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.
ColorPlanet Jigsaw Puzzle is a cool picture puzzle game in which players complete puzzles. Gameplay includes clearing a variety of jigsaw puzzles to get to the end. The graphics and animation content have colorful and appealing puzzle photos such as animals, nature, cities, landscapes, and food. The visual characteristics are child-oriented.
There are advertisements geared towards children and a mixed audience that appear when part of the puzzle is cleared such as, “Block Blast.” Also, there is a bottom ad banner throughout the puzzle game which is geared towards a general audience, such as “Whole Foods.”
There is no age gate but under 13 are allowed to use the app with age and confirmation of privacy policy. The app does have in-app purchasing. It is rated E for Everyone in the Google Play store and 12+ in the iOS store.
Privacy:
The developer’s privacy policy does not have a COPPA Policy. It just states, “Please make sure you are over the age of (thirteen)13 or under the guidance of the holder of your parental responsibility.”
Find Pixalate's full catalogue of reviews in our CTV and Mobile App Review Page
Screenshots of ColorPlanet Jigsaw Puzzle
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.
