Parents are usually told to switch on parental controls and let the operating system or the app handle the rest. I’d say a new report makes that advice sound a lot shakier.
Watchdog group Tech Transparency Project (TTP) says teen accounts on the Apple and Google app stores can still download ‘nudify’ apps that digitally undress people in photos, even with parental controls in place.
How did teens get through?
TTP registered four accounts for a 13-year-old boy. Two were on Apple and two on Google, with parental controls enabled on one account on each platform. Across those accounts, TTP reached 135 nudify apps.
The Apple account with parental controls enabled could still reach 24. Meanwhile, the Google account with the controls could reach 51, more than the 47 on its unrestricted account. While Google’s restricted search filtered out adult-rated apps, it failed to block apps developers deceptively marked as suitable for a young audience.
In my view, age ratings play a big part. App stores rely on developers to describe their own apps, and that is how apps end up marked suitable for kids as young as four (via TTP).
Apple has since updated its review rules to cover AI-generated sexual images made without consent, along with apps that hide features until after approval. However, per TTP, Apple doesn’t classify apps that convert clothing into bikinis or lingerie as true “nudification.”
What should parents do now?
Google says it suspended violating apps and restricted related searches. But if you ask me, removal isn’t a cure. The 25 Apple and six Google apps pulled by September 28, 2026, still worked on the test phones.
So I’d audit your teen’s phone today and set up Apple’s Screen Time or Google’s Family Link, since neither store suggests parental controls at setup. Also watch gift-card subscriptions, which TTP says never alerted parents.
This exposes a critical blind spot. Pre-loaded funds or gift cards let minors bypass approval prompts for paid subscriptions.
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