LONDON — Apple has chided a newly available pornography app available in the European Union, and warned that the bloc’s digital rules opening the way for third-party app store downloads undermines consumer confidence in the tech giant.
AltStore PAL, an alternative app marketplace made possible under Europe’s Digital Markets Act (DMA), unveiled the Hot Tub app this week, which is described as an adult content browser.
The digital rulebook 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.
AltStore PAL said in a social media post on Tuesday that Hot Tub is “the world’s 1st Apple-approved porn app.”
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.”
Under Apple’s rules, apps on rival marketplaces still need to be certified by the company through a “notarization” process but app makers aren’t allowed to suggest this means Apple gives its endorsement.
AltStore is backed by Epic Games, which has spent years battling Apple over the way iPhone apps are distributed and the fees for digital transactions that occur within them.
Under DMA, Apple had to make changes to its business practices starting last year. In one of the biggest changes, Apple was forced to relax restrictions on its App Store, by allowing people in the 27-nation bloc to download iPhone apps from stores that it did not operate.
Apple has criticized the new regulations, saying they expose Europeans to the specter of more unsavory services such as peddling 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 immediately to a request for comment.
