Platform policy

Content Rating Policy

Every article on Sphinnx carries an age rating and an explicit declaration of whether it is intended for children. This page defines what each rating means and how it is signalled.

The author's obligation

Every author who publishes on Sphinnx must select an age rating for their article and explicitly confirm whether the content is intended for children. Both are mandatory fields — no article can be submitted or published without them on Sphinnx.

Rating system

Sphinnx uses the Apple App Store age rating system — the same codes displayed on every app in the App Store and on Apple Books. Readers familiar with those products will recognise the labels immediately. The four bands are:

4 +

4+ All ages Sphinnx default

No objectionable material. Suitable for any reader regardless of age. Most professional, educational, and analytical content qualifies. Being rated 4+ does not imply the content is designed for children — that is a separate flag declared independently.

9 +

9+ Ages 9 and older

Infrequent or mild mature, suggestive, or horror themes. Mild cartoon or fantasy violence. Content that may require occasional parental context for younger readers. Typically: content discussing conflict, risk, or competitive dynamics in abstract terms.

12 +

12+ Ages 12 and older

Infrequent or mild: realistic violence, mature or suggestive themes, alcohol or drug references, simulated gambling. For Sphinnx: detailed professional analysis involving harm, deception, exploitation, or systemic failure — where content is frank but not gratuitous.

17 +

17+ Ages 17 and older

Frequent or intense mature content, graphic violence, or adult themes. For Sphinnx: content involving explicit descriptions of harm, abuse, trauma, or other material requiring adult judgement. Authors must provide a reason when selecting this rating; all 17+ content is reviewed before publication.

Made for Kids flag

Separate from the age band, every article carries an explicit yes/no declaration: Made for Kids. This mirrors Apple's own Made for Kids designation, which is required on the App Store for apps directed at children under 13 under COPPA (US) and equivalent laws in other jurisdictions.

The Made for Kids flag is off by default. Authors must actively enable it to mark content as directed at children, and doing so triggers mandatory content review before publication. A 4+ article is not automatically Made for Kids — a business analysis aimed at adults is 4+ but not children's content.

When the Made for Kids flag is on, the article badge displays as:

Made
for
Kids

Shown alongside the age band when the flag is active. Content directed at children under 13.

This article's rating

The article Dark Marketing Patterns: FTC vs Genesis Tech is rated 4+. It contains no objectionable material. It is not made for kids — it is professional analysis directed at marketing practitioners and business owners.

Sphinnx category to App Store band mapping

Sphinnx label	App Store band	Rationale
General	4+ 4+	No objectionable content; the App Store's equivalent of a universal rating
Teen	12+ 12+	Mature themes and frank professional content align with Apple's 12+ descriptors; the 9+ band is reserved for mild/infrequent concerns which don't map cleanly to professional editorial content
Mature	17+ 17+	Intense or frequent mature content requiring adult judgement
Adult	17+ 17+	Same band as Mature; distinguished by Sphinnx's own content flags. Adult content is not currently accepted on Sphinnx.

How the rating is declared

Field	Value (this article)	Location
meta name="rating"	4+	HTML head — general crawlers
meta name="age-rating"	4+	HTML head
meta name="age-rating-system"	apple-app-store	HTML head
meta name="intended-for-children"	false	HTML head
meta name="family-friendly"	true	HTML head
sphinnx:content-rating	4+	HTML head — Sphinnx namespace
sphinnx:kids-intended	false	HTML head — Sphinnx namespace
schema:contentRating	4+	JSON-LD BlogPosting
schema:isFamilyFriendly	true	JSON-LD BlogPosting
schema:audience.suggestedMinAge	4	JSON-LD BlogPosting
sphinnx:contentRating	4+	Sitemap entry
sphinnx:intendedForChildren	false	Sitemap entry
content_rating	4+	OKF article file (YAML)
intended_for_children	false	OKF article file (YAML)
ai_context_capsule.content_rating	4+	OKF — AI context section
Visible badge	4+ badge in article header	Article page

Enforcement and review

Sphinnx moderators review the assigned rating during the article approval process. A rating that appears inconsistent with the content will be queried before publication. Authors retain the right to appeal a rating change request.

If a reader believes an article is miscategorised, they may flag it. Flagged articles are reviewed within 72 hours. For 17+ content, a moderator must approve before publication regardless of author trust level.

Contact

Questions about ratings or a specific article: i137@proton.me

Typography & accessibility — notes for editors

Sphinnx uses Source Serif 4 (body reading text) and Inter (UI chrome). The following peer-reviewed and standards-body sources inform these choices and should guide any future font decisions on Sphinnx:

Body text legibility at screen size: Legge & Bigelow (2011). "Does print size matter for reading? A review of findings from vision science and typography." Journal of Vision, 11(5):8. doi:10.1167/11.5.8 — establishes that critical print size for fluent reading is approximately 0.2° of arc; at typical reading distance this supports body text at 18–20px minimum.
Typeface familiarity and reading performance: Beier & Larson (2013). "How does typeface familiarity affect reading performance and reader preference?" Information Design Journal, 20(1):16–31. doi:10.1075/idj.20.1.02bei — humanist sans-serif faces (such as Inter) and contemporary serif faces with open apertures perform well on screen; condensed or decorative faces reduce reading speed.
Fonts and dyslexia: Rello & Baeza-Yates (2013). "Good fonts for dyslexia." ASSETS 2013: Proceedings of the 15th International ACM SIGACCESS Conference on Computers and Accessibility. ACM. doi:10.1145/2513383.2513447 — recommends Helvetica, Arial, Verdana, Courier; advises against decorative and narrow letterforms. Atkinson Hyperlegible (Braille Institute, 2019; free via Google Fonts) was designed specifically for low-vision readers and extends these principles.
Accessible text spacing: W3C Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) 2.2, SC 1.4.12 Text Spacing (Level AA). w3.org/TR/WCAG22/#text-spacing — requires that no loss of content occurs when line-height is set to 1.5× font size, letter-spacing to 0.12em, and word-spacing to 0.16em. Sphinnx meets or exceeds all three thresholds.
Alternative body fonts to evaluate: Atkinson Hyperlegible (Braille Institute / Google Fonts) — designed for maximum character distinction at small sizes; strongest accessibility case for mixed audiences. Literata (Google, TypeTogether) — designed for long-form screen reading; used in Google Play Books; open apertures, moderate x-height. Both are free and available via Google Fonts.

Policy version 2.0 · Updated 27 June 2026 · Rating system: Apple App Store · About Sphinnx