A snake game is easy to start and hard to put down. We wanted Aether Tail to be good company for players of every age, and to give parents a real say without needing an account or sending anything off the phone.
It starts with an age range, not a birthday
On first launch, Aether Tail asks the phone for the player's age range: under 13, 13 to 17, or 18 and older. It never asks for or keeps an age or a birth date. The app keeps only that band, and whether a parent manages the phone, and both stay on the phone.
The band decides which ads may show. Players under 13 get only ads rated for general audiences, without personalization. Only a player the phone confirms is an adult is ever asked about ad tracking on iPhone.
Parental controls
When the phone says the player is under 13, or a parent manages it, parental controls turn on by themselves. Anyone can also turn them on in Settings → Parents. While they're on, a parent can see and choose:
- Activity: how long the game was played and how many games, today and over the last week.
- Share results: whether the Share button shows after a game.
- Ads for revives: whether a short ad can buy a second chance after a crash.
- Ads to unlock boards and colors: whether a short ad can open one.
- Easy mode only: keeps the slower snake on.
Buying, restoring, sharing, opening links and changing play time all ask a grown-up first. Without a parent PIN, that's a simple question for grown-ups; with one, it's the PIN, which is stored only as a salted hash. Too many wrong tries lock it for a while.
Break reminders and play limits
For everyone, Settings → Play time has two optional tools, both off until you turn them on:
- A break reminder after 30 minutes, 1 hour or 2 hours of continuous play: a friendly nudge, nothing more.
- A play limit of 1, 2 or 3 hours, after which the game pauses for a break of 15 minutes, 30 minutes or 1 hour.
Time away from the app for 10 minutes or more counts as a break. While parental controls are on, changing these settings asks a grown-up first.
Nothing leaves the phone
The age band, the activity record, the PIN and every setting stay on the device, and deleting the app removes them. The full details are in our privacy policy.