Apple had no choice

First porn app for the iPhone released in the EU

Apple cannot dictate the content of alternative app marketplaces on the iPhone, according to EU law (DMA).

(Bild: stock.adobe.com/Farknot Architect - stock.adobe.com)

The US computer company Apple is actually very restrictive when it comes to what apps can be offered for its iPhone. Nevertheless, a porn app has now been approved for download for the iPhone for the first time.

You can't get the raunchy app directly from Apple, so you have to install an alternative app marketplace called Altstore on your iPhone - which, according to Apple, is partly financed by arch-enemy Epic Games. The application is marketed there as a better tool for accessing relevant porn streaming portals, reports the IT portal Heise.de.

Apple is not very happy that the iPhone is associated with the porn app following publicized social media references from the alternative app marketplace. Apple does not approve of such offers in its own App Store, if only for reasons of youth protection. However, Apple is forced by EU law to allow third-party stores on the iPhone in addition to its own.

Apple cannot dictate the content of Altstore
According to the report, Apple also reviews applications that are distributed via these alternative marketplaces - which the developers of Altstore also refer to in their social media posts, in which they explain that Apple has "approved" the porn app. In reality, however, apps in third-party stores are only checked for security, Apple cannot dictate the content to the operators and the underlying EU law of the Digital Market Act (DMA) does not explicitly prohibit pornographic apps.

Apple had long resisted opening up its software ecosystems, but in the end had to bow to pressure from the European Union and, among other things, allow alternative browsers on its operating systems and give users the option of bypassing Apple to buy applications in alternative app stores.

The lack of control over the protection of minors in alternative app stores is now being highlighted as a disadvantage of this openness by Apple, which earns a lot of money from commissions on purchases in its own app store. "The same marketplace that sells one of the most popular children's games in the world - Epic's Fortnite - will now also sell hardcore pornography in the EU," explains Apple.