A newly developed rating system will utilize the well-known ESRB age rating icons to provide parents and consumers reliable information about the age-appropriateness of mobile apps.

by Rune H. Rasmussen

Recently, CTIA-The Wireless Association and the Entertainment Software Rating Board (ESRB) announced a newly developed rating system that AT&T, T-Mobile, Sprint, U.S. Cellular and Microsoft Corp. have agreed to support as part of their application submission (or onboarding) process. The CTIA Mobile Application Rating System with ESRB will utilize the well-known and trusted age rating icons that ESRB assigns to computer and video games to provide parents and consumers reliable information about the age-appropriateness of applications.

The companies are expected to roll out the ratings sometime next year; each storefront may make its own announcement on when the rating system will be available for their customers.

Ratings determined by age-appropriateness
The system requires that developers complete a detailed questionnaire that is designed to assess an application’s content and context with respect to its age-appropriateness. This includes violence or sexual content, language, substances, as well as other elements such as a minimum age requirement, the exchange of user-generated content, the sharing of a user’s location with other users of the application and the sharing of user-provided personal information with third parties.

To ensure content disclosures were complete and the ratings assigned were appropriate, ESRB will routinely test the most popular applications and closely monitor consumer complaints. The categories will be the same ESRB uses for computer and video games: Everyone, Everyone 10 years and older, Teen, Mature and Adult Only. 

 Family Online Safety Institute (FOSI) CEO Stephen Balkam said:
“In our increasingly digital world, kids can walk around with the Internet in their pockets. We applaud CTIA and ESRB for developing an easily accessible rating system that enables families to make the best decisions about the content their kids access on mobile devices. Keeping informed about mobile apps and holding open, honest conversations with your family is the best way to stay on top of emerging trends and experience all of the great things the Internet has to offer.”

Some skepticism
Currently, there are no government regulations on mobile app ratings. While consumer advocates are happy that the industry launches these measures, there still is some skepticism.

"We’re glad that the industry has finally realized that mobile apps require a ratings system to help parents find quality, appropriate apps for their kids, just like the movie, TV, and game industries do," said Jim Steyer, chief executive of the San Francisco consumer advocacy group Common Sense Media, to Los Angeles Times. "However, we always have concerns when an industry presents its own solution for a ratings system, because it’s tough to ensure an insider system can be both objective and independent."

Apple and Google Android not on board
Apple and Google, however, are going to keep their existing rating system. While Apple applies age ratings for apps in the iTunes store (4, 9, 12, 17 + description of inappropriate content for younger children), Android developers assign ratings according to four levels of maturity (Everyone, Low Maturity, Medium Maturity or High Maturity).

"We've put a lot of effort into Android Market's rating system, which now works well globally," Google spokesman Christopher Katsaros said in a statement. "While we support other systems, we think it's best for Android users and developers to stick with Android's existing ratings."

Apple has not publicly commented on the new app rating system; still, there is no doubt that they will stick with their existing app review guidelines and rating system.

Read more:

Parent controls for Android

Unreliable ratings on mobile apps

Sources:

CTIA Press release
CTIA-The Wireless Association® and ESRB announce mobile application rating system

Los Angeles Times
ESRB to rate apps sold by mobile carriers

Wired.co.uk
Industrywide app rating system dissed by Apple, Google

Washington Post
Wireless, tech giants to start rating apps