In short
- Apple updated its App Store rules to ban apps that use AI to create fake nude images of people.
- It also bans apps that get through review disguised as normal apps and switch on hidden features later.
- The change follows reports that found these apps on the App Store and Google Play, some rated for kids.
Apple just closed a loophole that kept getting abused. Over the weekend of October 17 and 18, it updated its App Store rules to ban apps that use AI to create fake nude images, including ones that sneak in disguised as ordinary photo editors.
What does Apple ban now?
According to TechCrunch, the new rules:
- Ban apps that use AI to create offensive content.
- Ban apps that pass review as normal apps and then turn into “nudify” apps, or feature that function prominently.
- Ban hidden or undocumented features. Apple calls it “bait-and-switch”: showing one thing in review and doing another afterwards.
- Require apps with user-generated content to filter objectionable material, let people report it and block abusive accounts.
- Warn that Apple will remove apps that add features that weren’t in the version it reviewed.
The legal section now also explicitly bans apps that promote human trafficking and child exploitation.
What are nudify apps?
Apps that use AI to take a photo of someone fully clothed and generate a fake nude image of them. The problem is huge: anyone can grab someone’s Instagram photo, without permission, and create a fake intimate image.
Why is Apple doing this now?
Pressure had been building:
- April 2026: a Tech Transparency Project report found several of these apps on both the App Store and Google Play, some rated as suitable for minors.
- July 2026: San Francisco City Attorney David Chiu ordered Apple and Google to remove them, accusing both of profiting through store fees.
Apple says its review process blocked more than 150,000 apps last year and removed 193,000 developer accounts for fraud and abuse.
Why it matters
These apps hit young people hardest, and many victims don’t even know their photo was used. Apple banning them doesn’t wipe them off the internet, but it takes away their biggest shop window. If someone creates or shares an image like this of you, save the evidence, report it on the platform where it appears, and get help. In the US, the Take It Down Act makes it a crime to publish sexual deepfakes of someone without consent and requires platforms to remove them. The UK and Australia have made sharing sexual deepfakes without consent a criminal offence too.
Quick answers
Has Apple already removed these apps?
Apple changed its rules and says it will remove apps that break them. TechCrunch didn’t report how many have been taken down.
Does Google Play ban them too?
This week’s change is Apple’s. Google got the same order from San Francisco in July.
What should I do if someone uses my photo in one of these apps?
Take screenshots, report the content where you saw it, and check the law where you live. In many places it’s a crime.
Sources: TechCrunch · Apple Developer
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