Aylo has partially lifted its block on Pornhub and its other sites for non-registered UK users, but Ofcom is already signaling it isn’t satisfied, and the gap between Aylo’s victory lap and the regulator’s response is worth paying attention to. UK users verified as adults on the latest iOS update can now access Pornhub, Aylo confirmed.
Aylo, which also operates RedTube and YouPorn, hailed Apple’s new 26.4 iOS software update as offering “the world’s first ever device-based age verification solution for its users in the UK”. The new iOS version can run age checks on users by analyzing things such as connected payment methods and how long they’ve had an Apple account, or by scanning official ID.
On Tuesday (May 5, 2026) Alex Kekesi, Aylo’s vice president of brand and community, said that as a result of the software update, “Aylo welcomes eligible age-confirmed UK iOS users back to Pornhub… moving forward, age-verified iOS users reaching Pornhub will be served a standard adult user experience.”
In February, Aylo blocked new UK users from its sites entirely, only allowing access to previously registered users, a move Ofcom described at the time as insufficient compliance while threatening further fines. Aylo said that the UK’s new, tougher age verification laws for porn access were unworkable. The company has lobbied Apple, Google, and Microsoft to make device-level verification the standard, arguing that site-level checks are ineffective and push users toward less-regulated pirate platforms. The iOS 26.4 update is, by Aylo’s own account, the first concrete result of that campaign.
Kekesi said that the device-level age verification that the 26.4 iOS update brought was “a major first step towards a global solution that stands to better protect children everywhere […] in our view, Apple’s UK device-level age-verification update offers one of the strongest and hardest to circumvent protections currently available for helping prevent minors from accessing age-inappropriate content.”
Aylo may be claiming the iOS move as a victory in its campaign for device-level age verification, but the UK’s communications regulatory body has said that it is taking a very close look at the partial lifting of the porn block.
An Ofcom spokesperson told BBC News that it will “carefully scrutinise these changes”.
The spokesperson added that the responsibility for preventing minors from accessing online porn still “falls firmly on sites and apps”. The spokesperson added that “services can implement age checks at device account level, but they must be confident they can demonstrate to Ofcom their process is highly effective, and be ready to provide us with detailed information on this when we demand it.”
Aylo claimed that following the UK toughening age verification for porn access rules in July 2025, Pornhub’s UK traffic dropped by 77 percent.
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