Black_Mage
macrumors 6502a
Why would age verification be necessary if Apple has a credit card on file for your profile? Having a credit card used to be proof that someone is at least 18.
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iOS 26.4 age verification
- Thread starter dan.jones
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> I don’t have a U.K. license or identity card. I do have a U.K. passport.
Scan your passport. Make sure the background is black (I put a black towel under my open passport) and the light is generous but without highlights or flares. Then "scan" the passport. It will then ask you to scan the other side of the ID, but don't - just scan the same first page of your passport again. I know, weird - but it worked for me, on my first try.
Scan your passport. Make sure the background is black (I put a black towel under my open passport) and the light is generous but without highlights or flares. Then "scan" the passport. It will then ask you to scan the other side of the ID, but don't - just scan the same first page of your passport again. I know, weird - but it worked for me, on my first try.
steve62388
macrumors 68040
I got my UK passport to work verifying my age, despite Apple's own support document saying it shouldn't: https://support.apple.com/en-us/125662
This is how I did it. Go into Settings, click on the verify age option at the top with the red notification icon. This will launch a scanning window for your credit card, asking you to double press your side button after lining it up. At the same time a card pops up from the bottom, press the X (close) in this card, and the option to manually enter your credit card details is displayed, scroll to the bottom of the screen and select try another method.
This brings up another scanning screen. I originally tried scanning my passport in what I thought was a brightly (but artificially) lit room. After trying to line it up for about ten minutes at a time, I did get it to accept the scan, but when it tried to verify I kept getting an error message that the scan wasn't clear enough. I tried again this morning in natural light and it worked. I scanned the page with your photo, name, date of birth etc on it. I spent about four minutes lining it up, shifting it ever so slightly at a time, angling the camera so it was as square as possible, and the page pretty much filled up the frame. I happened to scan it upside down because that was how I could get the best image by keeping my hand steady and dealing with the fact a passport does not lie flat. I had it resting on a plain black background (a laptop case). After accepting the first image it asks for the back, I scanned the exact same page again.
My age was then verified.
Considering how important it is to get verified I've been left with quite a sour taste in my mouth. Without verification you can't access or search for adult related content (which is true for any browser because they all use webkit) and a VPN does not bypass it. Nor can you use browser extensions eg ad-blockers. There are probably other limitations which I'm not aware of.
Overall the whole thing has been an exercise in frustration, and poorly implemented by Apple. First of all their own support document says you can't use a passport. The unclear wording on phone about what forms of ID are accepted, and the convoluted way you have to even get to the correct screen. And finally the scanning system is absurdly fussy and doesn't give you any visual feedback if you're lining it up properly (I have seen effective systems implemented in other apps).
I don't know if this sequence will be the same for other people, I don't know if it works with an Australian passport.
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Does anyone know how Apple is processing IDs and credit cards? I've tried to have a look at what they've released but I can't find anything about if they're using a third-party service or are doing it all in-house.
Also I haven't done the age verification yet but it seems I can still download 18+ apps - is anyone else having this functionality? In the screen time > Content & Privacy Restrictions > App Store, Media, Web & Games > Apps it lets me set the age rating to unrated with any complaints. This doesn't seem to work for changing the Web Content option back to unrestricted, that then prompts me to verify my age.
Also I haven't done the age verification yet but it seems I can still download 18+ apps - is anyone else having this functionality? In the screen time > Content & Privacy Restrictions > App Store, Media, Web & Games > Apps it lets me set the age rating to unrated with any complaints. This doesn't seem to work for changing the Web Content option back to unrestricted, that then prompts me to verify my age.
Yes it does. But eventually you may need to update.
You can't escape it from any future iOS updates, so iOS 27 and beyond will have this enabled. You also cannot get a new iPhone/iPad that has 26.4 and above.
JulianStaples
macrumors member
Does the credit card need to have been associated with the Apple ID/Wallet for any length of time and/or been used for purchases? Only ever had my Debit Card in my Wallet but added in my CC now. Is that all that's needed to get through all this noise in the 26.4 update? 🫣
Labour merely carried out plans the Tories put in place. Legislation like this takes years to actually put through the system. The Tories, continued under Labour also piloted the privacy-protecting ZKP ID with Google which Apple could also use. I blame the companies directly for taking the easy way out and not using the existing, private ID technology that was piloted for this very reason.
Its like the GDPR thing. The idea was to stop websites collecting data altogether because no sane person would give them permission. The companies found a way to annoy users into letting them continue.
The companies, not the states.
Are people just willy-nilly handing over their ID because Apple baked it into their OS, as there’s no UK law requiring age verification on a hardware level.
I find this move by Apple diametrically opposed to the decades of marketing of customer-first experience, fighting the good fight over FBI, backdoors and the like.
How far will people bend over when Apple asks them?
I find this move by Apple diametrically opposed to the decades of marketing of customer-first experience, fighting the good fight over FBI, backdoors and the like.
How far will people bend over when Apple asks them?
Rich74
macrumors 6502
I'm not going to post a video of my passport, for obvious reasons 😎 but I can guarantee that it works. It takes some time and some patience, but it can be done.
It's very difficult because
- passports have this film on the photo page which causes reflection with any lamp (it's best done with natural light coming from aside) compounded by the problem of having the camera's shadow projected on the passport.
- there's this confusing instruction of taking a second shot of the "back". The truth is, as someone said on that Reddit thread, you can just take another snap of the photo page. Initially I was skeptical, but then I tried and it was accepted.
On Reddit some people claim that they created a debit card with PayPal just for this purpose and that it's accepted.
JulianStaples
macrumors member
Taking that as a nope to my first question and not my second 😅 Ok then, 26.4 here we come. 🫣
I finally succeeded with upside-down passport. ask for other side just kept it on same side. soon has got the edges in line it worked 😀😀😀
The article states that Apple have actually exceeded what’s currently required of them under the Online Safety Act by doing this.
Apple adds age verification in the UK with iOS 26.4 and iPadOS 26.4
m.gsmarena.com
Apple adds age verification in the UK with iOS 26.4 and iPadOS 26.4
Apple adds age verification in the UK with iOS 26.4 and iPadOS 26.4
Unverified accounts - or those belonging to people under 18 - will get automatic restriction to what sites they can access and what apps they can download.
Overreached unnecessarilyThe article states that Apple have actually exceeded what’s currently required of them under the Online Safety Act by doing this.
Apple adds age verification in the UK with iOS 26.4 and iPadOS 26.4
Apple adds age verification in the UK with iOS 26.4 and iPadOS 26.4
Unverified accounts - or those belonging to people under 18 - will get automatic restriction to what sites they can access and what apps they can download.
There’s no OS level requirement
JulianStaples
macrumors member
Main phone updated to 26.4 and the newly-added CC on my account was enough to verify first time. 🙂
I assume that, as this is an account-level verification, I can now update everything else on that Apple ID without re-verifying each time. But I wonder if I can remove the CC from my Account/Wallet now verification is done, or does that need to stay there for future OS updates? I don't really use the CC for anything other than emergencies, and while I've made sure my regular debit card is still my default payment option, I'd rather just remove the CC entirely.
Also realising that I have secondary Apple Accounts for my collection of old phones/Macs/etc either stored in my collection or actively being tinkered with running old software/OCLP. I have no interest in either attaching my CC or exposing my ID to those accounts, so I guess they will become child accounts by default. 😅
I assume that, as this is an account-level verification, I can now update everything else on that Apple ID without re-verifying each time. But I wonder if I can remove the CC from my Account/Wallet now verification is done, or does that need to stay there for future OS updates? I don't really use the CC for anything other than emergencies, and while I've made sure my regular debit card is still my default payment option, I'd rather just remove the CC entirely.
Also realising that I have secondary Apple Accounts for my collection of old phones/Macs/etc either stored in my collection or actively being tinkered with running old software/OCLP. I have no interest in either attaching my CC or exposing my ID to those accounts, so I guess they will become child accounts by default. 😅
I've re-upped an old-ish credit card, arriving next week, so hopefully I won't have too many issues.
I wonder how this affects Family Sharing and 'Adults' on that kind of setup...
EDIT: verified thanks to my account being old enough on it's own. honestly. what a mess.
I wonder how this affects Family Sharing and 'Adults' on that kind of setup...
EDIT: verified thanks to my account being old enough on it's own. honestly. what a mess.
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trash eighty
macrumors 6502
Mine was incredibly painless, apparently i've had an Apple account that long that it was done already. Which means i am obviously very OLD.
Onlyuseapple
Suspended
The activists behind this are seeking further changes to the law such as people under 18 not being able to use VPNs. This isn’t coming from the government as such but activist backbench MPs and peers, along with various organisations supporting them. Many of whom it wouldn’t surprise me are probably being financed by the deep pockets of evangelical religious organisations like you get in the US.
Onlyuseapple
Suspended
vohdoun
macrumors 65816
When I saw the notification on mine that popped up last night I went in to look. As people said the age of the Apple account would determine. 2005.
Thing is when I went in and looked. The Apple verification went in and pinched my credit card on file without me approving then activated it.
I don't see how that's willy nilly... I have subscriptions and iCloud storage I pay for.
NUFC2025
macrumors 6502a
In the UK we had advanced data protection turned off because the overlords over here wanted a back door and now this.
Getting out of hand these days.
Getting out of hand these days.