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Tim Cook reportedly asked Texas Gov. Greg Abbott to amend or veto a bill that would require app stores to verify users’ age categories and obtain parental consent for minors’ app activity. Abbott signed it in May 2025. After a federal court temporarily blocked enforcement, Apple said it began applying the Texas requirements to new Apple Accounts created in the state on June 4, 2026.
What Cook reportedly asked Abbott to do
The Wall Street Journal reported that Cook called Abbott in the week before May 23, 2025, and urged him to change Senate Bill 2420 or veto it if it could not be amended. The account was relayed by news outlets citing people familiar with the conversation; there is no public transcript, and Apple did not publicly confirm the call itself. 9to5Mac’s report and TechCrunch’s coverage both describe the request as an effort to change or stop the bill.
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The proposed law reached beyond checking ages for particular kinds of content. It would put age assurance and parental consent at the app-store level, affecting how accounts are set up and how minors obtain or use apps. That marketplace-wide role was at the center of Apple’s objection.
What Texas SB 2420 requires
SB 2420, titled the App Store Accountability Act, regulates app stores that distribute software for mobile devices. The enacted text defines four user age categories and sets duties for app stores and developers. The Texas Legislature’s enrolled bill is the controlling source for the statutory requirements.
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- Age category: A commercially reasonable verification method must be used when a user creates an account. The categories are child (younger than 13), younger teenager (13 through 15), older teenager (16 or 17), and adult (18 or older).
- Parent or guardian connection: A minor’s account must be affiliated with a parent or guardian account.
- Consent: App stores must obtain parental consent for covered downloads, purchases, and related activity by minors.
- Information for developers: App stores must provide developers with the user’s age category and whether required consent has been obtained.
- Data limits and enforcement: The law limits collection and processing of personal data to what is necessary for age verification, consent, and compliance records. It also provides civil remedies and treats violations as deceptive trade practices.
The statute specifies a “commercially reasonable method of verification”; it does not, in the cited text, mandate a single technology such as a driver’s-license scan. Age assurance should not be conflated with a universal government-ID requirement.
Why Apple opposed the bill
Apple’s stated concern was privacy, not opposition to parental controls or child-safety measures in general. The company argued that making app marketplaces verify users could require them to collect sensitive, personally identifiable information from people broadly—including adults downloading ordinary weather or sports apps. Contemporary coverage of Cook’s reported call and later reporting on Apple’s objections describe that concern.
Apple has favored age-range signals and placing more responsibility on individual apps where possible. Its position is that an app may be better placed to decide what age information it needs, rather than requiring the marketplace to classify everyone. Apple’s developer guidance outlines its approach.
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The disagreement is about where age assurance should happen and who should carry the compliance burden. Texas treats the app store as a gatekeeper capable of connecting minors to parents and enforcing consent across apps. Apple argues that doing so centrally expands the amount of age-related information handled by the marketplace. Centralization may make parental controls more consistent across apps, but it also creates a common point where sensitive data could be collected or exposed. The statute’s data-minimization language sets a limit; it does not by itself establish how every implementation will handle retention or security.
Abbott signed the bill, but enforcement was delayed
The bill passed with veto-proof legislative majorities, making an outright veto an unlikely way to stop it. Abbott signed it in May 2025, despite Cook’s reported request. TechCrunch reported on the signing. The outcome shows the lobbying effort did not prevent enactment, though it does not establish that Cook’s call caused or changed the result.
The law’s original effective date was January 1, 2026, according to the enrolled bill PDF. A federal district court injunction suspended enforcement in December 2025, and Apple said it would pause its implementation plans. Apple’s December developer update described the pause.
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On June 3, 2026, Apple said a later court ruling had lifted the injunction. It announced that the requirements would apply to new Apple Accounts created in Texas beginning June 4. Apple’s update documents that rollout. This account of the injunction and its lifting does not establish that all constitutional questions are finally resolved or that future litigation cannot affect enforcement.
What Texas Apple users should expect
Apple’s June 2026 announcement describes the changes for new Apple Accounts in Texas. It says users must undergo age assurance, and accounts for people under 18 must be connected to a parent or guardian arrangement. Parent or guardian consent applies to app downloads, Apple In-App Purchases, and significant changes associated with an app. A parent or guardian can also revoke consent for apps previously approved for a child.
The announcement does not say that every existing Texas Apple Account must immediately complete the same process, nor does it specify one verification method for every user. It is therefore inaccurate to conclude from the rollout that every Texas iPhone owner must upload a government ID. The law does not ban apps, and these app-store requirements are distinct from Texas rules concerning age verification for adult websites.
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What app developers need to handle
Apple’s developer tools provide ways to receive age and consent information and to handle certain changes:
- Declared Age Range API: Provides the user’s age category.
- PermissionKit Significant Change API: Supports a developer’s consent flow when the developer determines that an app has undergone a significant change.
- StoreKit age-rating property: Supports the required age-rating information.
- App Store Server Notifications: Can notify developers when parental consent is revoked.
Apple says developers are responsible for deciding whether an app change is significant; using an API does not automatically make an app compliant. Developers should review Apple’s documentation and test their implementation in its sandbox environment. The tools can also support obligations under other state laws, but the Texas law does not mean that every state has the same rules. Details of the APIs and rollout are in Apple’s developer announcement; Apple had also published earlier implementation guidance.
Why the dispute matters beyond Texas
Texas’s approach makes the app marketplace a central part of age assurance and parental control. If other states adopt different definitions, consent triggers, or verification requirements, Apple, other app stores, and developers may have to maintain separate compliance workflows. That can increase engineering and support burdens while making the user experience vary by location.
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The policy trade-off is not simply child safety versus privacy. A marketplace-level system can give parents a consistent way to approve activity across apps, while requiring age checks at account creation can affect adults who are using ordinary services. A state-specific system may address Texas’s policy goals but also raise questions about data collection and how rules interact across jurisdictions.
The law applies to app stores operating in Texas, while the documented June 2026 implementation here is Apple’s. Apple’s announcement does not establish that Google Play or third-party app stores use identical processes. Nor does the existence of the law establish that its constitutional questions have been settled: Apple’s report of an injunction being lifted describes the enforcement timeline, not a final resolution of every legal challenge.
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