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 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.
The goal of Happy Glass is to cheer up the sad, empty glass by filling it with water. Each level features a variety of shapes and lines that can be used to help balance and direct the water into the glass. The smaller the line, the more prizes are awarded upon completion of the level. Levels can also be repeated to gain better scores.
In addition to the “classic” line drawing, other challenges can be unlocked that also center around making the glass happy. Challenges include things such as not spilling the water while the glass descends through uneven blocks or flipping the glass and ensuring it lands the correct way so it doesn’t spill.
The adorable glass starts with a sad face and the facial expressions change upon seeing how the player’s drawing aids or interferes with the water flowing into the glass. It is a simple illustration that would greatly appeal to young children. The entire app is designed to look like it is drawn on grid paper, which makes it feel like the player is at school.
The animation is engaging as the player’s drawings are used to determine the direction of the animated water flow. While it is a very simple animation, even adult players will likely be invested in watching the animation of the water to see where it goes.
There is very little language within the app and it is easily navigated without having to read the written instructions. When a new challenge is introduced, animated hands and pencils guide users by showing them what to do, allowing even the youngest players to fully engage in the app.
Upon completing a level players earn coins, stars, and a partial fill of a water bottle. The amount of these prizes is dependent on the performance of the player and is primarily tied to how much ink was used to draw lines in the level.
The stars are more of an intrinsic incentive. They are primarily used to track how well players are doing and encourage them to repeat levels to get higher scores and earn the maximum number of stars.
The coins, on the other hand, can be exchanged for different pens, glasses, ink colors, and even the color of the water. These prizes allow the player to customize the game to their liking. These types of prizes are also earned by filling the water bottle, it is filled a little bit after each level, and once it is full a prize is earned.
Banner ads and video ads are present throughout the app. Video ads often play during transitions within the game and banner ads are displayed at all times along the bottom of the game. The ads are primarily for other mixed-audience games, but general-audience products and services are also advertised. It is also clear that the banner ads are utilizing gathered location information, as I saw several local businesses that are near my location being advertised.
Happy Glass is rated E in the US Google Play Store, PEGI 3 in the European Google Play Store, and 12+ in the Apple App Store. While the app description does not specifically mention children, the language describing the app is appealing to children. Sentences such as, “The glass is sad because it's empty. Your job is to draw a line to make the glass filled up with liquid and smile again!” would appeal more to children than adults.
The reviews do indicate a mixed audience, with reviews written by kids, parents of children playing the game, and adults playing without any involvement from a child.
Privacy
According to the privacy policy, which was last updated on May 14, 2024, Lion Studios does not intend any of their apps to be used by children; which they define as “aged 16 or such higher age as required by applicable law.” However, there is no age gate in place to ensure that children do not access this game.
Lion Studios collects information that the user may give when signing up for an account (such as email address) and also automatically gathers other information “including IP Address, mobile device ID (IDFA, Google Advertising ID or other identifiers), and the version of your operating system; and (ii) usage statistics about your interactions with the Services, including the links, objects, products and benefits you view, click, or otherwise interact with (also known as “Clickstream Data”).” They also indicate that they do use IP addresses to ascertain location information and may collect additional device information, such as the phone number or country associated with your device. The information collected is shared with third parties and is used for target advertising.
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Screenshots of Happy Glass
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.
