Welcome to Pixalate’s CTV & Mobile App Manual Reviews According to COPPA, a series containing the detailed factors the Trust & Safety Advisory Board educators used to assess an app’s child-directedness.
The educators manually review thousands of mobile apps available in the Google Play & Apple App Stores as well as connected TV (CTV) apps from the Roku Channel Store and Amazon Fire TV App Store using the COPPA Rule factors shown below & make those results available to the public at ratings.pixalate.com.
This post takes a look at a popular mobile app (1 million+ downloads) from the Google Play Store and Apple App Store. Our reviewer discusses how the subjective factors set forth in the COPPA Rule apply to the app and factor into the reviewer's determination as to whether the app is child-directed or general audience (i.e., it is not targeting children).
The teacher will indicate the factors they relied upon in their assessment using the 10 factors shown below that reflect the 10 child-directed factors in the COPPA Rule.
1945 Air Force: Airplane games is a challenging World War arcade style combat shooting gameplay. Once the game begins the airplane automatically shoots and players fly the plane across levels by moving it across the screen. The Player's objective is to shoot enemies, avoid being attacked, and collect coins. Players collect the gold coins when they blast the enemy warplane. It is fun but also difficult to play. The visual content and animation have simple immersive pixelated graphics with cool lighting and special effects. The game has music and sound that is horn-heavy with loud blasts. Overall, It can be played online or offline and is a very captivating game.
The goal is to collect as many gold coins as you play by strengthening your forces and weapons. Players use the coins to purchase new or upgraded planes as well as spare parts. Collecting gems is another currency that is harder to come by, which allows players to continue their mission when they are destroyed. Players can earn them for free by completing daily tasks.
The type of advertisements shown are geared towards a general audience and a few towards a mixed audience, such as, “Falcon Squad and Sweat: Fitness App For Women.”
The app is rated E for Everyone 10+ in the Google Play store and rated 12+ in the iOS store. A review posted in February 2020 on the Google Play store says, “My son loves it.” The review was from a parent or guardian with no age specification. There is no age gate but there is in-app purchasing.
Privacy:
The developer’s privacy policy states, “Use of the services is limited to users aged 13 and above, except in the European Economic Area, where the services are limited to ages 16 years and above.”
Find Pixalate's full catalogue of reviews in our CTV and Mobile App Review Page
Screenshots of 1945 Air Force: Airplane games
Pixalate’s Trust and Safety Advisory Board was created to bring in individuals with experience using child-directed apps in the classroom to review and assess which apps are child-directed. This manual review process serves to quality check Pixalate’s automated review process. See our full methodology for more information.
Disclaimer
This blog post published by Pixalate is available for informational purposes only and is not considered legal advice. By viewing this blog post, the reader understands and agrees that there is no attorney-client relationship between the reader and the blog publisher. The blog should not be used as a substitute for legal advice from a licensed professional attorney in the applicable jurisdiction(s), and readers are urged to consult their own legal counsel on any specific legal questions concerning any specific situation. The content of this blog post reflects Pixalate's opinions with respect to factors that Pixalate believes may be useful to the digital media industry. Pixalate's opinions are just that, opinions, which means that they are neither facts nor guarantees; and this blog post is not intended to impugn the standing or reputation of any entity, person or app, but instead, to report findings pertaining to mobile and Connected TV (CTV) apps.
