Age Gate Implementation in Mobile App
Age gate — barrier before age-restricted content: alcohol, tobacco, gambling, adult content. Technically, minimal variant (enter birth year) — not verification, just declaration. Real verification requires integration with verification service or biometrics.
Verification Levels
Declarative age gate — user enters birth date or selects "I'm 18+". Enough for most apps in Entertainment and Food & Drink categories. Doesn't protect from kids who know right answer, but removes developer legal responsibility.
Document Verification — Light KYC variant: user photographs passport or ID, service (Sumsub, Onfido) extracts birth date and confirms age. Without saving document on server, only check result.
Age Estimation from Photo — ML model estimates age from selfie. Not legally reliable verification, but used as first barrier. AWS Rekognition and Azure Face API provide EstimatedAge in range.
For most Russian apps, declarative age gate sufficient — complies with 436-FZ on children information protection with user agreement.
Implementation
On Android check and save verification status:
object AgeGateManager {
private const val KEY_AGE_VERIFIED = "age_verified"
fun isVerified(context: Context): Boolean {
return EncryptedPreferences.getBoolean(context, KEY_AGE_VERIFIED, false)
}
fun markVerified(context: Context, birthDate: LocalDate) {
val age = ChronoUnit.YEARS.between(birthDate, LocalDate.now())
require(age >= 18) { "Under 18" }
EncryptedPreferences.putBoolean(context, KEY_AGE_VERIFIED, true)
}
}
Don't reset status on restart — user shouldn't confirm age every time. Reset only on logout or reinstall.
Navigation guard on Jetpack Navigation or Activity level:
override fun onCreate(savedInstanceState: Bundle?) {
super.onCreate(savedInstanceState)
if (!AgeGateManager.isVerified(this)) {
startActivity(Intent(this, AgeGateActivity::class.java))
finish()
return
}
setContent { MainScreen() }
}
Important for App Store: Apple and Google have own age-gate requirements. Apps with 18+ content must be properly categorized in App Store Connect (age rating 17+) and Google Play (Content Rating "Adults only"). Without this — rejection on review.
Age gate with declarative check — 3–5 days development. With ML service or KYC verification — 2–4 weeks. Cost estimated individually.