First ever porn app launches on iOS devices to coincide with iPhone’s 18th birthday
On 9 January 2025, the iconic iPhone celebrated its 18th birthday. 18 is famously an age that comes with many new allowances, such as getting the right to vote, drink alcohol in most countries, drive a car unsupervised, and, oh, legally produce and consume pornography. So to celebrate the iPhone turning 18, a group of developers decided to launch the first-ever porn app for iOS devices. Introducing Hot Tub.
What is the Hot Tub app?
Hot Tub describes itself as an “adult content browser” that allows people to find and watch sexual material. It is the first-ever pornography app to make it onto the iPhone, a monumental step, considering that any kind of explicit content is strictly banned under the App Store rules.
In fact, Apple founder and innovator Steve Jobs famously claimed that Apple had a “moral responsibility” to keep pornography off the iPhone.
However, Hot Tub was still able to sneak its way into the Apple universe.
Hot Tub, the world’s first pornographic app for the iOS platform and notarized by Apple, recently launched on the AltStore PAL alternative store. This alternative store is a product based on EU laws and is only available for use in the EU market. pic.twitter.com/1oBWqierd9
— Diss MA Lusio (follow back 💯) (@ma_lusio) February 5, 2025
How did Hot Tub make it onto the iPhone?
The answer lies in the EU’s digital competition law, aka the Digital Markets Act (DMA), which seeks to break the power of Big Tech giants. It mandates that Apple must now give users the option of using alternative app stores, even if they don’t follow the same rules as its own.
The apps distributed through those stores still must be checked by Apple to ensure they are not fraudulent, weaken the iPhone’s security, and generally function as they should. But otherwise, it does not limit the kind of content that would be available through those stores.
So an iOS version of Hot Tub made itself available on the alternative marketplace AltStore PAL. And that’s how a porn app made its debut on Apple devices.
Downloading it takes a couple more steps than getting apps through Apple’s own App Store, but it’s still easily available. Once installed, Hot Tub asks for a self-declaration of age, and then up pops a list of videos from the popular porn video platform PornHub.
How is Apple dealing with the change?
Apple is more than upset about this development to say the least.
“We certainly do not approve of this app and would never offer it in our App Store. The truth is that we are required by the European Commission to allow it,” Apple spokesperson Emma Wilson said in a statement to Politico.
Apple is “deeply concerned about the safety risks that hardcore porn apps of this type create for EU users, especially kids,” Wilson continued.
The tech giant has been fighting against alternative app stores for a while, arguing that it threatens the safety and security of iPhone users despite all checks.
Still, multiple adult content creators argue that alternative app stores allow them to get past Apple’s moderation standards and gain broader exposure for their content.
Who will win in this battle about the moderation of pornography on iOS devices is difficult to tell. However, it looks like the iPhone’s 18th birthday has became a focal point to reflect on the rules revolving around adult content.
