Apple has criticised a pornography app newly available on iPhones in the European Union, claiming it was “required by the European Commission to allow it”.
In the EU, AltStore has begun distributing an app called Hot Tub, which describes itself as “a private, secure and elegant way to browse adult content.”
In a statement on February 3, Apple said it was “deeply concerned about the safety risks that hardcore porn apps of this type create for EU users, especially kids”.
“This app and others like it will undermine consumer trust and confidence in our ecosystem.
“The truth is that we are required by the European Commission to allow it to be distributed,” Apple said.
Apple’s gatekeeper status changed with the 2022 adoption of the Digital Markets Act (DMA), which required Apple to allow alternative app stores.
The company claimed that in enabling the porn app, the bloc’s digital policy was also undermining consumer confidence in Apple.
Since it first opened the App Store on iPhones in 2008, Apple has controlled what apps could be downloaded to the devices. Then-CEO Steve Jobs said in 2010 that keeping porn off the iPhone was Apple’s “moral responsibility” and one of the company’s major motivations for acting as a gatekeeper.
AltStore said it had received backing from Epic Games, the creator of the Fortnite video game that pursued an anti-trust complaint against Apple. AltStore said it used that funding to pay fees that Apple charges to alternative app stores that are under investigation by the EU, according to Reuters.
As part of its alternative app store process, Apple has still required apps to undergo a baseline review called “notarisation” that checked for cybersecurity threats such as known malware but did not involve approving the app’s content.
AltStore said Hot Tub was notarised by Apple and in a post on X described that move as making the app “the world’s 1st Apple-approved porn app,” raising the US tech giant’s ire.
“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,” Apple said in a statement.
AltStore said comments on X were in reference to Apple’s notarisation decision and Hot Tub steered press enquiries to AltStore.
In a post on X, Epic Games chief executive Tim Sweeney said his firm had supported laws such as the DMA because “when Apple are allowed to be the gatekeeper of competing apps and stores, they grossly misuse that power to disadvantage competition”.
He added that Epic’s own app store in the EU, which rolled out last year, was not carrying the Hot Tub app and had never hosted porn apps.
