iOS 26 beta is freezing FaceTime when it detects nudity — what we know so far
Apple did announce this, sort of. iOS 26 comes with a bunch of new tools for child accounts, and one of them is designed to "intervene" whenever nudity is detected in FaceTime video calls — alongside a similar feature that blurs out any nudity detected in Shared Albums. But as it turns out, this feature is also affecting adult accounts.
As discovered by iDeviceHelp on X, FaceTime will freeze all video and audio if it detects any kind of nudity. This is followed by a warning message stating that "Audio and Video are paused because you may be showing something sensitive. If you feel uncomfortable, you should end the call."
Users are then given the option to hang up, or resume the audio and video feed.
It's not clear whether this is a bug, since iOS 26 is still very firmly in beta, or if Apple is deliberately turning on sensitive content warnings without user input. Since the Sensitive Content warning is an option in FaceTime's app settings, but is switched off by default, I'm guessing it's the former.
For those worried about corporate snooping, Apple's support pages do claim that the Communication Safety uses on-device machine learning to analyze photo and video attachments and determine if a photo or video appears to contain nudity," while also noting that this is built for child accounts rather than everyone.
Apple also notes that "because the photos and videos are analyzed 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." Meaning Apple doesn't actually see the contents of the call.
Get instant access to breaking news, the hottest reviews, great deals and helpful tips.
It's not clear what the threshold for the sensitive content warnings are, but since this is designed to protect children my guess is that they'll be pretty strict. Which is a shame if you're an adult caught up in the bug, trying to show off whatever body parts you feel the need to show. Even if it's something as relatively innocent as a new tattoo or flexing after the gym.
Hopefully this will be fixed in a future version of the iOS 26 beta, ahead of the official launch later this year. But in the meantime, if you're affected by this, maybe switch to another one of the best video chat apps.
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
CNET
25 minutes ago
- CNET
You Could Get Up to $5K From AT&T's Data Breach Settlement: Find Out if You're Eligible
The 2024 hack of AT&T servers was one of the five biggest data breaches of the year. AT&T/CNET Current and former customers of AT&T may have had their information compromised in two data breaches in 2019 and 2024, a situation that the telecom giant is now opting to resolve with a huge settlement payout. On Friday, June 20, US District Judge Ada Brown granted preliminary approval to the terms of a proposed settlement from AT&T that would resolve two lawsuits related to the data breaches. The current settlement would see AT&T pay $177 million to customers adversely affected by at least one of the two data breaches. The settlement will prioritize larger payments to customers who suffered damages that are "fairly traceable" to the data leaks. It will also provide bigger payments to those affected by the larger of the two leaks, which began in 2019. While the company is working toward a settlement, it has continued to deny that it was "responsible for these criminal acts." For all the details we have about the settlement right now, keep reading, and for more info about other recent settlements, find out how to claim Apple's Siri privacy settlement and see if you're eligible for 23andMe's privacy breach settlement. What happened with these AT&T data breaches? AT&T confirmed the two data breaches last year, announcing an investigation into the first in March before confirming it in May and confirming the second in July. The first of the confirmed breaches began in 2019. The company revealed that about 7.6 million current and 65.4 million former account holders had their data exposed to hackers, including names, Social Security numbers and dates of birth. The company began investigating the situation last year after it reported that customer data had appeared on the dark web. The second breach began in April of 2024, when a hacker broke into AT&T cloud storage provider Snowflake and accessed 2022 call and text records for almost all of the company's US customers, about 109 million in all. The company stressed that no names were attached to the stolen data. Two individuals were arrested in connection with the breach. Both of these incidents sparked a wave of class action lawsuits alleging corporate neglect on the part of AT&T in failing to sufficiently protect its customers. Who is eligible to file a claim for the AT&T data breach settlement? As of now, we know that the settlement will pay out to any current or former AT&T customer whose data was accessed in one of these data breaches, with higher payments reserved for those who can provide documented proof that they suffered damages directly resulting from their data being stolen. If you're eligible, you should receive a notice about it, either by email or a physical letter in the mail, sometime in the coming months. The company expects that the claims process will begin on Aug. 4, 2025. How much will the AT&T data breach payments be? You'll have to "reasonably" prove damages caused by these data breaches to be eligible for the highest and most prioritized payouts. For the 2019 breach, those claimants can receive up to $5,000. For the Snowflake breach in 2024, the max payout will be $2,500. It's not clear at this time how the company might be handling customers who've been affected by both breaches. AT&T will focus on making those payments first, and whatever's left of the $177 million settlement total will be disbursed to anyone whose data was accessed, even without proof of damages. Because these payouts depend on how many people get the higher amounts first, we can't say definitively how much they will be. When could I get paid from the AT&T data breach settlement? AT&T expects that payments will start to go out sometime in early 2026. Exact dates aren't available but the recent court order approving the settlement lists a notification schedule of Aug. 4, to Oct. 17, 2025. The deadline for submitting a claim is currently set at Nov. 18, 2025. The final approval of the settlement needs to be given at a Dec. 3, 2025, court hearing for payments to begin. Stay tuned to this piece in the coming months to get all the new details as they emerge. For more money help, check out CNET's daily tariff price impact tracker.
CNET
an hour ago
- CNET
How Is T-Mobile's Starlink-Based Satellite Service Different from the Rest? I Tried It First Hand
T-Mobile's new T-Satellite service, commercially launched this week, uses the Starlink satellite network to send and receive text messages from space. For $10 a month (or included in the cost of the company's Experience Beyond plan), the service can be a communications lifeline when you're out of cellular coverage. But that's the thing: for me to test it out, I could only be in a cellular dead zone. T-Mobile estimates there are 500,000 square miles in the US with no cell coverage, so I left my home in Seattle to find one. After three hours of driving to the wooded North Cascades, I got my chance to see if satellite texting is as easy as everyday cellular texting, and how T-Satellite differs from other satellite services. Now Playing: Hands-On with T-Mobile's T-Satellite Service 01:55 How T-Satellite differs from other satellite services Satellite texting is now a big deal: the wireless providers and phone-makers including Apple are betting satellite connectivity is the answer for travelers and people who live in remote areas (and even those impacted by emergencies such as the massive flooding in Texas). It also isn't new. Apple started offering SOS communication backed by Globalstar on the iPhone 14. And later, that allowed emergency texting when you're outside coverage areas -- a literal lifesaver for people injured, lost or stranded in remote areas. The feature also allowed you to share you location via satellite in the Find My app. Apple then expanded the service to include any texting using the Messages app, as well as calling for roadside assistance. CNET's David Lumb used Messages via satellite on his iPhone 15 Pro to text friends and share his thoughts when he summited Mount Haleakalā's peak in Hawaii. Google has a similar feature in its Pixel 9 phones, except the Pixel 9A, which works with satellite provider Skylo. Samsung Galaxy phones, like the recently released Galaxy Z Fold 7 and Z Flip 7, can use Verizon for satellite texting and to contact emergency services through Skylo, too. However, that communication involves a few steps to activate the feature. You need to be outdoors with a clear view of the sky -- no trees or buildings -- and point your phone at a passing satellite, keeping it steady to maintain the connection. With T-Satellite, the experience is quite different. Texting is almost indistinguishable from when you're within cellular coverage. On a Samsung Galaxy S25 Ultra with a T-Mobile plan, opening the Messages app showed the phone already connected to satellite, with a banner reading "You're messaging by satellite." A small satellite icon appears in the menu bar with radiating curves to indicate the status of the connection. The phone has automatically connected to the T-Satellite network, as indicated by its (teeny) status icon. Screenshot by Jeff Carlson/CNET This is due in part to the fact that there are now more than 650 Starlink satellites overhead providing wider coverage, but also because they use a frequency band compatible with most phones sold in the last four don't need a specific phone model that has satellite messaging hardware, such as the Motorola Razr Ultra. The experience of setting up T-Satellite on my iPhone 16 Pro was generally the same. One unique thing about T-Satellite is that T-Mobile is offering the service to anyone, even if they use another carrier for cellular service. In my case, I set up the T-Satellite beta using the second eSIM slot on my phone, and turned off the primary service (AT&T) in order to test just T-Mobile's feature. A solid black satellite icon appears in the menu bar. I should note that I performed this testing a couple days before T-Satellite went live, so it was technically during the T-Satellite beta period, and using a beta version of the Messages app on Android. Plus, I didn't attempt to make an emergency call, either, which on the T-Satellite service would mean dialing 911 in the phone app, versus initiating an SOS text communication using Apple's service. Texting, but sometimes slower Mostly, texting via satellite is just like texting via cellular. The data pipe between the phone and a satellite flying overhead at 17,000 miles per hour is small, so occasionally texts would take several seconds to go through. But sometimes a conversation would happen without any extended lag. By comparison, when CNET's Patrick Holland tested Apple's Messages via satellite feature, he noted that "most sends were nearly instantaneous, others took 15 to 20 seconds with one taking over a minute." One feature going live today for Android is the ability to send images, videos and audio files using Multimedia Messaging Service over the satellite network. On the Galaxy S25 Ultra, I snapped a photo of the lake and sent it using Messages as I normally would. The only difference over satellite is that it took around two and a half minutes to send. On Android, you can send photos via MMS even over the satellite connection. The feature is coming later for iOS. Screenshot by Jeff Carlson/CNET However, MMS is currently only supported on Android; iOS support is coming later. Also arriving in the future -- October, specifically -- is the ability for apps to send and receive data over the satellite connection. T-Mobile has cited AllTrails as an example of apps that'll be compatible with the service. This would be a great use of data for other mapping tools. Although I was never lost on this trip --I pulled into a well-marked scenic overlook to test with a stunning view -- I also made a point of downloading an offline map of the area using Apple Maps while I was still within cellular range. Lingering questions and challenges Not every message went through, and after my limited testing, there are a few areas where more clarity would help. For example, on Android, it wasn't always obvious when I'd lost satellite connection. In theory, with many Starlink satellites overhead, you shouldn't have to worry about pointing at a specific patch of sky to maintain a connection. But at one point after sending a message, some text below it said the app was waiting to connect. Only then did I notice the tiny satellite icon was showing thin gray bars instead of thin black bars. Compare that to Apple's implementation, which uses Dynamic Island to show an impossible-to-miss green status button to indicate a solid connection to a satellite. Or Google's Satellite SOS service, with its full-screen visual prompts that help you stay connected to a satellite or connect to a new one if needed. The prominent green icon in the Dynamic Island indicates a satellite connection when using Apple's satellite texting feature. (The red icon shows that the screen is being recorded and isn't related to the connection.) Screenshot by Jeff Carlson/CNET I also ran into some confusion with my iPhone 16 Pro running T-Satellite as a secondary eSIM. When attempting to text a friend who came along with me and was using Apple's method on his iPhone, I got a message that he was connected via satellite and was given the option to tap Send via Satellite. What I didn't realize at the time was that the connection dropped as I was typing the text. On further research, I discovered that an active third-party satellite connection shows "SAT" in the menu bar. When SAT is replaced by a black satellite icon, it means T-Satellite is no longer connected, but that Apple's satellite option is available; I thought it meant that I was still connected. At one point, I was unable to text my friend who was also using satellite access, even though it appeared to be connected (see the satellite icon in the menu bar). (The red button in the Dynamic Island shows that the screen is being recorded.) Screenshot by Jeff Carlson/CNET Look up, and ahead Will satellite services cover the remaining dead zones and allow easy communication even in remote areas? Based on my experience, the potential is definitely there. It's been less than two years since Apple first launched Emergency SOS via satellite on the iPhone and it's impressive how satellite connectivity has expanded so quickly with the ability to support texting. I appreciate that the T-Satellite implementation is similar to the way millions of people communicate every day via text. Removing friction is key to adopting technologies like this. As companies build up the capacity and performance of satellite services, it's easy to see a near future where you don't have to think about how you're getting data, just as we currently don't ever think about which cellular tower is relaying our data. As someone who lives in cellular-saturated Seattle, I probably won't need to rely on satellite data. But the North Cascades is where I've gone camping for years, so I can see it being occasionally useful, especially if there's ever an emergency situation. As I was juggling my phones and pestering my friends and family with texts, a couple approached to ask what I was doing. They were visiting the area from a small town in northern Idaho near the Canadian border, where cellular coverage is a rarity. After talking for a few minutes, I realized that being able to connect wirelessly via satellite could be a real boon for them, especially in emergencies, but also everyday annoyances when other forms of communication aren't available, like during power outages.
Tom's Guide
an hour ago
- Tom's Guide
I swapped my Apple Watch Series 10 for a Google Pixel Watch 3 — here's what I liked and disliked
If you own an iPhone and you're fully locked into the Apple ecosystem, then it's hard to look past choosing the Apple Watch as your smartwatch. Whether it's our top smartwatch pick or the number one smartwatch choice for women, it's a tough one to beat. There are other great smartwatches outside of the Apple Watch, including the Google Pixel Watch 3. It's our favourite Android smartwatch and is proof that great Wear OS smartwatches exist. So what would happen if you swapped Apple Watch for Google Pixel Watch to dish out those phone notifications, let you make payments from the wrist, or let the music play sans smartphone? That's exactly what we did to find out if Google's best is a good enough alternative to the Apple Watch Series 10. Here's what we liked and disliked as we did smartwatch swapsies. If there's one area in general I think Wear OS smartwatches struggle in comparison to the Apple Watch, it's with the native fitness and health tracking support. It's generally good in parts, but lacks as a package. That's where the Pixel Watch 3 differs, and that's mainly down to the strong Fitbit integration, which essentially takes care of monitoring daily step counts, motivating you to keep moving during the day, and offers the kind of metrics and insights that are both glanceable and actually useful to pay attention to. A few features stand out particularly on the Pixel Watch. One is sleep tracking, which Fitbit has had quite a head start on Apple, both with tracking and with the level of metrics it can offer. Apple's sleep tracking support is pretty solid, but in contrast to what you get on the Pixel Watch, the presentation of data on and off the watch is a bit slicker. Readiness scores are another feature that's a win for Google over Apple. It's a good example of a metric that's powered by reliable tracking of heart rate and sleep. Once calibrated, these scores can offer a simple heads-up of whether you should work out or take a rest day. Currently, Apple doesn't offer a similar readiness-type score that is a great feature for fitness newbies and more experienced fitness lovers. Get instant access to breaking news, the hottest reviews, great deals and helpful tips. The Google Pixel Watch 3 is hardly a battery powerhouse, especially compared to other Wear OS smartwatches like the OnePlus Watch 3 and many of Mobvoi's dual-display-toting TicWatches. It does manage to squeeze out a little bit more battery than the Apple Watch Series 10, based on my testing time. The raw numbers state the Pixel Watch 3 can last up to 24 hours with the screen set to always-on, or you can switch to the Battery Saver mode to get up to 36 hours. The Apple Watch Series 10 lasts 18 hours, and really will if you keep the screen on at all times. Granted, it's a pretty rapid charger, but it doesn't negate that you definitely do end up having to think about the battery. Especially if you're taking it to bed to track your sleep. While the Pixel Watch 3 isn't immune to similar concerns, it's definitely slightly less of one compared to Apple's smartwatch. Like Apple, it does try to remedy that with some pretty rapid charging support. Apple's smartwatch has remained square since the original Watch and seems unlikely to shift from that angular look. While there's no shortage of round smartwatches, I'd say that the Pixel Watch 3's round look stands out for the right reasons. For starters, it comes in two different sizes, which is great news whether you like a smartwatch to dominate on the wrist or you prefer something that lives a little smaller, letting you strap on additional wristwear alongside it. You're getting a fully circular case design in either a polished or matte aluminium finish, an elegant watch crown, and a bright AMOLED display, and it has those deep black levels you associate with a high-quality colour screen. Combine all of that and you get something that's sleek and really does set it apart from other smartwatches. You certainly can't accuse the Google Pixel Watch 3 of aping the look of the Apple Watch Series 10 or other Apple Watches, and while Apple also gets plenty of things right with its design, so does Google with its own. Apple beats Google when it comes to tracking your exercise. Quite simply, if you want a smartwatch that can closely match the performance of a dedicated sports watch, it's not the Pixel Watch 3 you'll want on your wrist. Take GPS performance, or the fact that it doesn't offer the latest dual-band GPS technology that now appears on a whole host of smartwatches, some of which cost less than the Pixel Watch 3. If you look at the supported sports tracking profiles, there's simply more on offer with Apple's smartwatch. Take swimming as an example, where the Pixel Watch 3 only supports tracking pool swims, while Apple's will track your movements in the open water and do a really good job of it. If you're heading outside to track workouts, Apple gives you maps to view. Some of that mapping is available out of the box, with a host of apps in the App Store that are capable of extending that to other sports. That extensive third-party training and fitness app support gives Apple the upper hand to enhance its sports tracking capabilities. It also has the advantage of letting you pair external fitness accessories like a heart rate monitor, which you cannot do on the Pixel Watch 3. Yes, there's certainly enough on the Pixel Watch to track workouts and offer a satisfactory level of performance as well as a good array of metrics. The Apple Watch Series 10 is a much better performer across most, if not all, fronts. Having Fitbit take care of most of the Pixel Watch 3's fitness and health tracking was a smart move, but you will need to shell out more money, either on a monthly or annual basis, to get the most complete Fitbit experience. Thankfully, features like daily readiness scores, core activity tracking, and health metrics are available in the free version of the Fitbit App. The biggest features you're going to miss out on by not paying up for Premium are the extra analysis offered for sleep and stress data. You also miss out on Fitbit's workout videos and audio-based training sessions, but I'd say that richer sleep and stress insights are the things that most users will most appreciate having access to. Yes, I did like the fact that the Pixel Watch 3 (the larger 45mm version) has a better battery than the Apple Watch Series 10, but it's not by a huge amount. This is still a smartwatch where you have to think about the battery pretty much every day, whether the screen is on at all times, or when using the raise-to-wake gesture support. Having spent time with other Wear OS smartwatches that can go for almost a week without charging, it's frustrating that Google didn't seize the opportunity to make the Pixel Watch 3 go much longer than Apple's Watches, or at least seek parity with the best WearOS battery performers. Now, this is exactly the same criticism that can be levelled at the Apple Watch and its inability to play nice with Android. This dislikable element of using a Pixel Watch is unlikely to change anytime soon. The lack of compatibility across the two biggest smartphone platforms instantly makes using the Google Pixel Watch 3 a restrictive experience for many. If you don't have the luxury to switch between Android phones and iPhones, then that's going to be a pretty major reason to dislike the Pixel Watch 3. Follow Tom's Guide on Google News to get our up-to-date news, how-tos, and reviews in your feeds. Make sure to click the Follow button.
