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Age group self-certification and youth requirements

Updated: May 15, 2025

Check out this short video course on Completing Age Group Self-Certification.

Age group self-certification

To better serve users, you must provide accurate information about your apps on the Meta Horizon platform. In addition to completing the IARC content ratings questionnaire, you will also provide details about your app’s intended age group and content. You are responsible for identifying the intended age group for your apps by using the age group self-certification process. This is a mandatory requirement for all apps.

Supported devices

Self-certification of age groups is required for apps that will run on Quest 2, Quest 3, and future Meta Quest devices. The original Quest and Quest Pro devices are not approved for users under 13 years old and apps on those devices do not require user age group self-certification. You can use the device targeting feature to upload separate builds for different device types.

Determining your app age group

To determine the appropriate age group for your app, you should review the FTC Guidelines and consider an app’s subject matter, including visual content, character choices, child-oriented activities or incentives, music or other audio content, language, and use of child models or child celebrities or celebrities who appeal to children. You may also evaluate empirical evidence regarding audience composition or appeal to determine which age group self-certification category is most accurate. You should not rely solely on an app’s IARC rating to determine its age group.

You are required to indicate your app’s age group via the age group self-certification before the app can be published. You will select your app’s age group when submitting your app or app updates to Meta Quest channels (Meta Horizon Store, and other applicable release channels).

You must provide accurate information to Meta regarding your app’s age group and must update your age group self-certification if the app’s age group changes. The app may be subject to additional requirements depending on its applicable age group, as described below.

For each new app or app update launching to the Store or other release channels, you are required to self-certify your app’s age group.

For apps that are already live on the Store , you are also required to select and certify your intended age group to remain on the platform. You will be notified by Meta of applicable deadlines to complete this process for your apps.

As stated in Meta’s Content Guidelines, apps on the Meta Horizon platform cannot permit use of their apps on Meta Quest devices by children under the age of 10. You are required to prevent users under the age of 10 from using your apps on the Meta Horizon platform.

How to complete age group self-certification

You’ll be prompted in the Developer Dashboard to select your app’s age group from the following options:

Teens and Adults (13+ or applicable age in user’s region): For apps that are for users 13 years old or older.

Mixed Ages (under 13 or applicable age in user’s region, and 13+): For apps that are for children under 13 years old (ages 10-12) and for teen and adult users (13+).

Children (under 13 or applicable age in user’s region): For apps that are intended primarily for children under 13 (10-12 year olds). User data from these apps may not be shared with Meta.

Note: An app may be subject to additional requirements depending on the age group selected. See Age Group-Specific Guidelines and review the FTC COPPA website to learn more.

This process can be done through the Developer Dashboard, the Meta Quest Developer Hub (MQDH), or the Oculus Platform Utility command line tool.

How to self-certify your app’s age group using the Developer Dashboard

To use the Developer Dashboard to complete the age group self-certification for an app, take the following steps:

Open your browser and navigate to the Meta Horizon Developer Dashboard.

In the left-side navigation, click My Apps, and then click the applicable app.

In the App Product Detail Page section, click the link for the app’s Production Build.

In the Age Group Self-Certification notice that opens, choose the appropriate age group intended for the app.

When finished, click Confirm age group.

How to self-certify your app’s age group using the Meta Quest Developer Hub

To use the MQDH to complete the age group self-certification for an app, take the following steps during the build upload process:

Open the MQDH app on your computer.

From the left-side navigation, click App Distribution.

From the My Org tab, click the app that you want to self-certify.

From Actions click Upload.

In the Upload Build modal, choose your app’s Age Group from the dropdown list.

Finish uploading your build.

For additional information on using the MQDH, see the documentation (Unity, Native, Unreal).

How to self-certify your app’s age group using the Oculus Platform Utility

You can use the Oculus Platform Utility to self-certify your app’s age group with with one of the two commands:

upload-quest-build

set-release-channel-build

Both commands take the age-group option. When you use this required option, specify the age group as one of the following choices:

TEENS_AND_ADULTS

MIXED_AGES

CHILDREN

For additional information on using the Oculus Platform Utility see the Oculus Platform Utility Reference.

Meta reserves the right to conduct its own review of the app information that a developer provides to determine whether the age group that is certified is accurate. Any misrepresentation of an app’s age group may result in rejection, suspension, or removal of the app from Meta Quest channels.

All Meta Quest apps will be required to complete self-certification and comply with Meta Quest Policies. If you fail to submit the age group self-certification after being prompted to do so, Meta will take appropriate enforcement action, including, without limitation, blocking updates, removing the app from the Store, and/or blocking use of certain platform features.

Updating age group self-certification

You can update your age group self-certification through the Developer Dashboard at any time if your app’s age group changes, using the process detailed above. You should inform your users if the age group of the app will be changed. You may need to update the app’s accompanying metadata and marketing materials to reflect any changes to the age group.

Age group specific guidelines

Meta has specific requirements for apps, depending on the selected age group. If your app’s age group is mixed ages (under 13 and 13+), then you are required to implement the Get Age Category API. Otherwise, if your app’s age group is teens and adults (13+), or children (under 13), then you are not required to implement it. Regardless of the age group for your app, all app owners must disclose social features, not include ads, prevent users under the age of 10 from using their apps, and comply with Meta Quest policies and all applicable global laws.

Requirement	Teen and Adults (13+)	Mixed Ages (under 13 and 13+)	Children (under 13)
Implement Get Age Category API	Not Required	Required	Not Required
No ads	Required	Required	Required
No children under 10	Required	Required	Required
Comply with policies and applicable laws	Required	Required	Required

Implement the Meta Platform SDK into your app

The Meta Platform SDK permits apps to access certain features including matchmaking, downloadable content (DLC), in-app purchases (IAP), cloud storage, voice chat, custom items, achievements, and more.

Children (under 13 or applicable age in user’s region): You can’t implement the Get Age Category API into your app, and you can’t use any of the Platform SDK features.

Mixed Ages (under 13 or applicable age in user’s region, and 13+): You must implement the Get Age Category API into your app, and you can choose to use any or all of the Platform SDK features.

Teens and Adults (13+ or applicable age in user’s region): You don’t need to implement the Get Age Category API into your app, and you can choose to use any or all of the Platform SDK features.

Implement the Get Age Category API for mixed ages apps

If you have a mixed ages app and you would like to include any of these features via the Meta Platform SDK, you must implement the Get Age Category API (Unity, Unreal, Native, Spatial SDK) to receive Meta’s age group information based on the user’s stated age in their Meta account in order to meet the compliance requirement.

Mixed ages apps must implement the Get Age Category API within 30 days of age group self-certification, or risk removal from Store, or applicable release channels. If the API is not implemented within 60 days of certification, the app will face loss of access to certain Platform SDK features. When testing your integration with the Get Age Category API, be sure to test locally and in production.

Important note for Unity apps

If your app uses Unity, the Get Age Category API is available starting in v56 of the Legacy Oculus Integration SDK and the Meta XR Core SDK v59 and higher. We strongly recommend that you upgrade your app to use Unity 2021 LTS, which is the minimum supported version of the Meta XR Core SDK, as of v55. For upgrading guidance, see Upgrading to Unity 2021 LTS. If you have questions or concerns about updating your app to Unity 2021 LTS to use the Get Age Category API, contact us.

No ads

All apps on the Meta Horizon platform must comply with Meta’s app policies, including the ads policy.

No children under 10

Users under the age of 10 are not permitted on the Meta Horizon platform and you must prevent them from accessing your Meta Quest app. As a reminder, as stated in Meta’s Content Guidelines and other app policies, apps solely for users under the age of 10 years old are not allowed on Meta’s platform.

Comply with Meta Horizon policies and all applicable laws

All developers are required to comply with Meta’s developer policies. You are responsible for compliance with applicable laws including the U.S. Children’s Online Privacy and Protection Act (COPPA) and the E.U. General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), among others.

You are responsible for any user data that is collected by your apps. You must ensure that your apps, including any third party APIs or SDKs that your apps call or use, are compliant with all applicable laws or regulations.

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