Apple seems to be nearing the release of the Communication Safety feature that's supposed to use on-device machine learning to identify potential nudity in pictures sent via Messages.
MacRumors reports that Communication Safety, which Apple revealed alongside the controversial anti-child sexual abuse material (CSAM) feature it delayed in September, is available in the second beta release of iOS 15.2 that went live on Nov. 9.
Communication Safety automatically scans images sent to and from Messages for potential nudity. Photos believed to contain nudity will be blurred, and the app will display information meant to help the recipient decide how they can respond to potentially sensitive imagery.
MacRumors says that Communication Safety is an optional expansion of the Family Sharing feature that allows parents to monitor and manage their children's device usage. (Among other things.) It's up to the parents themselves to decide if they want to use Communication Safety.
The report also indicates that Apple opted not to include another optional setting that would have allowed parents of children under the age of 13 to be notified when their kids viewed an image flagged by Communication Safety due to concerns about that capability's potential misuse.
It's worth noting that Communication Safety's inclusion in the iOS 15.2 beta doesn't necessarily mean it will be included in the full release, and even if it is, Apple doesn't typically announce when it plans to release point upgrades to its operating systems well ahead of their release.