Teens Can Still Download Nudify Apps: What to Do [2026]

Nudify apps are still reachable by teenagers, even with Apple and Google parental controls switched on. In a report released on October 19, 2026 and shared first with The Guardian, the digital advocacy group Tech Transparency Project (TTP) said test accounts posing as 13-year-olds were able to download 135 apps with features to strip people of their clothes or swap their faces onto nude bodies.

The finding matters beyond the app stores. Students across the US are reporting classmates who generate nonconsensual sexual images from ordinary photos, and any picture of a face can be raw material. This article explains what The Guardian reported, how Apple and Google responded, what the law says, and what families and creators can do with their photos today.

What Did the Report Find About Teens and Nudify Apps?

TTP found that age ratings and parental controls did not stop 13-year-old accounts from getting nudification tools. According to The Guardian, researchers created four test accounts, two Apple and two Google, each indicating the holder was 13. They searched for image-editing or face-swapping apps with terms such as "AI video generator" or "adult AI" and downloaded 135 apps with nudification or nude face-swap features. The researchers disrobed women in AI-generated images during testing rather than using photographs of real women.

Key findings reported:

• Two of the four accounts had parental controls that only allowed apps rated suitable for 13-year-olds, and only with a parent's sign-off.
• Neither Apple nor Google required or suggested parental sign-off for any of the nudification apps.
• The Apple account with controls found and downloaded 24 such apps, because all were rated appropriate for 13-year-olds. The Google account with controls downloaded 51.
• One face-swapping app was rated suitable for ages four and up, and the researchers bought a subscription to it from a 13-year-old account without any alert to a linked parental account.
• Another app was rated suitable for ages nine and up, and greeted users with an image of a topless woman.

The report's own summary, quoted by the Guardian: "Many nudify apps identified in the investigation were inaccurately rated as suitable for minors – meaning the teen users could access them even when parental controls were activated."

Is this the first report on nudify apps in app stores?

No. TTP published an earlier report on January 27, 2026 that The Register covered: it found 55 such apps in Google Play and 47 in Apple's App Store, downloaded 705 million times and generating $117 million in revenue, according to TTP. What is new on October 19 is the focus on minors and parental controls.

Why Do App Store Age Ratings Fail?

The stores largely rely on developers to decide who an app is for. The Guardian reports that TTP found Apple and Google rely heavily on developers to determine whether their apps are appropriate for certain ages. Both stores prohibit these apps and often age-gate adult content, but a nudify app that labels itself suitable for kids gets no friction.

Several weaknesses showed up:

1. Self-reported ratings. A developer can pick a low rating, and parental controls treat it as truth.
2. Easy age confirmation. When researchers tried an adult-rated app on the Apple store, a pop-up warned about age-restricted material, but confirming they were 17 or older was enough, even though the account was registered as 13.
3. Bait and switch. Apple's spokesperson described a tactic where a developer passes review, then adds nudification features later.
4. Mainstream apps with hidden modes. Apple said many apps in the report are legitimate editors without nudification capability, which makes blanket filtering hard.

How Did Apple and Google Respond?

Both companies say they prohibit nudify apps and have acted, with Apple tightening its rules. Google spokesperson Dan Jackson told the Guardian: "When violations are detected or reported to us, we investigate and take swift action, which in this case included suspending violating apps and restricting related search terms on our store."

Apple said that after TTP contacted it, the company strengthened content moderation guidelines and now requires developers to pre-emptively prevent and remove nonconsensual intimate imagery, including AI-generated images. Apple spokesperson Adam Dema said: "We prohibit nudify apps on the App Store, and remove developers who add capabilities like it after the App Review process – a malicious tactic known as bait-and-switch."

Take-downs have limits. During the research Apple took down 25 of the identified apps and Google took down six, but the researchers could continue using an app they had already downloaded.

What Does This Look Like for Families?

It looks like a school email nobody wants to receive. The Guardian opens with Morgan Dorfman, who learned in December 2025 that a student at her daughter's Pennsylvania high school used an app called Movely to create sexual videos from pictures of her daughter and five other girls. She told the paper: "I knew what a deepfake was, but I thought it was like Taylor Swift and people using celebrities' [images]... I didn't know it was possible to take any picture or any screenshot of anybody that you have and do this."

Two details stand out. The free version promoted sexually suggestive templates, and the paid version was more explicit. And when she returned to take screenshots, the app had been removed from the store, but it still worked on her phone and she was still being charged. The school's first message said there was no evidence of inappropriate behaviour; days later, Radnor police criminally charged the student with harassment. Dorfman said she cannot tell her daughter the videos are gone or who has them.

What Does the Law Say About Nudify Apps?

Possessing AI-generated child sexual abuse material is a crime in most US states, and governments are moving against the apps. The Guardian notes that governments around the world have moved to ban these platforms from app stores and that most US states criminalise possession of AI-generated child sexual abuse material. In Europe the direction is similar: see our explainers on the EU nudifier app ban and the MEP push to ban nudifier deepfakes by December 2026.

Law is slower than apps, though. Enforcement depends on the victim knowing, the school or police acting, and the creator being identified. That is why prevention at the photo stage is worth discussing.

Can You Stop Someone Turning Your Photo Into a Nudify Fake?

Not completely, but you can make the raw material harder to get. Nudify tools need a clear photo of a face and body. Public posts of children, school event galleries and open social profiles are the usual source. No setting makes you immune, and anyone who tells you otherwise is overselling.

Realistic measures:

• Limit audience. Private accounts and closed groups reduce scraping and classmates' screenshots.
• Avoid posting clear full-body photos of children publicly. See our guides on what sharenting is and how to protect child privacy and the Italian ruling that both parents must consent to kids' photos.
• Blur faces of children who are not yours. Our walkthrough on blurring other kids' faces in school sports videos applies directly.
• Know what deepfakes look like. Our deepfake fraud statistics and detection guide covers common tells.

Where Does BGBlur Fit In?

BGBlur helps with the photos and videos you choose to publish; it does not stop nudify apps and cannot recall images already online. It runs in your browser: you upload a clip or image, AI finds faces, motion-tracks them, and exports a version where faces are blurred. For a school performance, a team video or a family clip shared beyond close friends, blurring other people's children before posting means there is no clear face for a stranger to feed into an app.

There are real caveats. Blurring does not hide a body, clothing or a recognisable setting, so crop or blur those too where it matters. A blur cannot protect a photo that someone else took and shared. Weak blur can sometimes be reversed, so use a strong setting; our guide on why weak blur fails explains. The free plan has limits on file size, length and monthly videos, with paid plans removing them.

For the basics of the workflow, see our guide to blurring faces in photos and video with AI.

What Should Parents and Schools Do Now?

Act on the settings you control and agree on a response plan before something happens. The report shows parental controls alone are not enough, so layer the steps.

1. Check which apps are installed. Look at the phone's app list and at purchases and subscriptions in the store account, not only downloads.
2. Use store-level controls, but do not rely on them. Set age limits on Apple and Google accounts, require approval for purchases, and treat ratings as a hint rather than a guarantee.
3. Talk about it plainly. Explain that making sexual images of a classmate, even fake ones, can be a crime and causes real harm.
4. Tighten what you post. Review which photos of your children are public, remove clear face shots, and blur faces in videos with other children.
5. Agree a school response. Ask your school how it handles AI-generated imagery, who it reports to, and how fast.
6. If it happens, preserve and report. Save screenshots or links without forwarding the image, report to the platform, school and police, and ask for takedown help from child-safety organisations.
7. Watch for follow-up. Apple and Google have promised changes; new reports will show whether ratings improve.

What Are Creators and Publishers Supposed to Take From This?

Treat every published face as potential input to a generator. Creators who film in schools, parks, events or street scenes publish faces of people who did not agree to become training or editing material. Blurring bystanders and minors is a courtesy and, in many jurisdictions, a legal protection. Our guide on unauthorized filming and face blurring covers when blurring is expected.

Conclusion

The headline number is 135 apps, but the real story is a gap in how app stores decide who may see what. Ratings set by developers, parental controls built on those ratings, and take-downs that do not reach installed apps leave a teenager with easy access and a victim with little recourse. Apple's tightened rules and Google's suspensions are steps; whether they hold will show in the next audit.

Families cannot wait for that. Limit what is public, talk openly, set controls while knowing their limits, and prepare a response plan. If you publish video or photos that include children or bystanders, blur faces first. BGBlur does that in the browser, with motion tracking for video, so you can share the moment without handing a stranger a clean face to misuse. Try it on your next clip before you post.

Sources: The Guardian, The Register on the January 2026 TTP report, Campaign for Accountability on TTP's earlier report.