Apple is pissed off. An application prohibited for under -18s is available for download on its devices, because of European rules. Legislation that does not please at all.
Apple has always been firm on the question of pornographic content. Steve Jobs, his legendary founder, had also formulated that the firm had a “Moral responsibility” on his ban. If his customers were against it, they only had to turn to his eternal adversary, Samsung. The official Apple devices store, the App Store, has never given way to the applications not recommended at least 18 years, even if at the beginning of February 2025, the rule was indirectly diverted.
An exclusively European case
The unexpected appearance of the pornographic application within the devices iphone could never have been done a few years ago. Since the implementation of the Digital Markets Regulations (DMA) in theEuropean Union In March 2024, the digital world, including that of Apple, changed.
The establishment of DMA notably allowed the proliferation of alternative application stores. The App Store is therefore no longer the only way to download applications on its iPhone. Unofficial blinds proliferate and allow themselves to offer sometimes unwanted content, such as Alt Store.
The least we can say is that Alt Store did not go unnoticed. Since the launch of a new daring application within its catalog, entitled “Hot Tub”, its name returns in many media. The fact is that “Hot Tub” is a pornographic application, which is more is easily accessible and downloadable on Apple devices, all without any advertising.
Apple did not fail to share its anger in the face of the sudden arrival of “Hot Tub”. Through a press release, the American manufacturer said “Deeply concerned about risks For safety that hardcore pornography applications of this type create for EU users, especially children “”.
Apple’s anger
Presented on social networks this Monday, February 3, 2025, “Hot Tub” is proud to be natively available on Apple devices. Not without a certain provocation, his official account X presents it as “The first porn app approved by Apple”. A name immediately refuted by the American firm, which it describes as “Landy statements”.
Despite the fact that Apple is against the download of “Hot Tub” on its devices, the American firm is helpless. Legally speaking, it is impossible for him to refuse the application, since it is available on an apps store that does not belong to it. Thus, “Hot Tub” has become, thanks to a complex legislative system, “The first porn app approved by Apple “.
Despite the situation, Apple continue to plead not guilty: “The truth is that the European Commission forces us to authorize its distribution by application stores like Altstore […]which perhaps do not share our concerns in user safety “. According to the Crisk Apple brand, such software like “Hot Tub” may “Soft consumer confidence in our ecosystem, which we have worked for more than a decade to become the best in the world”.
Apple firmly assures that “Hot Tub” will never be available on its app store.