# Guideline 1.3 - Safety: Kids Category Missing Parental Gates

**Guideline:** 1.3 · **Store:** Apple App Store · **Severity:** medium · **Fix difficulty:** easy · **Typical turnaround:** 2-8 hours

Canonical URL: https://appstorereject.com/rejections/apple/1/guideline-13-safety-kids-category-missing-parental-gates

## Description

Apple is rejecting your app because it's in the Kids Category but contains links, purchasing opportunities, or other distractions for children that aren't behind a parental gate. In the Kids Category, anything that leads outside the app experience must be gated by a parental control. Parental gates must meet Apple's requirements: they should require an adult-level action to bypass (not just a simple tap or swipe). Apple provides guidance on acceptable parental gate patterns — typically a math problem, a text instruction that young children can't read, or a multi-gesture interaction. Common triggers include: links to your website, social media buttons, 'Rate Us' prompts, email signup forms, in-app purchase buttons accessible to children, or any button that opens Safari or another app. Even a 'Contact Us' link needs a parental gate.

## Common variations

- Links out of the app are not behind a parental gate
- In-app purchase prompts accessible to children without parental gate
- Social media buttons or website links not gated
- External links and purchasing opportunities must be in a designated area behind a parental gate

## Example rejection email

```
Guideline 1.3 - Safety - Kids Category

Your app is listed in the Kids Category but includes links out of the app and/or purchasing opportunities that are not reserved behind a parental gate.

Specifically:
- [Links to external websites / In-app purchase prompts / Social media buttons] are accessible to children without a parental gate.

Next Steps:
Please ensure that all links, purchasing opportunities, and other distractions are placed behind an appropriate parental gate. Learn more about parental gates.
```

## Resolution steps

## Quick Assessment
- **Risk level:** Medium
- **Resolution path:** Fix & Resubmit
- **Typical turnaround:** 2-8 hours

## The Fix

01. **Audit all exit points** — Find every link, button, or action that leaves the app: website links, social buttons, 'Rate Us' prompts, IAP buttons, privacy policy links, terms links, support links.

02. **Designate a parents-only area** — Create a 'Parents' section in Settings or a dedicated area for all adult-facing content.

03. **Implement a parental gate** — Gate the parents area with a mechanism children can't easily bypass. Acceptable patterns include:
   - A written instruction like 'Please ask your parent to enter: [math problem]'
   - A multi-touch gesture requiring adult hand span
   - A number pad requiring entry of a specific code shown in text (not numbers)

04. **Move all links behind the gate** — All website links, purchase buttons, social media, and other external-facing actions go in the parents-only area.

05. **Test with the reviewer in mind** — In Review Notes, explain where the parental gate is and how to bypass it for testing.

## Prevention
- Build the parental gate before adding any external links to a Kids Category app
- Default to putting everything behind the gate and only move things out if they're purely child-facing content

## Before / after examples

**Before:** Kids game has a 'Visit Our Website' button on the main menu and IAP 'Remove Ads' button on every level
**After:** All external links and IAP buttons moved to a 'For Parents' section behind a parental gate requiring solving '14 + 23 = ?'
**Why it works:** Everything that exits the child's experience must be behind a parental gate in Kids Category apps.

## Common questions

**How long does this typically take to fix?**

Typical turnaround is 2-8 hours (difficulty: easy). After resubmission, most re-reviews complete within 24-48 hours.

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*Machine-readable source: https://api.appstorereject.com/api/rejections/detail?slug=guideline-13-safety-kids-category-missing-parental-gates*