Apple tightens App Store rules on AI-generated nonconsensual imagery

Apple has updated its App Review Guidelines to place clearer obligations on developers to keep nonconsensual intimate imagery—including AI-generated images—out of apps that host user content. Developers must give users ways to report offensive material and block abusive accounts, and must prevent and remove such imagery, according to the updated rules as described by Engadget.

Apple says developers that fail to put appropriate safeguards in place, or that do not address identified violations after notice, may face consequences under its Developer Code of Conduct. The guidelines also state that apps concealing capabilities during review can be removed from the App Store and their developers’ accounts terminated. Apple specifically calls out hidden or undocumented features, including those concealed through code obfuscation.

The changes target two related problems: harmful content and apps that mislead Apple’s review process. The rules do not simply ban apps designed to create explicit imagery; they also seek to make developers responsible for moderating what users generate or upload within their services. Engadget reports that Apple has long prohibited pornographic material and apps built specifically to generate sexually explicit images.

The updated language follows scrutiny of AI “nudify” apps on the App Store. 9to5Mac recounts a January investigation by the Tech Transparency Project that identified dozens of such apps, followed by an April report that Apple search suggestions and ads were steering users toward them. The outlet also reports that San Francisco officials ordered Apple in July to remove eight apps capable of generating nonconsensual intimate imagery.

Apple’s revisions also sharpen its response to apps that disguise their purpose until after approval. The broader rule against hidden functionality was already in the guidelines, 9to5Mac reports; the new section makes the prohibition more explicit and spells out removal and account termination as possible penalties. Apple separately strengthened its language on apps facilitating human trafficking or child exploitation, saying those apps will be removed and blocked from alternative distribution.