Shocker: New App Store ‘Sexy Apps’ Policy Causing Ridiculous Rejections, Reversals, and Plenty of Criticism
Who woulda thunk that Apple ‘s new shift in App Store policy “ the one that now has them banning ‘overtly sexual ‘ apps from the store “ would end up causing controversy, ridicule, and daft decisions and decision reversals when it comes to individual apps affected by it?
Sure enough, just a few days after the new policy started being put into practice it is causing lots of controversy and, in typical App Store style, providing some fine entertainment due to dopey decisions in applying it.
Just today, here are some of the things I ‘ve noticed in this area:
– A scathing and well-written article by MG Siegler at TechCrunch, telling Apple all about the biggest source of porn on the iPhone: Apple, There ‘s Pornography On My iPhone. The App Is Called Safari. You Made It
– Bikini-clad girls are banned, shirtless guys washing cars are not: So Apple Bans Girls In Bikinis, But A Shirtless Gay Dude Washing A Car Is OK?
– Bikini-clad girls (or those wearing less) are not banned if they ‘re from ‘well-known companies ‘ like Sports Illustrated or Playboy: Phil Schiller responds to sex app purge
– In amidst all the 5,000 plus apps banned under the new policy was an innocuous looking app called Simply Beach (shown in the screencap top of this post) from a UK seller of swimsuits. That (stupid) decision has now been reversed and the app is back in the App Store: Apple quietly reinstates swimwear iPhone application
And that ‘s just one day ‘s worth of fun and games generated by this latest App Store policy shift. I ‘m sure there will be plenty more of this kind of news over coming weeks, until whenever the next switch or adjustment to this policy comes.
I am not a prude, I am not anti-porn, and I am aware that Safari and iPod video player and camera roll are probably the biggest sources of objectionable material on the iPhone. All that being said, I am happy this smut is getting pulled (although if I had my way all the fart apps would have been pulled first). The iPhone is quietly elegant. The "sexy apps" totally have cheapened the experience for me. Now on the other side, Apple needs to be consistent. In addition, I feel for developers who had the rules changed on them after the fact. Imagine if you spent time and other resources to create a financial app, and then Apple denied all money apps 6 months later? It is arguably more foreseeable with "sexy apps", but still they played by the rules. In conclusion, I am selfishly very happy with this decision and feel it was long overdue.
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stop the proibition