News + Trends
Alternative app stores and payment methods: Apple's radical changes in the EU
by Jan Johannsen
First porn app for iPhone annoys Apple
4.2.2025
Translation: machine translated
For the first time in the EU, an app for pornographic content can be installed on the iPhone via an alternative app store. Apple says it has to authorise "Hot Tub" for regulatory reasons.
Apple has had to allow such sideloading in the EU since the introduction of the Digital Markets Act (DMA). The apps in alternative app stores still undergo checks for malware and fraud, but are not subject to Apple's own content restrictions. Hot Tub does not appear to have any age restrictions or other parental control features either.
On AltStore PAL you can also find game emulators and titles such as "Fortnite", which have been banned from the official App Store /page/apple-and-google-throw-fortnite-from-your-stores-17287. AltStore PAL does not work in Switzerland because the country is not part of the EU and is therefore not subject to the DMA. Helvetic iPhones therefore remain hot-tub-free.
Apple is "deeply concerned"
AltStore PAL developer Riley Testut had previously described Hot Tub as the "world's first Apple-approved porn app". The iPhone turns 18 this year and is therefore "finally old enough for more mature apps".
Header image: Shutterstock
Samuel Buchmann
Senior Editor
Samuel.Buchmann@digitecgalaxus.chMy fingerprint often changes so drastically that my MacBook doesn't recognise it anymore. The reason? If I'm not clinging to a monitor or camera, I'm probably clinging to a rockface by the tips of my fingers.
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