FaceTime Will Now Pause Your Call If You Start Undressing

Apple’s iOS 26 brings a surprising twist to FaceTime. If someone starts undressing during a call, the system will automatically freeze both video and audio. This behavior, discovered in the iOS 26 beta, appears to affect all users, not just those with child accounts.

The feature triggers a warning on screen: “Audio and video are paused because you may be showing something sensitive. If you feel uncomfortable, you should end the call.” From there, you can either resume the call or end it. Though initially built as a child safety tool, this detection system is now active during standard FaceTime calls.

Safety Tool or Software Glitch?

Apple first announced this update as part of its Communication Safety expansion for child accounts. The goal was to intervene when nudity is detected during FaceTime video calls and blur explicit content in Shared Albums. These tools rely on on-device machine learning, so no data is shared with Apple. The company emphasized that “Apple doesn’t receive an indication that nudity was detected and doesn’t get access to the photos or videos as a result.”

However, in the current beta, the nudity-detection feature seems to activate even for adult users. A post by iDeviceHelp on X confirmed the issue, showing the warning message in action. The video freeze doesn’t just alert the user; it stops the entire call from progressing until the warning is dismissed.

Feature Overreach or Precaution?

It’s not yet clear whether this is a bug or a deliberate design decision. Some testers point to the presence of a “Sensitive Content Warning” toggle in FaceTime’s settings, which is off by default. Yet, even with the toggle untouched, the auto-freeze still triggers in the beta.

There’s also uncertainty about how the system defines “nudity” or “sensitive content.” Given the original purpose of protecting minors, Apple may have set a low threshold for detection. As a result, even harmless actions could pause the call unintentionally.

This development raises privacy questions. While everything runs locally on the device, users may be caught off guard by a feature they didn’t expect. For now, until Apple clarifies its intentions or updates the beta, FaceTime users should be aware that iOS 26 is watching, even in moments that feel entirely private.