iOS 17 wants to kill off the dick pic

iOS 17 screenshot showing Sensitive Content Warning
(Image credit: Apple / Future)

Apple is getting ready to release the iOS 17 update later this year after announcing it during the WWDC 2023 event on June 5. And when iOS 17 does arrive we can look forward to a slew of new features — with one aimed at helping people avoid unwanted nude photos and videos.

The feature is an expansion of the Communication Safety feature that is designed to protect children, with adults now included for the first time. The result? Unwanted nude photos and videos will be hidden.

Apple says that it won't ever have access to the photos or videos themselves however, with all of the processing and recognition being done on-device to help maintain privacy.

Safety first

Apple confirmed the new feature in a press release diving more deeply into the iOS 17 features than the WWDC opening keynote was able to. In that press release, Apple confirmed that the new feature "helps adult users avoid seeing unwanted nude images and videos." It continues, saying that "as with Communication Safety, all image and video processing for Sensitive Content Warning occurs on-device, so Apple does not get access to the content."

When a photo or video of this nature is received users will be able to choose whether they want to see it or not, while there will also be a button that will direct people to "ways to get help" should they want it.

All of this and more will be part of the iOS 17 update that will arrive this fall, likely in September alongside the iPhone 15 lineup. That will make September a busy month with new Apple Watches also likely to be announced alongside the release of watchOS 10 as well as new iPad, Mac, and Apple TV software updates.

Oliver Haslam
Contributor

Oliver Haslam has written about Apple and the wider technology business for more than a decade with bylines on How-To Geek, PC Mag, iDownloadBlog, and many more. He has also been published in print for Macworld, including cover stories. At iMore, Oliver is involved in daily news coverage and, not being short of opinions, has been known to 'explain' those thoughts in more detail, too. Having grown up using PCs and spending far too much money on graphics card and flashy RAM, Oliver switched to the Mac with a G5 iMac and hasn't looked back. Since then he's seen the growth of the smartphone world, backed by iPhone, and new product categories come and go. Current expertise includes iOS, macOS, streaming services, and pretty much anything that has a battery or plugs into a wall. Oliver also covers mobile gaming for iMore, with Apple Arcade a particular focus. He's been gaming since the Atari 2600 days and still struggles to comprehend the fact he can play console quality titles on his pocket computer.

TOPICS