Apple issues urgent warning to users as porn app is made available on iPhone for first time ever

A NSFW app has been made available for download on the iPhone for the first time ever.

Apple is left a little red-faced, as the first iPhone pornography app has just been approved. While Apple has always banned pornography apps from the App Store, new rules in the European Union mean 'Hot Tub' has now been approved through the alternative AltStore PAL.

Hot Tub is available to download from February 4, but it's getting Apple hot under the collar for all the wrong reasons. At a time when the USA is clamping down on pornography sites like Pornhub, it seems the EU is letting it all hang out.

Since the App Store was introduced in 2008, Apple has had strict control over what will be allowed on its storefront. Steve Jobs himself was no fan of X-rated content appearing on Apple devices, famously saying it was "a moral responsibility to keep porn off the iPhone." Jobs even went as far as telling users to buy an Android if they wanted to enjoy this kind of content on an iPhone.

Apple previously ensured that no "overtly sexual or pornographic material" would be endorsed by the tech giant, but due to AltStore's debut on iPhones as its first third-party app store in 2024, that's no longer the case.

Sounding a bit like a pornographic YouTube, Hot Tub is an 'adult content browser' that lets iPhone users in the EU stream adult videos from a number of sites - including the pornographic party that is Pornhub.

It's a move that's been condemned by Apple in a statement to The Verge, explaining its own fears that something like Hot Tub could open up a whole host of issues.

Apple spokesperson Peter Ajemian said that the company was 'deeply concerned' about safety risks associated with 'hardcore porn apps', particularly highlighting the ability for children to access them: "This app and others like it will undermine consumer trust and confidence in our ecosystem that we have worked for more than a decade to make the best in the world."

The other issue is that Hot Tub claims it's an 'Apple-approved' app: "Contrary to the false statements made by the marketplace developer, we certainly do not approve of this app and would never offer it in our App Store."

In 2022, Apple lost a case accusing it of having a chokehold on app services. The EU's Digital Markets Act means alternative app stores can be used, leading to the rise of AltStore and apps that Apple wouldn't normally allow on its official App Store.

Ajemian concludes by saying that Apple is required by the European Commission to allow third-party stores like AltStore to operate. He also throws a seeming barb at the Epic Store, which is also allowed to have its own app store after the gaming giant went to war with Apple. According to Ajemian, the likes of AltStore and Epic "may not share our concerns for user safety."

AltStore PAL developer Riley Testut sees Hot Tub’s arrival as a win, and in celebration, it will donate all of its February earnings "to causes supporting sex workers and those in the LGBTQ+ community."

Testut says this is "necessary to fight back against recent harmful policies by politicians, Meta, and others," referring to recent changes in the USA and Facebook's changes to its hate speech guidelines.

As noted by The Verge, AltStore app includes the likes of apps for torrenting movies, emulating games, and viewing pornography. It's clear Apple would rather keep a tight leash on what apps it allows on its devices.