Apple Makes Another Sensible App Store Policy Reversal
In a move that is sure to please many developers, Apple has decided to again grant promotional codes to mature App Store software rated for ages 17 and up — a distinction that still includes all browser-embedded apps.
Another good, common sense decision and reversal of a dumb App Store policy. Hopefully they can soon also get round to re-thinking and no longer lumping in all browser-embedded apps within the 17+ rating bracket.
Via: Apple Insider
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Wait a minute — doesn't it actually make sense to lump browser-embedded apps within the 17+ rating bracket? How else are parents who want to control things on their kid's device going to prevent undesirable surfing? Right now a parent can disable Safari and disable downloading content above a certain rating, thus preventing using the device to browse in any way. If Apple lets apps with open browsing have ratings of less than 17+ then that breaks things for parents who want this kind of control.
Note that this is not an argument about whether parents _should_ do things like this. I personally believe it's up to each parent to decide how to parent their children. But since there are already parental controls this is more of an argument for not breaking them or making them ineffectual. (Or at least ineffectual without a lot of work on the part of the kid.)
I wouldn't argue against these browser apps having a rating that allows them to be included within parental controls, but I think it's unfair and wrong to lump them in with apps that genuinely focus on or provide *only* adult / violent content and similar. And they should also clearly show on their App Store page that they are rated 17+ (or whatever more appropriate rating can be given to them) for only one reason – like 'provides access to the internet'. At the moment, they carry the full listing of 'frequent / intense' sexual content or nudity, and the same for realistic violence etc.
This seems more than a little absurd to me. A little like labeling an encyclopedia 17+ and noting frequent sexual / violent content, because somewhere amidst all its other coverage, it will touch on pornography and acts of violence throughout history.
It would be useful if the promotion codes could at least be used outside of the US