{"id":46632,"date":"2025-02-05T14:21:38","date_gmt":"2025-02-05T19:21:38","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/mjtsai.com\/blog\/?p=46632"},"modified":"2025-02-25T09:34:33","modified_gmt":"2025-02-25T14:34:33","slug":"apple-approved-hot-tub-porn-app","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/mjtsai.com\/blog\/2025\/02\/05\/apple-approved-hot-tub-porn-app\/","title":{"rendered":"Apple “Approved” Hot Tub Porn App"},"content":{"rendered":"

Jess Weatherbed<\/a> (MacRumors<\/a>, 9to5Mac<\/a>):<\/p>\n

The first “Apple approved” porn app for iPhone is rolling out in Europe, via AltStore PAL’s alternative iOS app marketplace. AltStore PAL developer Riley Testut says that Hot Tub, which describes itself as an ad-free “adult content browser,” has made it through Apple’s notarization review<\/a> for fraud, security threats, and functionality, and will be available for AltStore PAL users in the EU to download<\/a> starting today.<\/p>

Apple bans “overtly sexual or pornographic material” on its own iOS store. Steve Jobs once replied to a customer email questioning App Store policing, saying that Apple has “a moral responsibility to keep porn off the iPhone<\/a>,” and said that people looking for such apps should “buy an Android phone.” Thanks to the EU’s Digital Markets Act<\/a>, iPhone users within the bloc now have greater freedom to install other apps.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n

Jason Snell<\/a>:<\/p>\n

\n

AltStore and Testut knew exactly what they were doing when they implied an Apple endorsement of this product, presumably based on Apple’s notarization approval of an iOS app. Legally, Apple must notarize apps so long as they are “free of known malware, viruses or other security threats, function as promised and don’t expose users to egregious fraud.” So you can see that Apple’s hands are tied here. Which is why Apple is deeply unhappy with AltStore’s announcement, releasing this PR statement:<\/p>\n

\n We are 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 that we have worked for more than a decade to make the best in the world. 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. The truth is that we are required by the European Commission to allow it to be distributed by marketplace operators like AltStore and Epic who may not share our concerns for user safety.\n<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

But here’s the thing about notarization: Apple has used it in the past, in the EU, for reasons not covered by the above exceptions.<\/p>\n

[…]<\/p>\n

Apple representatives claim that AltStore is lying by asserting that Hot Tub was approved by the company. (Though it’s not great that Apple’s own emails<\/a> use the phrase, “The following app has been approved for distribution.”) Instead, they claim that Apple’s hands are tied by the European Commission. And yet… the company has used its lever before to protect users from (checking my notes here) emulators of very old Mac models<\/em>. Seems dangerous.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n

Paul Haddad<\/a>:<\/p>\n

\n

If Apple doesn’t want notarization to imply approval they maybe should stop using it that way.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n

Steve Troughton-Smith<\/a>:<\/p>\n

\n

You<\/em> decided notarization would be an approval process, and you inserted yourself in it, which means yes you approved this app<\/em>.<\/p>\n

Much like you didn't approve a bunch of other apps, like emulators.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n

Phil Dennis-Jordan<\/a>:<\/p>\n

Apple decided any non-App-Store-app would require their approval, therefore if this app ships, Apple has approved it.<\/p>

If iOS notarisation was anything like macOS app notarisation (automated, takes literally 1 minute) then sure, I’d say calling it “Apple-approved” would be misleading. But by all accounts, iOS notarisation is not that. It’s app store review without the app store.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n

AltStore<\/a>:<\/p>\n

Unfortunately, Apple has rejected several apps from our store in the past for dubious reasons, so the phrase “Apple-approved” in our marketing is a reference to the fact that Hot Tub was approved, not rejected, by Apple for notarization.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n

John Gruber<\/a>:<\/p>\n

\n

What they mean is that Hot Tub was duly notarized by Apple — an ostensibly technical, not editorial, review that encompasses (using terms from Apple’s own documentation<\/a>) accuracy, functionality, safety, security, and privacy. I say “ostensibly” there because Apple has, controversially, refused to notarize apps for other reasons[…]<\/p>\n

[…]<\/p>\n

If we want to get nitty-gritty over verbs, I’d argue that Apple accepts<\/em> apps — like Hot Tub — for notarization, not approves<\/em>. Begrudging acceptance<\/em> is more of a thing than begrudging approval<\/em>.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

Apple is the one who literally chose to use the word “approved<\/a>” after an app passes notarization.<\/p>\n\n

Riccardo Mori<\/a>:<\/p>\n

Notice the weasely wording of the statement, making it sound as if the EU is to blame. “We didn’t want to distribute this, but the EU made us do it!”<\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n

It’s very weaselly. There’s no allegation that there’s actually anything unsafe about the app. It’s gone through Apple’s vaunted<\/a> review process and runs within a sandbox. Apple is just spreading FUD and throwing its partner under the bus, implying that they have bad motives. It’s also trying to imply that Epic is distributing porn, which is not the case.<\/p>\n\n

Tim Sweeney<\/a>:<\/p>\n

\n

To correct Apple’s false statement screenshotted here, Epic Games Store for PC and mobile - unlike Apple’s App Store - don’t host any porn apps, have never hosted porn apps.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n

Steve Troughton-Smith<\/a>:<\/p>\n

\n

Adult apps aren’t kept off of iPhone. The top 50 list on the App Store includes several apps filled with hardcore porn, including social media apps and Reddit. This is entirely performative.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n

Tim Sweeney<\/a>:<\/p>\n

\n

Apple is being extremely disingenuous in attacking the European Union here. The iOS App Store hosts the Reddit app, which provides access to massive amounts of porn. Apple knows this, permits it, and gave Reddit a 17+ (!!!) rating and Editors Choice award.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n

Peter Steinberger<\/a>:<\/p>\n

\n

Let’s hope nobody tells Apple about Reddit and X!<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n

Not to mention that there’s more porn in Safari<\/a> than in any third-party app.<\/p>\n\n

John Gruber<\/a> (Mastodon<\/a>):<\/p>\n

You’ve been able to watch porno on your iPhone since the first day it shipped — a full year ahead of the App Store — by using the web. Apple’s line has always been clear: native apps = Apple-approved; the web = anything goes.<\/p>

[…]<\/p>

Jobs responded:<\/p>

Fiore’s app will be in the store shortly. That was a mistake.\nHowever, we do believe we have a moral responsibility to keep porn\noff the iPhone. Folks who want porn can buy an Android phone.<\/p><\/blockquote><\/blockquote>\n\n

I agree that Apple shouldn’t be policing what a Web browser can do, but that makes Jobs’ statement nonsensical. There’s every reason to assume that iPhone was and is one of the leading ways<\/a> that people get this content. If Apple has a moral responsibility, it’s completely failing. It’s not even blocking porn in native apps in the App Store.<\/p>\n\n

John Gruber<\/a>:<\/p>\n

\n

Sweeney has a real point here, and it really is a bit of a conundrum.<\/p>\n

[…]<\/p>\n

But how is it possible that these super popular platforms have apps in the no-porn App Store while hosting tons of porn? It’s an issue with Reddit, with Tumblr<\/a>, and apparently especially so with X<\/a> (fka Twitter).<\/p>\n

[…]<\/p>\n

I think Sweeney’s synopsis captures Apple’s de facto policy accurately, with the exception that they don’t welcome<\/em> apps that host porn (so long as the app has controls to hide it, and if the adult content is effectively a side hustle in the overall context of the app), but tolerate<\/em> it.<\/p>\n

Some banks are too big to fail. Some platforms are too big to ban. Apple won’t say that, but that’s clearly the tacit policy.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n

That’s how a lot of the App Store works. There’s what they say, and then there’s what they actually do.<\/p>\n\n

Putting aside whether this should even be Apple’s role, I think it’s fair to say that they care more about appearing to be on the right side of the issue than about actually addressing it. If they approved an app like Hot Tub with an appropriate age range and warning label, everyone would be clear on what’s happening. Parents could easily block their kids from installing it. What they are actually doing is promoting—giving Editors Choice awards—to apps that hide the content within an innocuous looking shell.<\/p>\n\n

Previously:<\/p>\n