When I updated my iPhone to the latest version of iOS, I was greeted with an unexpected demand: verify my age in order to continue to have access to some features. Currently, this only applies to people in the UK, but it’s likely coming to your neighborhood, too.
Age verification on the iPhone
Apple went beyond what UK law requires
Apple users in the UK are seeing a request to verify their age when they update their phones to iOS 26.4. When I did so, I’d been expecting it, as I’d already seen people discussing it online, but for many, it was a complete shock. This isn’t a scam or a bug; this is an intentional Apple feature.
In the UK, the Online Safety Act places a duty of care on tech companies to protect users of their services from illegal or harmful content. The focus is particularly on protecting children from seeing adult content. It covers user-to-user services, search services, and services that publish adult content, in some cases requiring that those services use age checks to stop anyone under 18 from accessing adult material.
Currently, the Online Safety Act doesn’t require operating systems or app stores to include these kinds of checks. However, Apple has decided to implement age verification in iOS 26.4, seemingly in order to get ahead of any future regulations.
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You can verify your age in several ways
Skipping verification locks down some features
When you update to iOS 26.4, it’s possible to skip the age verification if you don’t want to do it or want to do it at a later date. However, if you do so, you lose access to some features. Apple says that Web Content Filter and Communication Safety are automatically turned on.
I tested my iPhone before I did the age verification, and I wasn’t able to disable the Safe Search settings in Safari. However, I was able to turn on my VPN, and I could change the Safe Search settings in Chrome. This may be locked down in future updates, however.
You may also be unable to download apps that are rated 18+ or to send or receive adult images using Apple tools such as Messages or AirDrop, until you have verified your age.
Verifying my age was incredibly simple; as soon as I started the process, I was informed that my Apple Account was over 18 years old, and I was immediately verified. You may also be automatically verified if you have a credit card on file in your Apple Account, since credit cards are generally only available to adults in the UK.
If you’re not automatically verified, you can verify your age by adding a credit card in your name to your account, or by scanning a valid photo ID such as a driver’s license or approved identity card. Some users seem to have struggled to get this to work, needing multiple attempts before the system would accept their scanned images.
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Age verification may extend beyond the UK
This is the direction the industry is heading in
Credit:
Discord
While this change is currently limited to the UK, that may not be the case forever. In the US, several states are implementing some kind of age verification law for adult content or social media services. Major platforms such as Discord have announced plans for global adoption of age verification, although this has currently been delayed due to the backlash.
It seems that the direction of travel is clear; age verification is something that we’re likely to see much more of in the coming years. The more companies, countries, and states that require it, the more likely it is that Apple may roll out the same age verification checks in other locales, in order to ensure compliance with local laws.
I don’t completely hate it
There are companies that I trust far less
Credit: Patrick Campanale / How-To Geek
Regardless of your opinion on whether governments should be dictating what people can access on the internet, age verification is becoming a fact of life. While it feels incredibly intrusive, I think that ultimately, Apple’s age verification could have some benefits.
Currently, different sites are using different age verification methods, and having to share your biometric data, passport, or driver’s license information with some third-party verification company you know very little about is understandably concerning. I do feel much more secure doing so through Apple, a company that has a reasonably strong record on privacy, especially since my age was verified immediately, without having to upload any documents.
Apple has a Declared Age Range API that can share a child’s age range with apps and websites so that they can provide age-appropriate experiences. It doesn’t seem impossible that Apple could use this API to allow websites to ask your iPhone if you are an adult without the need for uploading your ID.
If this system were to be widely adopted, then it could remove the need to use any other age verification services. While it’s far from ideal, it feels like a much better solution than having to use a different age verification service for every site I visit.
Age verification isn’t going away
If you’re not in the UK, it may seem like this is someone else’s problem. However, Apple is already going beyond what the UK laws require, so it’s not beyond the realms of possibility that this is something that’s going to start rolling out in other locations, too.
