The creation of the first iPhone-based porn app was attributed to an antitrust law

The Washington Post

For years, Apple’s voluminous rules about which apps are and aren’t allowed have been clear: Apps featuring “overtly sexual or pornographic material” are banned from Apple’s App Store.
But starting this week, an iPhone porn app called Hot Tub is available — only in the European Union — from one of the non-Apple mini app stores created under a landmark E.U.
and Netflix for the first time in years is offering a way to buy a subscription from its iPhone app.
Will Smillie, the 27-year-old software developer who created Hot Tub, said Apple is right to ban porn apps in its App Store.
Shane Gill and Riley Testut, who created the AltStore PAL storefront, said as a child-safety measure their app store can be automatically blocked on iPhones that use Apple’s parental controls.

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There is a pornographic app that can be downloaded straight to iPhones for what is likely the first time in history.

This achievement can be attributed to Brussels bureaucrats.

Apple’s extensive guidelines regarding what apps are and are not permitted have been clear for years: apps that contain “overtly sexual or pornographic material” are prohibited from the App Store.

Hot Tub, a pornographic iPhone app, is now accessible only in the European Union through one of the non-Apple mini app stores established under a historic E. U. legislation to encourage greater competition in technology.

The business anticipated the emergence of iPhone pornography apps due to the 2024 E. U. regulation, which annoys Apple. According to Apple, “this app and others like it will undermine consumer trust and confidence in our ecosystem.”.

The introduction of a porn app is new proof that anti-monopoly legislation and legal actions against Apple and other tech behemoths are beginning to have an impact on the technology we use, whether we like it or not.

Aww.

Take note of technology.

I’ll go over Apple’s history of both banning and allowing online porn, as well as how Hot Tub represents the messy but potentially fascinating challenges to Apple and Google’s nearly two decades of dominance over the app economy.

Porn is prohibited by Apple.

Porn and sexual content were prohibited by Apple when it first established official guidelines for its App Store in 2010. Only Apple determined what went too far.

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Shira Ovide.

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Actually, with or without Apple’s express consent, pornography has thrived on iPhones.

Despite Apple’s policies, users have discovered illegal sexualized content in iPhone apps, and the company still permits porn in apps like Reddit and X as long as settings are in place to conceal it. Anybody can access the entire range of the internet, including pornography, using the iPhone’s Safari browser.

For some, Apple’s restrictions were still excessive. By blocking iPhone apps that provide a means of reaching their audience, Apple has harmed individuals and companies engaged in adult entertainment, according to Lawrence Walters, a First Amendment lawyer who defends these companies and performers.

Beginning in the previous year, the complex mix of prohibited but pervasive adult content became even more ambiguous. U.

Apple had to allow iPhone users to download apps from other app stores that had the authority to impose their own regulations and terms on developers due to the region’s extensive Big Tech law. After learning about Hot Tub, AltStore PAL, one of those alternative app stores, extended an invitation to join.

In the past, people have circumvented Apple’s restrictions on specific app categories by cracking iPhone software locks to download apps that the company forbids. Previously, iPhone users who had taken the unusual step known as “jailbreaking” could access Hot Tub. “.”.

Those who are familiar with Apple’s past say that Hot Tub was most likely the first porn app that could be downloaded straight to iPhones without the need for jailbreaking.

Reasons for your concern.

According to readers, the Apple App Store is a safe place that is largely free of porn, scams, and other undesirable content.

Those who oppose Apple’s control and app bans typically argue that their goal is to increase options rather than restrict what users may find appealing.

Hot Tub’s creator, Will Smillie, 27, said Apple is correct to prohibit pornographic apps from its App Store. Additionally, he wants people to have access to apps that don’t follow Apple’s guidelines for what its users should have.

“It’s fantastic that more options are becoming available online for those who wish to see what else their device can do,” he said.

The AltStore PAL storefront’s creators, Shane Gill and Riley Testut, stated that their app store can be automatically blocked on iPhones that use Apple’s parental controls as a child safety precaution. Additionally, unless you know where to look, people cannot find Hot Tub or the majority of other apps on AltStore PAL.

Although Hot Tub is the first porn app on AltStore PAL, Gill and Testut claimed that their app storefront served as a safe haven for other apps that weren’t appropriate for the mainstream App Store, such as simple video games that Apple turned down and apps that companies made for their staff that weren’t required to be in the Marketplace.

As the primary platforms for app downloads and digital app purchases, Apple and Google generate tens of billions of dollars annually, but the emergence of alternative stores indicates that governments and courts worldwide are contesting this revenue.

More drastic than what the E, a judge last fall also ordered a significant overhaul of Google’s Android app store. U. acted. While Google files an appeal, those changes are on hold. ).

The current state of the app might be acceptable to you. Gill stated that the purpose of the antitrust crackdowns is to provide you with a chance to learn more about what an alternate app reality might entail.

He explained that it’s the freedom to try.

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