❯ Apple revises App Review Guidelines to target AI nudify apps and features revealed only after approval

What changedAccording to 9to5Mac, Apple updated its App Review Guidelines on October 16. Section 1.2 on user-generated content now lists “nonconsensual intimate imagery,” and developers lacking safeguards or failing to fix violations after notice may be in breach of the Developer Code of Conduct.

Hidden features namedNew Section 2.5.19 covers hidden, dormant or undocumented features, requiring functionality to be clear to users and App Review; hiding features through code obfuscation can lead to removal and account termination. Apple is targeting apps that misrepresent their purpose in review and reveal harmful capabilities such as nudification only after approval.

End of a gray areaFor AI image apps, the gray practice of switching on features remotely after review now carries much higher risk. Section 5 also strengthens language: apps facilitating human trafficking or child exploitation will be removed and blocked from alternative distribution.

▮ SIGNALGenerative AI lets violating features hide behind a model, so app review is shifting from checking the interface to checking whether features are honestly disclosed.