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 & Apple App Stores. 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.
Light It Up is a simple jumping game, controlling a stick figure to jump from one block to the next. Landing on a block lights it up in a bright, neon color. The game uses simple controls and shows animated instructions on how to play using two thumbs. As the game progresses the levels become gradually tricker, introducing double jumps, moving blocks, and obstacles to avoid. The neon colors against the black background are visually appealing and the simple but effective controls make for an accessible and fun experience likely to appeal to all ages.
Adverts appear very frequently throughout the game, with a 30-second ad being shown after every failed level. The video ads are mostly for other apps, with puzzles or Disney Emoji Bliss being most frequently seen. There are also banner adverts for other, similar games, such as Stickman Hook (which I have previously reviewed and categorized as Child Directed). These are all topics which would be of interest to children.
Each level gives a rating out of three stars when complete and the opportunity to replay to gain a better rating. There are also different skins to collect and an inventory to show which have already been gained. The inventory features a percentage rating to show how many skins have been unlocked. This is a compelling tool to motivate the player to collect more skins.
Several reviews on the App Store appear to have been written by children. Although it is difficult to say for certain whether they are under 13, the language and use of emojis suggest they are younger.
Privacy:
The developers’ Privacy Policy is reasonably comprehensive and includes a separate Policy which details their approach to children’s data. They preface their Privacy Policy by explaining that they have apps that are for a general audience (with no age gate), apps for children (with no age gate), and apps for a mixed audience (which do have an age gate). By this reasoning, we can infer that the developers believe Light If Up is aimed at a general audience or at children, as it has no age gate. However, for the reasons detailed above, I believe this game fits into the Mixed Audience category.
Screenshots of Light It Up:
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.
