iOS 17 Is a Prude

[december456]

I will break the HN spirit, but im fucking horrified of this thread. _So_ many people being happy that a company is protecting them from themselves, or their family members. Where is my controversial personal websites? Did i take a wrong left turn somewhere?

[xenadu02]

This is an opt-in feature. You can enable it for yourself. It is also available as a parental control for your kid's devices. I think that is 100% appropriate.

I don't want to see dick pic spam. Actually I don't want anyone to send me naked pictures. Previously it was up to every messaging app to figure this out themselves. Now they can use the Sensitive Content Analysis framework. It also means they don't need to give PTSD to humans building a model to classify crap like CSAM images.

All it does is detection. It is up to the app whether to prohibit sending/receiving the message, how to notify the user, etc. The API documentation says this:

> Apple provides the SensitiveContentAnalysis framework to prevent people from viewing unwanted content, not as a way for an app to report on someone’s behavior. To protect user privacy, don’t transmit any information off the user’s device about whether the SensitiveContentAnalysis framework has identified an image or video as containing nudity. For more information, see the Developer Program License Agreement.

[vore]

I mean, you can just click the button to send the nudes. It's a sign, not a cop.

[sph]

Most people on HN are from the same cultural niche Apple is located in, in a country founded by actual bonafide Puritans.

Of course they are OK with a machine being an obnoxious prude.

[brucethemoose2]

If its local scanning, this is fine. Dare I say, its a pretty good use of machine vision.

[madrox]

The caption underneath this setting when you turn it on makes clear that scanning is on-device

[diego_sandoval]

Even if done locally, it's still creepy.

[mensetmanusman]

This is a feature for kid’s devices, not the default setting.

[thefourthchime]

This, on machine and totally appropriate.

[zeratax]

optional things like this are fine. preventing me from joining e.g. NSFW discord servers wholesale is not imo. As an adult I should be able to use my phone however I want

[mfer]

> as an adult

You touch on an interesting element. A lot of iPhone users are kids. Even young kids. Logged in with their parents account.

Not trying to justify what’s going on. Just add context

[EA-3167]

100%. It's the difference between empowering users and patronizing them.

[squeaky-clean]

> preventing me from joining e.g. NSFW discord servers wholesale

Is this something that iOS (or some other client) does? Or just hypothetical. I don't keep up with these things aside from when they reach HN

[ehPReth]

So, I can’t make stickers with penises in them for whatever reason (you’d think they’d lump creating/receiving them in the same setting), but the ‘are you sure you want to send or receive something that looks naughty’ was, in fact, turned off by default for me. Anyone else?

[majormajor]

This was a "welcome to the new version, let's get started" walkthrough optional setting for me. So the user here turned it on and acts surprised it does what it says?

[jdlshore]

It’s meant for kids.

[brucethemoose2]

Perhaps the default is related to age?

[ashildr]

I’ve been to more sex parties than I can count and there’s definitely a significant amount of porn on my iOS devices, so I’d not consider myself prude. Still I think that giving people the option to hide unsolicited dick picks on their devices is a good idea and not prude. I think the same about an option hiding pictures of spiders.

Extrapolating from that we may touch hiding queer or black people, or mixed couples one day, which will be an interesting situation.

[estevaoam]

Not hotdog

[kcplate]

Yep, that was the first thing that came to mind.

[turquoisevar]

Not sure what the point of this post is.

This feature is entirely opt-in for adults.

Are we going to dedicate a post to every optional feature that we enable and act shocked about?

[sph]

It's not the nanny state, it was the nanny megacorporation all along.

[atarian]

I think most people would prefer this over CSAM.

[lucb1e]

I don't think this screen would prevent anyone doing CSA from sending that M, and a C independently wishing to send SM is not necessarily being A, so I'm not sure what you mean

[Karellen]

Does that sort of content show up often for people who would not prefer it and don't go looking for it?

As someone who's used earlier versions of iOS for some years now, and who knows a bunch more people who also have, that's not a problem I'm aware any of us ever experiencing. I realise that anecdotes are not data, but it doesn't seem like it should be a common issue at all...

[tiahura]

I thought IOS 17 was going to feature sideloading? I thought the EU was requiring it?

[kioleanu]

Not yet but it’s in the works

[asddubs]

whatever happened to sideloading in this update anyway

[cmsj]

They have until March 2024 to comply.