Apple has removed 15 apps and Google has removed seven from their respective platforms following a damning investigation that found both tech giants were actively directing users towards artificial intelligence-powered applications designed to strip women’s clothing from photographs. The Tech Transparency Project (TTP) investigation, published on 15 April 2026, found that nudify apps hosted across both stores had been downloaded 483 million times and had generated more than $122 million in combined lifetime revenue.
The findings represent one of the most significant exposures of how major app store platforms have permitted, and in some cases actively promoted, tools designed to create non-consensual synthetic intimate imagery, commonly referred to as deepfakes. For South African women and girls, the report has direct implications at a time when local advocates have been pushing for stronger digital safety legislation to address gender-based violence online.
How App Stores Promoted Deepfake Tools to Users
The TTP investigation found that the App Store and Google Play were not merely passive hosts of nudify tools.
Both platforms used autocomplete search suggestions and paid advertising to steer users toward applications that could render women nude or partially naked without their consent.
Nearly 40 percent of the top 10 apps returned by searches for terms including “nudify,” “undress,” and “deepnude” on both platforms were capable of generating explicit or semi-explicit imagery of real people.
Thirty-one of the apps identified were rated suitable for children, meaning minors could download them without parental authorisation.
The TTP also identified 18 nudify apps on Apple’s App Store and 20 on Google Play, with the combined download figures demonstrating that demand had scaled into the hundreds of millions before either platform took decisive action.
Concerns About Children’s Exposure and Revenue
The finding that 31 nudify apps were classified as appropriate for minors drew particular criticism from child safety advocates.
The apps’ combined revenue of more than $122 million suggests that both platforms had been generating income from tools whose primary function is to sexualise images of real people without their knowledge or consent.
Following contact from Bloomberg News and the TTP, Apple removed 15 of the flagged applications and Google removed seven.
The TTP noted that the removal did not address the broader question of how the apps had been permitted, promoted and monetised for an extended period under existing platform policies.
What the Tech Giants Said After the Report
Google spokesperson Dan Jackson defended the company’s response to the investigation.
“When violations of our policies are reported to us, we investigate and take appropriate action,” Jackson said.
Apple, which declined to answer TTP’s specific questions about how nudify apps passed its review process and why some were approved for minors, addressed the matter in a statement cited by 9to5Mac.
“‘Nudify’ apps aren’t allowed on the App Store under the App Review Guidelines that prohibit overtly sexual and pornographic content,” Apple said.
For South African users, both Apple’s and Google’s app stores remain the primary distribution channels for mobile applications.
Digital rights organisations, including the Right2Know Campaign, have previously raised concerns about the inadequacy of existing digital privacy protections for South African women and girls.
