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 Store & Apple App Store. 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).
Manually reviewed in this post
The 10 COPPA Rule factors
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.
Reviewed by: Tabitha Walker
Manual Review: My Baby Pet Salon Makeover
Likely audience after manual review
- Apple Play Store Developer: Ninjafish Studios LLC
- Apple Play Store Bundle ID: 1162892504
- Privacy Policy
- Tabitha’s Take: A virtual makeover game featuring adorable animated animals.
COPPA factors used to determine audience
My Baby Pet Salon Makeover is a virtual makeover game, but instead of giving makeovers to people, players are pampering dogs, cats, and other animals. Pets get washed and brushed, as one would expect in a pet salon. However, they can also have face masks, make-up, hair dye, and a variety of other options when visiting the salon. Players are able to choose from different colors and styles to customize their pet’s look at the salon.
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This app is incredibly visually appealing to children. There are lots of pinks and purples featured in the background, and the animated characters are incredibly cute with features like big, sparkly eyes that would appeal to kids. While the game starts out with just dogs, it quickly progresses to cats, rabbits, and even jungle animals. New types of animals are unlocked as the user continues to progress through the game, with a wide variety of animals featured.
The animals themselves have limited animations; the primary animations are triggered by user actions, such as eating a snack or rinsing off with water. There are also animations at some transitions or when completing a level, like hearts exploding across the screen.
Even the loading screen features a unicorn and a rainbow, cementing the visual appeal to children.
Simple background music is present and can be toggled on and off from the start screen. There are also basic sound effects, such as water running when washing off the pets. However, most of the sound effects are very generic and just to show that the correct item was selected, rather than being reflective of what that item does.
Completing a makeover level unlocks the next level, often featuring a new animal and new ways to pamper and makeover at the salon. The lack of a complex rewards system makes this appealing to younger children who may not grasp elaborate incentive structures.
Pop-up ads for other games from the same developer appear when first opening the game and when transitioning between different sections within the game. Additionally, a little baby often pops out of the side of the screen and, while not immediately clear to the user, clicking the baby opens the app store to show other apps from the developer.
Banner ads are also displayed across the top of the screen, and video ads play throughout gameplay. The video ads are primarily for other child-directed apps, while the banner ads are more general audience.
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My Baby Pet Salon Makeover is rated 4+ in the Apple App Store. While the app description does not specifically mention kids or an age range, the use of words like “baby,” “cute,” “sparkly,” and “adorable” makes it clear that children are the intended audience.
The reviews also indicate that children are the primary users of the app, with reviews written by both kids and parents.
Privacy
The privacy policy, which was last updated on September 13, 2024, does not specifically mention children in any way. The privacy policy is a bit contradictory on what information they collect. One section states, “We have collected the following categories of personal information in the past twelve (12) months.” However, the table that follows states “no” in the “Collected” column for each of the categories listed. It is not immediately clear if any personal information was or was not collected by the developer. Elsewhere in the policy, it states that they collect device information, including IP addresses, service provider, device type, operating system, and device identifiers. They also mention collecting personal information that the user discloses, but no account was needed, or personal information given to play this game. Ninja Fish says that they do not sell user information to third parties, and they “may use your personal information for our own business purposes, such as for undertaking internal research for technological development and demonstration.”
Find Pixalate's full catalogue of reviews in our CTV and Mobile App Review Page
Screenshots of My Baby Pet Salon Makeover
About Pixalate’s Trust & Safety Advisory Board
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.
