Topics: Apple, Technology, World News, Life, Sex and Relationships
For long distance couples, getting hot and heavy on FaceTime or on the phone can be key to keeping the spark going while you’re physically apart.
However, a brand new Apple feature that could be rolled out to everyone soon, might just kill the mood.
It’s unlikely most people will have come across this new feature yet, unless they found themselves in an intimate situation.
Apple quietly announced that it would be part of iOS 26 last month in an official blog post, and some people who have access to the beta version have already noticed it popping up.
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The new safety feature detects when you’re naked or start undressing on a FaceTime call and automatically freezes both the audio and video.
Users are then met with a black screen, alongside the message: “Audio and video are being paused because you may be showing something sensitive.
“If you feel uncomfortable, you should end the call.”
You’ll then be met with two option buttons - ending the call completely, or resuming the audio and video.
While it’s not the end of the world and everything will go back to normal once you click the button, it’s understandable that this could be frustrating.
The feature was first picked up on by the X (formerly Twitter) account ‘iDeviceHelp,’ who wrote in a post: “In iOS 26 FaceTime will pause the Video if you’re undressing while on a FaceTime call here’s the on screen prompt warning that you get asking if you would like to resume audio and video or End the call.’
They went on to share a screenshot of exactly what you can expect from the Communication Safety feature.
In an Apple blog post, the tech giant explained: “Communication Safety expands to intervene when nudity is detected in FaceTime video calls, and to blur out nudity in Shared Albums in Photos.”
The new feature was created in an attempt to safeguard children and it’s turned on by default for child accounts on iPhone, iPad, Apple Watch and Mac.
Apple added: “Communication Safety uses on-device machine learning to analyze photo and video attachments and determine if a photo or video appears to contain nudity.
“Because the photos and videos are analysed on your child’s device, Apple doesn’t receive an indication that nudity was detected and doesn’t get access to the photos or videos as a result.”
Because of the context of child safety, it’s unknown whether the new prompt will automatically show for all users when they install the update, or just those that the company believes are under 18.
Nonetheless, users have been making their thoughts on the feature clear on social media.
“Well that's one way to end a work meeting early,” joked one Reddit user.
Meanwhile, others quipped: “Long distance couples in shambles” and “Way to ruin the mood Apple.”
“Nude FaceTime is not my thing but if it was, I'd be pretty p***** off by this,” admitted someone else.
And another social media user argued: “WHAT! Hopefully there’s a “Long Distance Relationship” override.”
Tyla has contacted Apple for comment.
