessary age categories for new Texas account users. New APIs were also slated for developers to request parental consent again if their app underwent significant updates.
The company had previously expressed strong objections to SB2420, and similar laws in Utah and Louisiana, primarily on the grounds of user privacy rather than children's protection.
"While we share the goal of strengthening kids' online safety, we are concerned that SB2420 impacts the privacy of users by requiring the collection of sensitive, personally identifiable information to download any app, even if a user simply wants to check the weather or sports scores," Apple stated in a developer announcement earlier this year.
Despite pausing its specific compliance plans for Texas, Apple confirmed that its other developer tools for age assurance remain available for testing and use. These include the Declared Age Range API, Significant Change API under PermissionKit, New age rating property type in StoreKit, and App Store Server Notifications. The Declared Age Range API is also still available worldwide across iOS 26, iPadOS 26, and macOS 26, and later versions.
