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 game which is available 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.
Difference Find Tour is a spot-the-difference game where players must find all the differences between two similar photos. The player is told how many differences there are and must click them before the timer runs out. Hints can also be utilized if a player gets stuck. The differences can vary in difficulty, but some of the pictures do have some pretty small and obscure differences to spot. However, levels can be replayed and the differences do not change when replaying. Hints can also be utilized to help find a tricky difference. These ensure that players of all ages can enjoy the game without becoming frustrated.
The pictures are centered around a theme of countries around the world. Players are given a set of photos to solve featuring a specific country and new countries are unlocked as they continue to play.
The images are neutral photographs, appealing to both children and adults. They feature a variety of landscapes, food, and other images from across the globe. The use of photographs instead of illustrations ensures that all audiences will enjoy searching for the hidden differences in each picture.
Subtle sound effects and background music are present throughout the game, appealing to a variety of different audiences. Sound effects accompany selecting differences in the pictures and indicate if a correct or incorrect selection was made. Celebratory sounds are also played upon finding all the differences and completing the level. There are just enough sound effects to keep a younger audience engaged without becoming too annoying for older players.
This is a pretty basic game without all the complex incentive structures that some other games use. As each set of photos is solved, the player moves up in levels on the map. The pictures are themed for different countries, and unlocking certain level milestones allows the player to play in new countries. However, the main incentive is solving each puzzle by finding all the differences before the timer runs out. This intrinsic reward is more appealing to a mixed audience than any extrinsic incentive would be.
A banner ad at the bottom of the screen rotates advertisements, while the screen displayed after completing a level also shows a small advertisement in the middle. Video ads are played at times when transitioning between levels. All of these advertisements are for both mixed audience and general audience apps and items.
In addition to external advertising, there are also occasional pop-ups promoting the paid app subscription to remove ads and purchase additional hints.
Difference Find Tour is rated 4+ in the Apple App Store, E for Everybody in the US Google Play Store, and PGI 3 in the European Google Play Store. The app description does not contain anything indicating an expected age range for the audience. However, app reviews indicate a mixed audience with several parents and grandparents indicating that they play with their children/grandchildren. Additionally, there are reviews from children themselves.
Privacy
According to the privacy policy, which was last updated on May 15, 2024, Metajoy does not intend their games to be played by children and indicates that they “do not knowingly collect PII from children under 13.” However, there is no age gate in place to determine the age of the user to restrict the information being collected from minors who might be playing the game.
The privacy policy does indicate that the developers automatically collect personal data including; basic identifiers, contact information, device information, usage information, location, and any uploaded media. They also indicate that the information is shared with and by third parties, including advertising partners. If the user links their account to a Facebook login, they also collect content from posts and uploads on the user’s social media pages.
Find Pixalate's full catalogue of reviews in our CTV and Mobile App Review Page
Screenshots of Difference Find Tour
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.
