Whenever a hot new social media platform emerges on the market people understandably have one question: is there porn? TikTok, the Vine-like mini-video service that’s taken the youth by storm, is no exception.
But you’ve missed the boat. There used to be porn on TikTok, and then it went away. However, there is an alternative.
So what happened to the porn on TikTok?
At launch, TikTok was like many other social media services; it didn’t explicitly forbid sexual content. This allowed users like Bree Louise to explode in popularity with nude videos. However, TikTok soon took a page from Instagram and banned outright sexual content.
This includes:
- depictions of sexual activities such as penetration, non-penetrative sex, or oral sex
- content that shows human genitalia, female nipples, or buttocks
- images of sexual arousal
- or content that depicts a sexual fetish
Understandably, this almost ended porn on TikTok. Some sexy content still trickles through, but unless you check the TikTokNSFW Reddit, you’ll be searching for a long time.
The good news is while there’s no porn on TikTok there’s a form of TikTok on YouPorn. Meet SWYP.
What is SWYP and how is it like porn on Tiktok?
SWYP is a project from YouPorn that aims to bring TikTok’s swipe-based discovery to the world of mobile porn. That’s a big deal because an overwhelming majority of porn streaming happens on our phones.
In 2019, 76.6% of PornHub’s traffic came from phones. Interestingly people are using their tablets for work, with just 7.1% viewing the site on their iPads. Using SWYP takes into account how often someone is watching porn on their mobile phone.
SWYP isn’t an app, so to speak. Using a direct URL you install on your homepage, SWYP takes you directly to a mobile-optimized porn viewer. On the site, users can browse through a list of pornographic videos tailored to their interests with a simple series of gestures.
According to YouPorn, if you log into your YouPorn account before using SWYP, the app will learn over time from your viewing. While it works in portrait mode, SWYP is optimized for landscape viewing.
SWYP is free to use, but as the Daily Dot noted previously, “–free porn comes at a cost. As Vice warns, YouPorn ‘actively relies upon’ pirated adult content to operate—as do its fellow MindGeek-owned properties Pornhub and Redtube.
In fact, these ‘free porn’ tube sites are linked to the porn crash of the late 2000s. In its wake, adult performers’ labor has been significantly devalued on the market.”
How does SWYP work?
If you’ve used TikTok, SWYP will be instantly familiar. Open the app and you’ll be met with a clip of a video. If you’d like to see the whole video swipe left. To skip to the next video swipe up from the bottom of the screen.
Want to go back to the last video you watched? Swipe down from the top. They’ve even made a handy explainer.
How do you install SWYP?
The easiest way to install SWYP is by using your phone’s camera. Open your native camera app and put it over the QR code below. Follow the link.
Once the page loads, share the page, and use the “Add to Home Screen” options to save the site to your home page. This gives the service a native app-like experience without needing to use the App Store.
Is SWYP an alternative to porn on TikTok?
SWYP is a solid idea that’s a few versions away from being what it says it wants to be. Over a few hours of testing, we found SWYP to be a blast to use when it worked, even with a few glaring issues.
The interface works, though on an iPhone 8 it was often sluggish. Making sure we closed all the tabs in our mobile browser certainly helped, but don’t expect the silky smooth experience of TikTok. You also can’t search or easily follow accounts on SWYP, though you can favorite clips for later viewing. There’s also no method for uploading your own content or commenting on videos. So, it is not a real alternative to TikTok.
However, using the interface we were struck by just how refreshing it was to browse for porn without the constant barrage of ads. Yes, the simple interface is nice, but not seeing thirty sexual Family Guy cartoons on the side of the page was a delight. It took a while before SWYP started to figure out my personal tastes, but that feels like a quirk of the interface. Because there is no search, it can only learn from what you say no to, rather than what you like.
Oleg Elkov/Shutterstock
We’d like to see SWYP strive for more in the future, but the things that keep it from being TikTok stand in its way. If users upload content you’d need to be able to monitor it, pay them, and make sure they’re of age. Filters cost money. Infrastructure allowing for individual user accounts costs money. Heck, real apps instead of just a mobile-optimized webpages cost money.
SWYP is no TikTok, but if you wish there was a simpler way to view porn on your phone SWYP is a fun alternative. Just think of SWYP as roleplaying what it’s like have porn on TikTok, and dream of a world where we get sex-based viral dance routines instead of 60-second clips of porn.
