Today I had one of those not so infrequent events when accessing an App on my phone that I use irregularly. In this case it was the Allstate App that allows you to manage your insurance. The app would not open stating it was not up to date, and I was forced to update and refresh it. Usually, I do not pay too much attention to this process and just go through the motions but this time the age rating caught my eye. The Allstate app is rated 4+. Interesting, I thought! Does that mean 4-year-olds are able to use it? I will not disclose my age, but I would not consider myself proficient to use this app flawlessly – rather fumbling my way through it to get what I need. In the past that was on stark display when I tried to produce my ID card for the officer during a traffic stop!
Or does the 4+ designation mean that at that age group Allstate is targeting their early child marketing programs?
So, it left me wonder and smile at my own wild thoughts. Tonight, I wanted to understand it a little better. Turns out that the age rating emerges from a content assessment as to what is displayed at what frequency and 4+ is the lowest level of age appropriateness that will be accessed during parental controls. Sure, there is no violence or tobacco and alcohol display in the insurance app. Anything that could be considered inappropriate would only be the user’s reactions to rate hikes that happen every so often, but they take place outside the app.
My conclusion: parents can let their toddlers play with the Allstate app – only watch out that there is no changes to your coverage by accident as the result of pushing random buttons!