Texas’s App Store Accountability Act has been signed into law, despite Apple’s wishes.
Texas will now require age verification for use of the iOS App Store, thanks to the state’s App Store Accountability Act, which was passed against Apple’s wishes.
On Tuesday, Texas Governor Greg Abbott signed into law an act that requires Apple and Google to verify the ages of App Store users. If a user is under the age of 18, their account must be linked to a parent or guardian, who would then have to approve each app download.
Apple’s attempts to argue against the bill, which included a phone call from Apple CEO Tim Cook to Governor Abbott, have seemingly failed. As noted by Reuters, Texas’ App Store Accountability will take effect on January 1, 2026. A similar bill in Utah has already passed and took effect on May 7, 2025.
Legislators claim the act itself was created to protect children and prevent them from accessing age-inappropriate content. It’s meant to give parents more control over their children’s online activity and to comply with the fact that minors can’t legally consent to app terms.
Before the bill was signed into law, Apple deployed six lobbyists in Texas and funded local advertising campaigns, which said the bill was “backed by porn websites,” among other things.
Apple claimed the bill would force it to collect and store sensitive personal data, like government IDs or other identifying information, from all users, not just children. The iPhone maker’s arguments, however, were not enough to prevent the App Store Accountability Act from becoming law in Texas.
While Apple criticized the App Store Accountability Act, some companies have expressed support for it. Meta, Snap, and X applauded the bill, which is in line with their previous statements.
“Parents want a one-stop shop to verify their child’s age and grant permission for them to download apps in a privacy-preserving way,” said the social media companies. “The app store is the best place for it, and more than one-third of US states have introduced bills recognizing the central role app stores play.”
Utah’s law and Texas’s App Store Accountability Act are part of a broader push by state legislatures to regulate tech companies in the absence of federal action. They could soon become a model for similar efforts across the United States, and companies like Apple and Google are aware of this.
In February 2025, Apple published a whitepaper detailing the age assurance features it would be implementing. Through a new developer API, Apple wanted to make it easier for parents to set up App Store accounts for their children, but it remains to be seen if the company will need further measures to meet the requirements of the bill.
