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.
Antistress-Relaxing Games is an assortment of small games intended for unwinding. The games are easy to use and can be played by people of all ages. On the home screen, there are a few additional games advertised. Each game is extremely relaxing and a good distraction for people in a worried or stressful state. The visual content and animation in each game have colorful graphics shown in a child-friendly format. The collection of games uses characters and child-oriented activities. The app is a fun and engaging way to manage stress.
There is a continuous amount of advertisement shown throughout the app when moving to the next level and switching games, such as “Mistplay,” directed to a general audience. At the bottom banner of the app the ad, “TEMU,” is situated during the entire gameplay.
The app is rated E for Everyone in the Google Play store and rated 4+ in the iOS store. The app is ready to play immediately and there is no age gate. There is in-app purchasing within the game. There is evidence that children use the app through reviews. In the Google Play store in September 2020, it says, “My daughter has enjoyed some of the games.” The review was left by a parent with no age specification.
Privacy:
The developer’s privacy policy states ”does not knowingly get personal information from children under the age of 13. We encourage parents and their legal guardians to closely monitor their children’s Internet usage”
Screenshots of Antistress-Relaxing 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.
