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.
UNO is a well-known family card game. It is rated 4+ on the Apple App Store and PEGI 3 on the Google Play Store. The app begins by offering a tutorial on how to play the game. The overall aim is to win the round by getting rid of all of your cards, and a card can be placed down if it matches either the number or the color of the card in the middle. The tutorial and the game are both heavily supported by the app, making it easy for players of all ages.
The app shows which cards are available to be played in each turn, so there is no guesswork required. If the user fails to play a card, the app will do it automatically.
There are different game modes available to play, with Classic, Go Wild, Side 2 Side, and Open Draft available to play once they have been unlocked. Each has different rules and functions available, all set around the same central theme of matching the number or the color.
These modes can be unlocked by earning trophies, which is done by winning games. The app matches the user up with other random players worldwide (or bots!). Players can also sign in to play with friends.
There are micro-transactions within the game, allowing the user to buy their rewards more quickly. The app provided a ‘coupon’ to incentivize the player to purchase, by getting more gold coins for their money. The app has daily check-in rewards to further motivate the user to keep coming back. They also award the player a status level, with titles to reward consistent gameplay.
UNO has recently been available in Happy Meals in the UK, which will in turn broaden the appeal of the app to children encountering it for the first time. Some apps in the review store appear to have been written by children, with one reviewer’s username being “Angelic Robloxian”
Privacy:
The app uses a self-declarative method of determining the age of the user; they are asked to choose the age range they fall into. The lowest of these age ranges is 4-12. The app displays a short form Privacy Policy and states that they disable “all other collection” of personal information from children under the age of consent.
Find Pixalate's full catalogue of reviews in our CTV and Mobile App Review Page
Screenshots of UNO!
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.
