How age verification works in iOS 26.4

The latest iOS 26.4 developer beta has introduced age verification, although so far only for the UK. You can postpone setting it up, but the whole process is absurdly fast to do.

Apple has added age verification to the UK iOS 26.4 beta
Amongst features such as improved RCS messaging encryption, the latest iOS 26.4 beta has added age verification for the first time. For now, it's present in the UK beta because the country's Online Safety Act requires it.

Apple's implementation is not part of how the UK uses the act to mandate that adult sites verify users' ages. It's instead another aspect of how parents can already limit their children to age-appropriate apps on the iPhone.

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How age verification works in iOS 26.4

[William Gallagher's profile picture]

William Gallagher

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Wed Feb 25 2026, 12:41 PM EST
3 minute read

Apple has added age verification to the UK iOS 26.4 beta

The latest iOS 26.4 developer beta has introduced age verification, although so far only for the UK. You can postpone setting it up, but the whole process is absurdly fast to do.

Amongst features such as improved RCS messaging encryption, the latest iOS 26.4 beta has added age verification for the first time. For now, it's present in the UK beta because the country's Online Safety Act requires it.

Apple's implementation is not part of how the UK uses the act to mandate that adult sites verify users' ages. It's instead another aspect of how parents can already limit their children to age-appropriate apps on the iPhone.

Ultimately, the age-verification APIs will be exposed to websites, but that hasn't happened yet.

It's easy to do, though. After installing the iOS 26.4 update, the first thing you notice is a new section at the top of Settings. It's labelled "Confirm You Are 18+."

Tapping on that takes you to a new screen which offers the smallest extra detail.

The whole process can take under two seconds.

"Confirm you are 18+ to update your restrictions," it continues. "To change these restrictions, the UK requires you to confirm you are an adult."

A small-print note says that Apple may confirm you're an adult by checking any payment method you have with your Apple Account. "A valid credit card can help confirm you're at least 18 because you must be an adult to open a credit card account."

Besides this, there are two buttons — Continue and Confirm Later. There's no indication how long iOS 26.4 will wait to prompt you if you choose to continue later.

But then there's no apparent advantage in waiting, no obvious reason to, because the rest of the process could not conceivably be any faster or simpler for most. From tapping Continue, and having a Face ID scan, it took under two seconds to complete the verification.

In our case, the process explained that this verification was down to "the length of time you have had an Apple account." Presumably a newer user or one without a registered credit card on their Apple Account, will be prompted to provide more details, such as scanning a card.

Of course Apple designs this well

The Online Safety Act's first requirement was for age verification on adult websites. Some of those have since been fined for not complying, which suggests it's proven complex to install.

But then from the users' perspective, age verification hasn't been remotely as straightforward as Apple's implementation. The process varies, but it can involve a site taking a photo of the user and then, presumably through AI, calculating their approximate age.

All of which, including these first steps from Apple about age-appropriate apps, would seem like a good idea that is being implemented with the best of intentions. In the UK, though, it's really been another example of political posturing instead of actually useful safeguarding.

There are reports of UK people getting around the verification on these sites by simply showing their camera a photo of someone older. And there are more verified reports that the use of VPNs to disguise what country a user is in.

NordVPN, for instance, reported a 1,000% increase in purchases from the UK. Proton VPN saw 1,400% more signups minutes after the act came into effect.

Curiously, analytics firm Sensor Tower said in July 2025 said that considerably more iPhone users than Android ones were downloading VPNs. In the first few days after the law was implemented, Android signups to VPNs rose 5% daily, while iPhone users rose 100%.

What happens next

Apple's new age verification will roll out in the UK when iOS 26.4 is officially released. Over time, the UK may also require age verification for the use of VPNs.

But this is also Apple getting a little ahead of regulators in adding age verification before being required to globally. In December 2025, for instance, it was reported that the US government wanted age verification to be added to the App Store.

That was despite Apple announcing in February 2025, an extensive plan to implement what it called age assurance. As well as working to stop children seeing inappropriate content, it also protected them by not allowing developers access to a user's personal details under the guise of verification.

Just after that, in March 2025, Utah became the first state to require Apple to conduct age-verification.

Even so, by just the next month, April 2025, Meta and Spotify were named in a group protesting that Apple should be responsible for age verification.

Ignoring the fact that the group said this after Apple had already done it, there was also an element of Meta trying to pass the buck to Apple. It's easier to argue that a platform should do this, than it is to pay to implement it in your own services.

Now, when iOS 26.4 ships to users, at least, Apple is implementing at least some age verification on its platform. And with Apple doing it, at least our credit card data is not being handed over to countless different third-party firms.

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