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.
2-Player Games - Pastimes are a fun and addictive variety of games in which players can compete with friends or artificial intelligence in single-player mode on the same mobile device. The game's control is executed in one touch and lasts no more than a minute. Players can either choose championship mode for challenges or just launch games. The language and assortment of games include Turtle Race, Hungry Hippos, Ping Pong, and much more which are engaging for all ages according to the, “About Me,” section. The visual content and animation have colorful and vibrant graphic designs with child-oriented activities. The game is free and great for single players or for someone who wants friendly competition.
The type of advertisements shown are geared towards a general audience audience, such as, “Temu and Sweat: Fitness App For Women.”
The app is rated E for Everyone in the Google Play store and rated 4+ in the iOS store. A review posted in September of 2023 on the Google Play store says, “My daughter loves playing this game and it's great that we can play together on the same device.” Another review posted in September of 2023 in the Google Play store says, “My 4-year-old and 3-year-old play it a lot.” In the iOS store, a review posted in March of 2022 says, “My son is eight years old and he loves playing these games with his girlfriend.” The reviews were from parents or guardians with no age specification discussed in the first one. There is no age gate but there is in-app purchasing.
Privacy:
The developer’s privacy policy does not have a COPPA policy.
Find Pixalate's full catalogue of reviews in our CTV and Mobile App Review Page
Screenshots of 2 Player Game-Pastimes
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.
