Nudify apps bypass parental controls on US teen phones

In December 2025, Morgan Dorfman discovered that a student at her daughter’s Pennsylvania high school was using an artificial intelligence image-editing app called Movely to create nonconsensual pornographic videos from photographs of her daughter and five other girls, according to an investigation published by The Guardian.

Investigation Reveals Nudify Apps Readily Accessible to Teens

The incident is not an isolated event. High school students across the United States are reporting similar cases where classmates use “nudify apps” to generate nonconsensual nude or pornographic imagery. Despite government bans on these platforms from major app stores and state laws criminalizing the possession of AI-generated child sexual abuse material, the Tech Transparency Project (TTP) released a report showing these applications remain accessible to teenagers.

To test platform security, TTP researchers created four test accounts—two on Apple and two on Google—configured to indicate the account holders were 13 years old. Searching for terms like “AI video generator” or “adult AI,” the researchers downloaded 135 apps capable of stripping clothes or swapping faces onto nude bodies. In their testing, researchers used AI-generated images of women rather than photographs of real individuals.

Parental Controls and Age Ratings Fail During Testing

Both Apple and Google prohibit adult apps and utilize age-gating to restrict minors, but the TTP report found that both companies largely rely on developers to set appropriate age ratings. Consequently, many nudify apps were mislabeled as suitable for minors, allowing teen users to download them even when parental controls were active.

One face-swapping app advertised with an image of a woman performing oral sex was rated appropriate for users aged four and up. Another app, Image to Video Maker-Vidou AI, was rated for users nine and older and displayed an image of a topless woman on a bus upon opening.

Testing showed that age restrictions could easily be bypassed. When attempting to download an adult-rated app from the Apple App Store, the 13-year-old test account received a pop-up warning but was able to bypass it simply by confirming an age of 17 or older. Meanwhile, an Apple account set up with parental controls successfully downloaded 24 nudify apps, and a similarly restricted Google account downloaded 51 such apps, according to the Tech Transparency Project.

Platform Responses and Removal Limitations

Removing applications from app stores does not eliminate the software from devices where it is already installed. During the TTP study, Apple removed 25 nudify apps, and Google took down six. However, researchers found they could continue using downloaded apps.

Morgan Dorfman encountered the same issue while preparing a presentation for parents and law enforcement. When she checked the App Store, Movely was no longer available for download, but the app remained fully functional on her phone, and her paid subscription charges continued.

Google stated that the company regularly takes proactive steps to detect and remove apps with harmful content. Apple implemented stronger content moderation guidelines requiring developers to pre-emptively prevent and remove nonconsensual intimate imagery. Adam Dema, an Apple spokesperson, noted that many applications in the report are mainstream editing tools that do not natively feature nudification, adding that the company prohibits nudify apps and removes developers who execute a “bait-and-switch” tactic after the review process.

Legal Consequences and School Response

Accountability remains difficult to enforce once these digital materials are created. In Dorfman’s case, she stated that her daughter’s school initially downplayed the incident. In a school-wide email reviewed by The Guardian, the principal acknowledged that a student used the app to animate images of other students but claimed there was no evidence of inappropriate behavior.

Days later, however, Radnor police criminally charged the classmate with harassment. Dorfman voiced ongoing frustration with the situation, noting the persistent emotional toll on her daughter and the uncertainty of knowing who might still possess the generated videos.

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