Welcome to Pixalate’s CTV & Mobile App Manual Reviews According to COPPA, a series containing the detailed factors the Trust & Safety Advisory Board educators used to assess an app’s child-directedness.
The educators manually review thousands of mobile apps available in the Google Play & Apple App Stores as well as connected TV (CTV) apps from the Roku Channel Store and Amazon Fire TV App Store using the COPPA Rule factors shown below & make those results available to the public at ratings.pixalate.com.
This post takes a look at a game which is available from the Google Play and Apple App Stores. Our reviewer discusses how the subjective factors set forth in the COPPA Rule apply to the app and factor into the reviewer's determination as to whether the app is child-directed or general audience (i.e., it is not targeting children).
The teacher will indicate the factors they relied upon in their assessment using the 10 factors shown below that reflect the 10 child-directed factors in the COPPA Rule.
The user plays as a green square which slides along flat lines on the screen. Tapping the screen allows the user to jump over obstacles, which mostly come in the form of triangles and jumping over gaps. Touching an obstacle is instant death and returns the user to the start of the level, unless they have activated practice mode.
The visual content is brightly coloured and eye catching with its use of neon colours against a dark background. The play is fast paced and almost has a “don’t blink” quality to it.
Daily rewards are available which arrive in colourful treasure chests. Once opened, they have a countdown timer on them to show when they will be available to open again.
As well as the main game, other Daily, Weekly and Event levels are available to play. These levels are created by other users and show ratings of difficulty, length and rewards available.
Longer-term incentives are included under the Quests tab, where crystal rewards are granted for collecting different items.
The background music is high octane and repeats whenever you restart a level. The music matches the gameplay well and sometimes the jumps fit with the rhythm of the soundtrack. Overall, the music is the type that can be offputting to adults but which rarely seems to irritate children. It is available to download.
The reviews of the app indicate that it is used by a mixed audience. One reviewer refers to playing it when he was growing up. Another states that “it is a great game and is perfect for kids.”
Privacy:
The Developers have a dedicated section of their Privacy Policy to children and acknowledge their responsibilities in respect of COPPA. They say they do not knowingly collect, use or disclose personal information from children under 13.
Screenshots of Geometry Dash Lite
Pixalate’s Trust and Safety Advisory Board was created to bring in individuals with experience using child-directed apps in the classroom to review and assess which apps are child-directed. This manual review process serves to quality check Pixalate’s automated review process. See our full methodology for more information.
Disclaimer
This blog post published by Pixalate is available for informational purposes only and is not considered legal advice. By viewing this blog post, the reader understands and agrees that there is no attorney-client relationship between the reader and the blog publisher. The blog should not be used as a substitute for legal advice from a licensed professional attorney in the applicable jurisdiction(s), and readers are urged to consult their own legal counsel on any specific legal questions concerning any specific situation. The content of this blog post reflects Pixalate's opinions with respect to factors that Pixalate believes may be useful to the digital media industry. Pixalate's opinions are just that, opinions, which means that they are neither facts nor guarantees; and this blog post is not intended to impugn the standing or reputation of any entity, person or app, but instead, to report findings pertaining to mobile and Connected TV (CTV) apps.