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 game from the Google Play and 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.
The gameplay screenshots for My Town - Fashion Show Game include images of child aged animated models. The colorful, different locations such as the photoshoots, catwalk, and makeup room, etc, create individuality and unlimited play time for kids. The app store description says, “Loved by children and parents alike... great way for children to express their creativity.” The graphics convey a message through the colorful visual elements of the characters and the town. Kids will love playing around with and creating different looks for the characters. This app is visually appealing to kids as well as adults.
During gameplay, there are advertisements at the top of the game. Such ads are, "Singapore airlines and Yahoo cloud managed services”. This advertising would appeal to adults. Also, when selecting a new character there are ads that play in order to gain access to it. The ads have “safe ad,” next to them while playing. The type of ads are, “Super Mario movie trailer and McDonald’s Happy Meal.”
This game is rated E for Everyone in the Google Play Store and 4+ in the Apple store made for ages 6-8. There is no age gate or parental control when the app is downloaded and opened. The app shows evidence that children use the app. In August of 2019, a reviewer said, “my little brother likes to make the hottest looks and it’s awesome.” The review was by a sibling and no age was specified. In December of 2019, a reviewer stated, “My daughter really enjoys these games...” The review was from a parent but no ages were specified.
Privacy:
The developer’s privacy policy was last updated in July 2022. The policy states, “ our games are meant for young children...this app does not collectively collect any information from children “
Screenshots of My Town-Fashion Show Game:
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.
