Apple updates App Review Guidelines to ban AI nudify apps

On October 16, 2026, Apple updated its App Review Guidelines, a change first reported by 9to5Mac and then picked up by Techmeme and IT之家 on October 17. The revisions are aimed at AI nudify apps and at apps that hide their real capabilities during review and only add undeclared features, such as nudification, after passing it.

According to IT之家, the revised clause 1.2 explicitly brings AI-generated intimate images of people who have not consented into the prohibited category. For apps that include user-generated content, the clause sets out several requirements: use methods to filter objectionable content so it is not published in the app; provide a mechanism to report offensive content and respond promptly when issues arise; revoke a user's access to the service if they post offensive content; and publish contact information so users can reach the developer. A new clause, 2.5.19, bars apps from concealing their true functionality during review and then adding harmful capabilities such as nudification afterward. Violations may lead to removal from the store or termination of the developer's account.

9to5Mac describes the immediate backdrop as a series of controversies around the App Store over the past year. The Tech Transparency Project found dozens of AI nudification apps and said App Store search suggestions and ads also steered users toward them; San Francisco officials then asked Apple to remove 8 apps capable of generating non-consensual intimate images. Separately, users complained that xAI's Grok chatbot was being used to create nude or sexualized deepfakes. The public record so far stops at the guideline update and this background; the materials do not say what action, if any, Apple has taken against specific apps.