Pornhub is returning to some iPhones, thanks to Apple’s new age-check feature

Pornhub is becoming accessible again for some UK iPhone users thanks to Apple’s new built-in age-check feature, but it looks like users in the US will have to wait a little longer.

Introduced with iOS 26.4, the system lets eligible users verify their age directly through their iPhone after tougher UK online safety rules effectively blocked access for many people.

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Pornhub owner Aylo has long argued that device-level verification is a better approach than forcing users to repeatedly complete age checks on individual websites. “With the release of iOS 26.4 Apple has introduced the world’s first ever device-based age verification solution for its users in the UK,” says Alex Kekesi, Aylo’s head of community and brand, in a statement to the BBC. “As a result, today Aylo welcomes eligible age-confirmed UK iOS users back to Pornhub.”

The move is the latest twist in the UK’s rollout of the Online Safety Act (OSA), which requires platforms hosting adult content to implement stronger age verification systems.

Back in October 2025, Aylo said UK traffic to Pornhub had dropped by more than 75 per cent after tougher checks were introduced. Some observers suggested many users may simply have switched to VPN services instead.

A few months later, Pornhub effectively blocked new UK users from accessing explicit content while it worked through compliance concerns with Ofcom. Since then, many UK visitors have instead been shown safe-for-work content on the site.

Ofcom says responsibility for preventing children from accessing pornography still sits with websites and apps themselves, even if device-level checks are used as part of the process.

The regulator says companies must still be able to demonstrate that their age verification systems are “highly effective” if asked to justify them.

It’s too early to say if Apple’s approach could potentially make age verification less fragmented in future – with phones and operating systems handling more of the process rather than individual websites – but it would certainly be simpler than the current fragmented implementation.

In the US?

Apple’s iOS 26.4 age verification feature is built specifically to comply with UK legislation, and there’s no equivalent rollout for US users just yet.

That’s because the situation stateside is considerably more fragmented – rather than a single national framework like the UK’s Online Safety Act, the US has seen a wave of state-level legislation, with around 25 states are now enforcing restrictions on adult content, each with its own rules.

States including Texas, Florida, Georgia, Arizona, and Ohio require sites where at least a third of content is deemed harmful to minors to implement age checks before granting access.

Pornhub has withdrawn from states that have introduced these laws, citing the same privacy concerns it raised before the iOS solution emerged in the UK.

Apple is working on a solution – its updated Declared Age Range API allows apps to receive a user’s age category without accessing birth dates or other personal data. But this is not the same device-level solution that’s just opened Pornhub back up in the UK.

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