iPhone owners in the European Union (EU) can now download a dedicated pornography app from AltStore, an app store designed for sideloading.
The Hot Tub app bills itself as an elegant, native porn app “thoughtfully designed, ethically made and free to use.” Hot Tub is available via AltStore PAL, promising a safe way to enjoy adult content privately without advertising or tracking.
TechCrunch notes that the software aggregates videos from sites like Pornhub, Xvideos and others, letting you search and play them, promising “porn without popups.” The idea is simple: use a dedicated adult content browser instead of exposing oneself to ads, trackers and popups when visiting porn sites in regular browsers. Hot Tub is free to use, with pro features like advanced search, filtering and categories across multiple networks available to subscribers.
AltStore PAL brings pornography to EU iPhone owners
Apple’s rules prohibit apps with pornographic content, but the rules don’t apply to alternative marketplaces in the EU (which Apple doesn’t manage).
“Apps available through alternative app distribution receive an age rating, but some apps might offer content that wouldn’t be allowed on the App Store,” reads Apple’s page about alternative app distribution in the EU. “This includes apps that distribute pornography, hate speech or weapons; and apps that encourage the consumption of tobacco or vape products, alcohol or legal drugs among adults.”
Still, they must undergo Apple’s notarization process, and AltStore says Hot Tub is the first app to have successfully passed notarization distribution to EU iPhone owners. AltStore developer Riley Testut says AltStore PAL will donate the app’s Patreon earnings during February to support sex workers and others in the LGBTQ+ community through funds like The Trevor Project and Red Umbrella Fund.
In all other countries where the App Store operates, the company prohibits apps with user-generated pornographic content but permits apps with user-generated adult content—that’s why dating apps like Tinder or Grindr are required to remove explicit images in profiles to avoid getting kicked out of the App Store.
The App Review Guidelines define pornographic material as “explicit descriptions or displays of sexual organs or activities intended to stimulate erotic rather than aesthetic or emotional feelings.” Apple wants to be able to market the App Store as a safe place for kids and families, so no porn is allowed in it.
Created by Riley Testut, the brains behind the popular Delta emulator, AltStore launched in September 2019, mainly hosting jailbreak apps and tweaks. When Apple was forced to allow alternative app stores for iPhone customers in the European Union (EU), AltStore was the first Apple-sanctioned alternative app store to launch for EU iPhone owners in April 2024, marketed as AltStore PAL.
EU iPhone owners can also install other types of apps through alternative app stores like AltStore PAL that aren’t found in its own App Store, including popular torrenting apps like iTorrent and qBitControl.