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 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.
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The gameplay screenshots for Toon Blast show that the content is visually directed to a mixed audience that is child-directed based on the animated characters, such as the charming fun animal characters that drive out in a camper at the beginning of each level. There are colorful visuals with cute cheerful cartoon-style animated characters and images. The game is geared towards keeping the player engaged and interested, with easy-to-understand color puzzle matching gameplay. The description in the “about this game" section of the Play Store states “ultimate puzzle game with unique gameplay and endless fun. Enjoy the crazy cartoon world…and blast cubes.”
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The music and sounds are instrumental and easygoing with childlike. The app does have free gameplay but there is a strong provocation to link the app with Facebook. The objective of the game is to solve puzzles by tapping on the blocks or helping a character escape when trapped in zany situations. The subject matter would suggest that this game appeals to children and adults.
The incentive of the game is to clear lined-up color blocks from the game and work towards achieving different goals, such as removing enough blocks by matching colors for balloons to sink to the bottom of the board. Removing a certain amount of blocks lets the player earn rockets, bombs, and disco balls to clear large areas and complete the level. The player then earns stars that accumulate and rewards at the end of each one completed.
The game is rated E for Everyone in the Google play store and 12+ in the Apple store. There is no age gate but if the player reaches a top level, they will be able to join a team or chat. Parents can disable the chat feature.
Privacy:
The developer’s last updated July of 2022 privacy policy states, “We do not knowingly collect personal identifiable information from children, we will delete your child’s personal information if we are able to identify your child or with verifiable consent."
Screenshots of Toon Blast:
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.
