Nudity filter in FaceTime: never again without pants in a video conference

Never again accidentally stumble into a video conference naked and experience the embarrassment of your life – Anyone who is familiar with this scenario will be pleased to hear about a new function in iOS 26 that is designed to prevent precisely such embarrassing moments in FaceTime video calls. If it detects that someone is showing themselves in a “sensitive” manner in front of the camera, it hides the video and shows the user a notification screen. The camera is only switched back on when the user consciously decides to continue the video transmission.

What is being discussed online as a little helper for clumsiness is actually part of Apple's efforts to improve child protection on the iPhone and other devices. Nudity detection comes under the umbrella term of communication safety, which was introduced with iOS 16. And this is to be expanded with the new software versions in the fall. At least in the current beta 2, it appears that Apple wants to extend this protective function, which is part of screen time, to adults as well.

First iMessage, in the future in even more places

As a first step, Apple introduced nude detection in iMessage. The function, which is trained using machine learning and carries out the recognition on the device itself, is intended to protect children from strangers sending them indecent images. Conversely, it also prevents intimate recordings from simply being sent from the device to the outside world.

In addition to FaceTime, the Photos app is now also protected. Apparently, the shared albums were a gateway for such attacks. With shared albums, users are asked whether they want to become part of such a group. However, the inviting party could falsely name the group or disguise their true identity as the sender so that it only becomes apparent that it is an unwanted group once the invitation has been accepted. In the future, however, offensive images would also not be displayed.

Function is initially switched off

In the online discussion, some feel that the function itself is intrusive and that their freedom is being restricted. However, this is not the case. The warning about sensitive content in FaceTime currently has to be activated by the user first – otherwise nothing will happen. This is possible via the Settings app, the FaceTime entry and there via “Sensitive content warning”.

Incidentally, developers can also implement Apple's detection in their apps. This has been possible since iOS 17 or macOS 14. The necessary framework is called SensitiveContentAnalysis. An incoming image can simply be passed to it for analysis. The analyzer then provides feedback on whether the image has been identified as “isSensitive”. The developer can then take appropriate measures to prevent the image from being displayed and warn the user.

(mki)