Apple says it is ‘deeply concerned’ about EU regulations that allow a rival app store to promote the download of an adult content app for the iPhone.
Apple has chided a newly available pornography app available on an alternative app store in the European Union.
The Hot Tub iPhone app, described as an adult content browser, is not available on the official Apple app store but it can be found on AltStore PAL, an alternative marketplace available due to the EU’s Digital Markets Act (DMA).
The app was described as the “world’s 1st Apple-approved porn app!,” in an X post from AltStore PAL on its February 3rd launch.
Apple rejected that description, saying the availability of such an app would “undermine consumer trust and confidence” in its mobile ecosystem.
“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 company said in a statement.
“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”.
AltStore is backed by a grant from Epic Games, a US-based video game company which has spent years battling Apple over the way iPhone apps are distributed.
AltStore fired back at Apple, saying the iPhone maker “continues to use safety as a pretext to protect their monopoly power and evade compliance with the DMA”.
Apple ‘deeply concerned’ about EU regulations
Europe’s DMA forces Big Tech companies to open their services up to more competition, including allowing phone users to download from alternative app stores instead of being limited to the official app stores from Apple and Google, for example.
The legislation forced Apple to make changes to its business practices, like allowing EU users to download iPhone apps from stores that it didn’t operate.
Apple still requires apps on rival marketplaces to be certified by the company through a notarization process, but that doesn’t mean app makers can suggest it means the company gives its endorsement.
Apple has criticised the new regulations because they expose Europeans to unsavoury services such as pornography, illegal drugs and other content that it has long prohibited in its App Store.
The company lashed out again in its latest statement, saying it’s “deeply concerned about the safety risks that hardcore porn apps of this type create for EU users, especially kids”.
The European Commission, the bloc’s executive branch, did not respond to the Associated Press’ request for comment.