Apple Drops The Final Bomb On Smut – All ‘Overtly Sexual’ Apps Removed
In case you missed our previous coverage, Apple has reversed their policy and is in the process of removing once approved smut applications from the App Store. Below is an overview of Apple’s efforts:
Friday, January 29: As detailed in our “Apple Reverses Policy, Begins Removing Smut” article, Apple sends developers a short email explaining their app(s) have been removed from sale due to customer complaints of inappropriate content … showing too much skin. While the exact criteria for “too much skin” is unknown, it seems only the most extreme apps were pulled … pasties and hand bras.
Thursday, February 11: Reported in our “Apple Continues War On Smut” article, Apple begins rejecting apps for displaying objectionable preview screenshots. Apple informs developers that … “the application screenshots must meet the requirements for a 4+ rating since these images are visible on the App Store by all users even when purchasing is restricted by the application’s rating.”
Yesterday, in what probably will be considered the most significant day in Apple’s war on smut, developers received the following email from the iPhone App Review team …
From: appreview@apple.com
Sent: Thursday, February 18, 2010 x:xx PM
To: <COMPANY NAME>
Subject: <APP NAME> Removed from Sale
Dear <COMPANY NAME>,
The App Store continues to evolve, and as such, we are constantly refining our guidelines. Your application, <APP NAME>, contains content that we had originally believed to be suitable for distribution. However, we have recently received numerous complaints from our customers about this type of content, and have changed our guidelines appropriately.
We have decided to remove any overtly sexual content from the App Store, which includes your application.
Thank you for your understanding in this matter. If you believe you can make the necessary changes so that <APP NAME> complies with our recent changes, we encourage you to do so and resubmit for review.
Sincerely,
iPhone App Review
As noted, in January, Apple only removed the most extreme smut apps. This time around … in a rather apologetic tone … Apple is removing “any overtly sexual content from the App Store.” KRAPPS received numerous emails from developers stating their apps were removed. Most were tame … you’d see more titillating content in a Maxim magazine.
The Asian Bikini Fart app, along with its Sexy, Black and Latina counterparts, have all been removed. These apps showed no excessive skin … they were simply still images of farting girls in bikinis.
The Dirty Fingers Screen Wash app has been removed. As detailed in our review, this app is a virtual iPhone screen cleaner … a girl, in a bikini, spraying and cleaning the screen.
Launched 13 months ago, the Wobble iBoobs app has also been removed. This app contains no sexual content. It’s photo manipulation software that lets you jiggle selected areas of images uploaded to the application. Static pictures become dynamic … jiggling Jell-O, swaying bridges and of course, bouncing boobs.
So it appears Apple is not just targeting photo smut apps. Sexy slider puzzles, sex positions, sexy scratch offs and many more … all have been removed. What remains to be seen is how consistent Apple will be with their new “overtly sexual content” policy. Will removals be arbitrary and subjective … or will Apple have the balls to remove such big name apps like Playboy, Sports Illustrated, Maxim and FHM … these apps certainly contain overt sexual content, yet still remain for sale (and considering the iPad, probably will always remain for sale).
Or better yet, developer On The Go Girls published both the Dirty Fingers Screen Wash and Hooters Calendar Sexy Screen Wash apps … Dirty Fingers pulled, Hooters remains – huh? Stay tuned for further developments.
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