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 & 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.
Bubble Bird Rescue is free and simple gameplay that includes players freeing the birds caught in colored bubbles by using a bubble launcher by color. Players have to pop as many bubbles with each shot by color and players collect more points when the bubbles fall into the open drums at the bottom of the screen. There are many different levels in which players attempt to earn three stars to complete each level. In the About this app section, it says, “Fun puzzles...baby birds.” This shows that the language and other characteristics are directed at children with a mixed audience. The visual content is filled with bright and colorful graphics. Music and sounds in the game are a combination of child-like cartoon voices and a fun instrumental music box. The effects are visually charming with cartoon-style animal characters.
If players pop a large amount of bubbles they will be rewarded with a huge reward. As players advance, they get the opportunity to unlock powerful boosters to conquer challenging levels as they progress.
The app is rated E for Everyone in the Google Play store and 4+ in the iOS store. The app is ready to use after download and there is no age gate but there is an in-app purchase.
Privacy:
The developer’s privacy policy does not have a COPPA policy and was last updated in May 2013. It does state, “We may use your personal information mainly to provide our games services, complete your transactions and administer your inquiries…to contact you with newsletters, marketing, or promotional materials.”
Find Pixalate's full catalogue of reviews in our CTV and Mobile App Review Page
Screenshots of Bubble Bird Rescue
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.
