First porn app for iPhone annoys Apple

Samuel Buchmann

4/2/2025

Translation: machine translated

For the first time in the EU, a pornographic app can be installed on the iPhone via an alternative app store. Apple says it has to authorise "Hot Tub" for regulatory reasons.

"If you want porn, you can buy an Android phone," said Steve Jobs in 2010. The Apple founder is probably turning in his grave: Since yesterday, an app for pornographic content called "Hot Tub" has been available on the iPhone in the EU for the first time. It can be installed via the alternative app marketplace "AltStore PAL" and offers ad-free access to videos from relevant suppliers such as Pornhub.

Apple has had to allow such sideloading in the EU since the introduction of the Digital Markets Act (DMA). The apps in alternative app stores still undergo checks for malware and fraud, but are not subject to Apple's own content restrictions. Hot Tub does not appear to have any age restrictions or other parental control functions either.

On AltStore PAL you can also find game emulators and titles such as "Fortnite", which have been banned from the official App Store. AltStore PAL does not work in Switzerland because the country is not part of the EU and is therefore not subject to the DMA. Helvetic iPhones therefore remain hot-tub-free.

Apple is "deeply concerned"

According to "The Verge", Apple is distancing itself from the porn app. Company spokesman Peter Ajemian writes: "We are deeply concerned about the safety risks that hardcore porn apps of this type pose to users in the EU, especially children," adding that these and similar apps undermine consumer trust in Apple's ecosystem. "We do not endorse this app and would never offer it in our App Store."

AltStore PAL developer Riley Testut had previously described Hot Tub as the "world's first Apple-approved porn app". The iPhone is turning 18 this year and is therefore "finally old enough for more mature apps".

Samuel Buchmann

Senior Editor

Samuel.Buchmann@digitecgalaxus.ch

My fingerprint often changes so drastically that my MacBook doesn't recognise it anymore. The reason? If I'm not clinging to a monitor or camera, I'm probably clinging to a rockface by the tips of my fingers.

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