Apple adds further App Store restrictions around AI nudify apps

Apple announced new App Store moderation rules requiring apps with user-generated content tools to filter, block uploads of, and provide reporting for nonconsensual intimate imagery, including AI-generated deepfake nudes of real people. Apps found violating the rules, or a new prohibition on "bait and switch" tactics such as misrepresenting an app's capabilities during submission review, can be pulled from the App Store, and their developers can have submission privileges revoked. The change follows an earlier study that found dozens of apps capable of creating deepfake nudes of real people on both Apple's App Store and Google Play, many of which Apple removed at the time.

Apple adds further App Store restrictions around AI 'nudify' apps Alex Perry https://mashable.com/author/aperry yelix.bsky.social http://yelix.bsky.social . Read Full Bio https://mashable.com/author/aperry Apple https://mashable.com/category/apple is trying to tighten its control of the iOS https://mashable.com/category/ios App Store, especially as it regards AI https://mashable.com/category/artificial-intelligence deepfake nude photos. In a brief note on its developer website https://developer.apple.com/news/?id=vvzx6cul , Apple announced a change to its moderation tactics for the App Store. These new measures target apps capable of generating "nonconsensual intimate imagery" of real people using user-generated content tools. Pornographic material is already banned on the App Store, and so are apps explicitly designed to do that, but apps that have the potential to do so are now also required to filter such content, provide a way to report it, prevent uploads, and remove anything that gets through all of that. Terms of Use https://www.ziffdavis.com/terms-of-use and Privacy Policy https://www.ziffdavis.com/ztg-privacy-policy . You May Also Like The 5 best smartwatches of 2026: Comparing the latest models from Apple, Google, and Samsung https://mashable.com/article/best-smartwatches-2026-tested The change here, essentially, is that app makers are now required to self-police more thoroughly against AI nude photos. If any app is found to violate those rules, as well as a new one prohibiting "bait and switch" tactics such as misrepresenting what the app can do during the submission review period , it can and will be pulled from the App Store. In addition, developers behind these apps can have their ability to submit to the App Store revoked. Earlier this year, a study found dozens of apps https://mashable.com/article/google-apple-app-stores-hosted-nudify-apps-investigation-reveals that can create deepfake nudes of real people on both Apple's App Store and Google Play. Apple removed many of the offending apps at the time, but these new rules show there is still work to be done to prevent more from popping up in the App Store. Alex Perry is a tech reporter at Mashable who primarily covers video games and consumer tech. Alex has spent most of the last decade reviewing games, smartphones, headphones, and laptops, and he doesn’t plan on stopping anytime soon. He is also a Pisces, a cat lover, and a Kansas City sports fan. Alex can be found on Bluesky at yelix.bsky.social http://yelix.bsky.social .