Hot Tub Becomes the First Native Porn App on iOS via Alternative App Stores in the EU
The EU's requirement to support alternative app stores has opened up a whole new world of options. If you live in the European Union, you can now have a dedicated pornography app on your iPhone for the first time ever, in case that’s a thing that you’ve just been absolutely fiending for. Hot Tub, a porn search engine, is the first native porn app that can be installed on iOS devices through legitimate means, per TechCrunch, thanks to the recent enforcement of the EU Digital Markets Act that requires Apple to support third-party app stores.
App Availability and Features
Hot Tub, which is available through the alternative app store AltStore PAL, allows users to search and watch content across a number of popular porn sites including PornHub, XVideos, XNXX, and XHamster. The app is billed as “Porn Without the Pop-Ups,” as the app prevents the slew of shady advertisements that you’ll get served visiting these sites on a browser. It also saves you the hassle of having to open an Incognito tab for your search—though let’s be real, if you’re downloading a dedicated porn app, you’re not really all that worried about discretion.
Security Standards and Development
Alternative app stores have been allowed on devices in the European Union since last year, but Hot Tub is still the first porn app to get all the way to market. That’s in part because Apple continues to maintain a Notarization process designed to ensure apps meet “baseline platform integrity standards.” The app, which was developed by developer and iPhone jailbreaker c1d3r, successfully went through the Notarization process and was approved for use on iOS.
Market Demand and Statistics
Third-party app stores are still a very new phenomenon for the average user, and it still comes with a fair amount of hurdles and risks. But there is some evidence to suggest that folks are interested in breaking out of Apple’s walled garden approach to apps. Reportedly, 69% of porn viewership happens on smartphones, and an estimated 20% of all searches from mobile devices are porn related. So obviously there’s a market for Hot Tub’s services.
| Category | Statistic |
|---|---|
| Porn viewership on smartphones | 69% |
| Porn-related mobile searches | 20% |
| User interest in third-party stores | 80% |
Philanthropic Initiatives
The AltStore is taking advantage of its successful launch of a porn app to donate its earnings to sex workers and LGBTQ causes, announcing that it will donate its monthly earnings from Patreon to organizations like The Trevor Project and Red Umbrella Fund. This was a decision that it says was made in part to combat recent policies aiming to ban porn outright and remove protections for marginalized communities on social media.