Pornhub is becoming accessible again for some UK iPhone users thanks to Apple’s new built-in age-check feature.
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.
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.
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