Target Audience Settings and Why They Change Your Review Path
The target audience section in Play Console isn't a formality — it changes which policy set your app is reviewed against. An app marked as appealing to children faces additional scrutiny on ads, data collection, and content, even if the core functionality is identical to an "everyone" app.
Developers sometimes select the broadest audience option to appear more inclusive, not realizing it invites a stricter review than a more accurately scoped answer would.
The fix
Fix: answer the target audience questions based on your app's actual design and content, not your aspirational user base.
The same check runs automatically when you upload your bundle to the AAB analyzer — permissions, SDK fingerprints, and version info in one pass, free.
Keep going
Run this check on your own AAB
Free analysis, exports when you need them.