Tumblr Adds 'Sensitive Content' Filter to iOS App (2024)

Tumblr is rolling out a Sensitive Content toggle that allows users to opt in or out of seeing, as its name suggests, potentially sensitive content on the iOS app.

Enabled by default, the "Hide Sensitive Content" setting filters recommendations and search results with controversial tags and blocks explicit blogs.

Turn off the function, however, and you can continue searching for tags that may contain posts of a sensitive nature, while still adhering to Tumblr's guidelines; tap through an overlay marking blogs as explicit; and receive recommendations with suggestive content that doesn't break the rules.

Ensure you're running the latest version (22.5.2) of the iOS app and visit the platform's Settings on desktop or mobile web to disable the Hide Sensitive Content toggle. Then quit and restart the app to activate it. And while Android users may spot the web toggle online, it currently has no impact on the posts they see.

"These latest updates provide more control to our community on the iOS app to build the experience that fits them best, and to explore the content that they find interesting," Tumblr wrote in a blog post. "While the experience for our community is a top priority, we must also comply with Apple's App Store guidelines and our own guidelines."

The social network last month explained that, "to remain available within Apple's App Store," it had to "extend the definition of what sensitive content is as well as the way you access it." Users have to guess at what's being filtered out, though. Tumblr won't disclose that information "at this time."