FaceTime on iOS 26 Will Block Calls If Someone Starts Undressing

Among the iOS26 features not announced during WWDC , one in particular has been causing a stir for a few days. With the new iOS 26 beta, Apple has in fact introduced the automatic blocking of nude images during FaceTime video calls.

How it works

Originally designed to protect minors, this feature has now been extended to all users. It uses on-device machine learning to detect nudity in real time during FaceTime video calls: when the system detects that someone begins to undress or show nudity, the video and audio of the call are automatically blocked. A warning appears on the screen: "Audio and video are paused because you may be showing something sensitive. If you feel uncomfortable, you should end the call." The user then has two options: resume the call or end it completely.

Privacy Protection

This feature is part of Apple's Communication Safety system, introduced in iOS 15.2 to protect minors from inappropriate content in messages. In iOS 26, Apple has extended these protections to FaceTime , precisely with the detection of nudity during video calls, but also to Shared Albums , where nude images are automatically obscured, while in Messages, AirDrop and Contact Posters they were already active.

Apple has clarified that all detection happens locally on the device using machine learning algorithms, and that no content is sent to the company's servers. As explained in the support document: "Communication Safety uses on-device machine learning to analyze photo and video attachments and determine whether a photo or video appears to contain nudity. Because photos and videos are analyzed on your child's device, Apple receives no indication that nudity has been detected and does not gain access to the photos or videos as a result."

A mistake?

The fact that Apple's communication security features are designed to protect minors suggests that this new FaceTime feature may not be intended for adults. Activation on all accounts, therefore, could be a mistake, a test or a bug. Also because the feature is disabled by default and must be manually enabled by the user. You can find it in the iOS 26 settings, following these steps: Settings > FaceTime . Search for " Sensitive Content Warning " or " Sensitive Content Warning ".

Apple is expected to release a public beta of iOS 26 within the next few weeks, with the final version coming in September, to coincide with the launch of the new iPhones. It will be interesting to see whether the nudity blackout feature remains as is or is tweaked.