Apple finds itself in something of a 'sticky' situation, as the release of the 'first' pornography app for iPhone is causing quite a stir.
There's nothing stopping iPhone users from navigating to any of the thousands of pornography sites via a mobile browser, but with apps tending to streamline things, there are complaints that App Store rulings mean there isn't something like a Pornhub app.
Offering the next best thing, Hot Tub is officially here on iPhone.
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Available via the AltStore PAL in the European Union, Hot Tub is described as an 'adult content browser' that lets users play videos from the likes of Pornhub, XHamster, XVideos, and more. By offering a series of customization options and doing away with those spammy pop-ups, Hot Tub hopes to make it easier than ever to get your rocks off.
Unfortunately, it's drawn the attention of Apple itself and seemingly goes against the late Steve Jobs' stance on X-rated materials.
The Apple co-founder was famously against porn on iPhones, and replying to one email in 2010 (via TechCrunch) that referred to Apple as the 'moral police', he advised a customer to go and buy an Android: “We do believe we have a moral responsibility to keep porn off the iPhone. Folks who want porn can buy and [sic] Android phone."
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It wasn't the only time the mock turtleneck-wearing tech mogul discussed the saucy stuff, and again in 2010, he had a clear response to one journalist's question about allowing third-party app stores and more risqué applications on the iPhone: "You know, there’s a porn store for Android. You can download nothing but porn.
"You can download porn, your kids can download porn. That’s a place we don’t want to go, so we’re not going to go there."
Jump forward to 2025, AltStore PAL and the increasing number of other third-party app stores stand defiant against Jobs' wishes.
Walter Isaacson's 2011 Steve Jobs biography sheds more light on his pornography position. The book mentions an email exchange between Jobs and Ryan Tate, the editor of tech gossip site Valleywag.
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Tate questioned what Jobs' idol Bob Dylan would think about Apple and its lack of 'freedom', with Jobs responding: "Freedom from programs that steal your private data. Freedom from programs that trash your battery. Freedom from porn.
“Yep, freedom. The times they are a changin', and some traditional PC folks feel like their world is slipping away. It is."
Tate pushed Jobs on Apple's restrictions all those years ago, adding: "You know what? I don't want 'freedom from porn.' Porn is just fine! And I think my wife would agree."
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Making his thoughts on the matter clear, Jobs concluded: "You might care more about porn when you have kids.
"It's not about freedom, it's about Apple trying to do the right thing for its users."
Jobs' 'moral responsibility' has continued through to current CEO Tim Cook, who speaking to MSNBC in 2018, explained: "What you sell in that store says something about you. It doesn't mean that you can't use an iPhone to go to your browser and go to some porno site, if you want to do that, but...I'm not making fun of it."
With the introduction of the Digital Markets Act in 2022, Apple doesn't have much choice but to allow these kinds of apps in the EU. Even if it's trying to distance itself from the idea that they're 'Apple-approved', many are heralding this as a new era for porn-championing iPhone owners.