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.
Dragon Craft is a free-building game for everyone. Players must care for, provide meals, and grow their dragons. It is ideal for people who appreciate building games with an amusing twist. The game's visual content and the animation have pixel graphics that are child-oriented within a 3D world where players can construct anything. Players figure out how to use the various blocks to make new things such as a castle. The controls are not difficult to utilize, making it easy for all players. The language in the about me section says, “fun that can be enjoyed by boys and girls.” This building game is great for building gratifying adventures in the online realm.
The app is rated E for Everyone in the Google Play store. There is no in-app purchase or hidden fees. The app has an age gate. However, there is an age slider and it starts at 13 and up with no way to put in an age under 13. Once the age is input the app is ready to play. If under 13, kids are still able to play the game. Google Play reviews show that there is evidence that children under 13 use the app. A review posted in July of 2023 says, “ my kids and I love this game.” It was from a parent or guardian without age specification. Another review in April of 2023 says, “I’m 9+ by the way.”
Privacy:
The developer’s privacy policy states, ”we do not knowingly collect or track personal information from users under 13 years old...our application and websites are intended for a general audience of all ages.”
Find Pixalate's full catalogue of reviews in our CTV and Mobile App Review Page
Screenshots of Dragon Craft
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.
