Android App Ratings

One of the biggest boons to the Android market is the absolute freedom developers have to upload apps to the market. There are no submissions to see if an app one develops is ‘to standards’ to put on the market, only straight uploads. Of course this means that as the user, you are hoping every app you download is what you expect it to be. If you are not paying attention, you may be downloading something you didn’t expect.

Last week, Android released on their blog that they will be applying content ratings for all their apps currently in the market as well as those in the future. The ratings come in the following four categories; All, Pre-Teen, Teen, and Mature. The full list be found at the Android Market Help Center.

At this time, the rating an app has is up to the developer. They are encouraged to use the guidelines to determine what rating to use. You might think everyone will just set their rating to ‘All’, but that’s not necessarily the case. Android has built in that if users believe the rating of an app is incorrect, they can inform them and it will be up for review. If Android believes it was incorrectly rated, they will change it based on their guidelines.

I think the “All” rating is worth a call out. In order to have this rating, the app cannot require any location information. With so many children using cellphones, an ‘All’ rating, should ease the worry that their phone is being tracked by any outside parties. While it isn’t foolproof, it is a good start.

In the future, I will be curious to see if there is a parental locking system put in place based on these ratings. It would be one more way that parents could breathe easier when it comes to what their children have access to on their phones.

The ratings are not a prevention of receiving malicious or inappropriate apps, but they are one step in assuring you know what you download before you do so. So, enjoy the freedom of the market with a bit more ease!