Apple has expanded its App Store moderation rules. As outlined in the tech giant’s App Review Guidelines, pornographic material has long been prohibited on the App Store .
This includes apps that generate nudity or sexually explicit imagery, such as “nudification” apps that create sexually explicit images of real individuals without their consent. Apps that host user-generated content are required to filter objectionable material, give users a way to report offensive content, and let users block abusive accounts.
Apps containing hidden or undocumented features are also prohibited on the App Store, including apps that misrepresent their purpose during review and only reveal harmful capabilities — such as “nudification” — after approval, a tactic commonly known as bait-and-switch.
However, Apple is cracking down even more. The company says these are the new changes:
Content moderation requirements now explicitly cover nonconsensual intimate imagery — including imagery generated using AI tools — as content that apps must proactively prevent and remove from their platforms. Developers who fail to implement adequate safeguards — or don’t remedy violations after notice — risk violating the Developer Code of Conduct and being removed from the App Store.
This rule clarifies our longstanding prohibition on apps misrepresenting what they do during the App Review process and then changing after approval — for example, adding features or functionality that weren’t included in the version of the app that was submitted to App Review. Apps found engaging in this conduct are subject to removal from the App Store and removal from the Apple Developer Program.
The App Store has always prohibited apps that facilitate human trafficking or the exploitation of children (including child sexual abuse material). When we find instances of apps containing such content, we remove them from the App Store. We’ve updated Section 5 of the App Review guidelines to make clear that apps with such content will be removed from the App Store and blocked from alternative distribution.
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