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.
Can You Spot It: Differences is a fun brain teaser-style app, in which players highlight the distinctions in two photographs on the screen. In the gameplay, with a ticking timer players use their observational skills to point out the differences between them. If the player needs more time, they can watch an ad or pay for ad removal in-app purchasing. Players have to improve their focus and attention to detail to spot the differences. The visual content and animation have vibrant graphics that have animated characters and activities that are directed to children within a mixed audience. The subject matter in the iOS app states, “The game is suitable for both children and adults,” which shows the app language is directed to a mixed audience.
There are advertisements throughout the game that pop up in between levels, such as, “Swagbucks and McLuck Casino: Jackpot Slots,” which is child-directed to a general audience. Advertisements are also in the bottom banner while playing the app, also directed to a general audience for example, “Mistplay and Amazon Music.”
There is no age gate. It is rated E for Everyone in the Google Play store and rated 4+ in the iOS store.
Privacy:
The developer’s privacy policy states, “Services do not address anyone under the age of 18…we do not knowingly collect personally identifiable information from children under the age of 18.
Find Pixalate's full catalogue of reviews in our CTV and Mobile App Review Page
Screenshots of Can You Spot It: Differences
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.
