1. Our Age Rating and What It Means
OnFire Messenger is rated 13+ on the Apple App Store. We set that rating ourselves, by answering Apple's age rating questionnaire. It reflects the presence of unmoderated user-generated content, unrestricted messaging and chat between users, social media capabilities, and advertising.
A 13+ rating is a statement about the content and capabilities of the app. It is not a statement that we have checked the age of the people using it. Section 5 explains exactly what we do and do not check.
OnFire declares a Social Media content descriptor on the App Store. On iOS 27, iPadOS 27 and macOS 27 this means OnFire is counted within the Social Media category of Apple's Time Allowances, so a parent or guardian can cap the time spent in it alongside other social apps.
2. Minimum Age by Country
The minimum age to hold an OnFire account is 13, or the higher minimum that applies in your country. We maintain a per-country table and apply the higher figure during sign-up. Examples of higher minimums we apply:
| Minimum age | Examples of countries and regions |
|---|---|
| 21 | United Arab Emirates, Indonesia |
| 20 | Thailand |
| 18 | India, Malaysia, Philippines, Saudi Arabia, Singapore |
| 16 | Parts of the European Union, where a parent has not consented |
| 13 | United Kingdom, United States and most other markets |
Separately, some features carry their own minimum regardless of account age: payments, marketplace, vehicle rental and accommodation features are 18+. Vehicle rental applies its own document-based check, confined to that flow.
Country is inferred from your network location at sign-up. That inference can be wrong, and it is not a residency check.
4. What a User May Encounter
The following reflects the declarations we make on the App Store:
| Element | Present in OnFire |
|---|---|
| User-generated content, not pre-moderated | Yes |
| Unrestricted messaging and chat with other users | Yes |
| Social media capabilities | Yes |
| Advertising | Yes |
| Health and wellness topics | Yes |
| Medical or treatment information | Infrequent or mild |
| In-app purchases and real-money transactions | Yes, 18+ features only |
| Unrestricted web access / in-app browser | No |
| Gambling, loot boxes or simulated gambling | No |
| Sexual content or nudity | Not permitted by our rules |
| Violence, horror, profanity, alcohol, tobacco or drug references | Not permitted by our rules |
"Not permitted by our rules" means our Community Guidelines and Acceptable Use Policy prohibit it and we will act on reports. Because content is user-generated and is not reviewed before it is published, prohibited content can still appear before it is reported and removed. Our Child Safety Policy sets out in detail which automated detection controls are and are not currently running.
5. Age Assurance: What We Do and Do Not Do
We would rather state this plainly than let the design imply otherwise.
What happens today. During sign-up, before an account can be created, you are asked for a date of birth. If the age it implies is below the minimum for your inferred country, account creation stops and you are directed to a parental-consent process instead. That check happens on your device and is re-checked when the app next starts, so closing the app does not skip it.
What that check is not. The date of birth you enter is not verified against anything, is not retained on our servers, and is not attached to your account. In consequence:
- We do not know the age of any individual account holder.
- We cannot apply different settings, protections or defaults to a minor's account, because we cannot identify one.
- We cannot exclude a minor from any feature, including the 18+ features listed in section 2, other than by the checks specific to those flows.
- Nothing on OnFire should be read as an assurance that another user is the age they claim.
- Because the check runs on the device, a determined user can defeat it by entering a false date of birth.
Apple's Declared Age Range API. Apple provides a system service through which a person, or their parent within a Family Sharing group, can share an age range with an app without disclosing a birth date. OnFire does not yet use it. Adopting it, and using it to switch off social features for users under 13, is planned work; this policy will be updated when it ships, and not before.
A separate parental-consent process exists and has been used in a small number of cases. A further, document-based age check applies to vehicle rental and is confined to that flow.
6. Controls Available to Parents and Guardians
OnFire has no in-app parental controls. There are no supervised accounts, no facility for a parent to view or manage a child's account, and no children's mode. The controls that do work are the ones your device provides, and they work whether or not we do anything:
- Apple Screen Time — block OnFire outright, require approval to install it, or cap daily time. On iOS 27 and later, Time Allowances can cap the Social Media category as a whole, which includes OnFire.
- Google Family Link — the equivalent controls on Android.
- App Store age settings — restricting downloads to below 13+ prevents OnFire from being installed.
The point most likely to matter: anything posted to the feed or to stories can be read by anyone on the internet, with the poster's name, photograph and any location they have set. If that is not acceptable for a young person in your care, the only effective control today is to not use those features, or to not use OnFire.
7. Reporting, Blocking and Removal
Every account, post, story, comment and message can be reported from within the app, and any account can be blocked. Reports covering child safety are handled under our Child Safety Policy, which also explains our legal reporting obligations and the current state of our review capacity.
If you believe a child under the minimum age is using OnFire and you want the account removed, email [email protected]. To exercise data rights on a child's behalf, see the Privacy Policy. If a child is in immediate danger, contact your local police first — 999 in the UK and Ireland, 112 across the EU, 911 in the US.
8. Changes to This Policy
We version and date this page. Where a control described here changes — in particular where age assurance or minor-specific protections are added — we will update this page at the same time the change ships, and we will keep prior versions rather than replacing them silently.
9. Contact
Questions about this policy: [email protected]. Related pages: Child Safety Policy, Community Guidelines, Terms of Service, Privacy Policy.
3. Social Media Features in OnFire
Apple defines a social media capability as the redistribution, amplification of, or interaction with user-generated content through a social feed or similar discovery method that visibly spreads content to many users. OnFire contains the following such features, and they are available to every account:
Posts and stories are public
Content posted to the feed or to stories can be read by anyone on the internet, without an OnFire account, together with the poster's first name, last name, username, profile photo and, where set, a location name. There is no per-user privacy or visibility setting for posts or profiles — that control does not exist for any account, adult or otherwise. Location sharing is the one exception: it is off unless switched on, and can be limited to contacts.