Apple Broadens App Store Acceptance, Approves 'Pull My Finger'

[MacRumors]

One of the major criticisms of the App Store has been a seemingly arbitrary rejection policy on the part of Apple. Air-o-Matic was one of the developers rejected by Apple for the reason of "limited utility" for his humor app "Pull My Finger". Sam of Air-o-Matic contacted us to let us know that Apple has now accepted "Pull My Finger" into the App Store [link, $0.99].

Sam apparently got a call from Apple about his app:

[Apple] told me that they are going to start approving a whole new "genre" of apps, and that Pull My Finger will be the first to be accepted in this genre. As of now Pull My Finger is available in the app store.

The very kind Apple Team Member told me that they didn't want to reject it originally, but that they were sorting out how this "genre" of apps were going to be handled. She told me they'd be lifting the restriction on them, and more apps will follow that may have been previously not allowed.

The App now appears in the App Store but without any special designation. Coincidentally, Apple also recently allowed in a game called Amateur Surgeon which was rated for ages 17+.

Article Link: Apple Broadens App Store Acceptance, Approves 'Pull My Finger'

[RTiii320]

pull my finger??

haha oh i cant wait to see this..

That's cool that they are allowing more apps into the store, it would be nice to have them categorized of some sort because i know there will be a few mothers and fathers out there that wont let there kids have these apps.

personally, Im glad apple has opened the door.

[Boydbme]

not that I was holding out for this app or anything, but I hope this trend of apple easing off its "our way or the highway" policy is a trend that continues. I hope this opens the gate for a lot of developers who were scared to devote time and resources in fear of getting a rejection.

[macaron1]

Two thumbs up. Pull them.

[chuckzee]

is this for real? Or are you pulling my finger?

[mikeinternet]

finally the one killer app that makes the device genuinely useful.

[Bob Fraggle]

Ever since the public caught wind of the first mention of Pull My Finger and it's being flushed down the crapper by Apple, I thought it was going to cause a minor amount of stink. Good to know that sophomoric humor will be aired now. I just didn't think Apple would have been so starchy stiff and highbrow about the darker side of apps we all knew would be created. Thanks for rethinking the policy.

BF

[Pring]

I predict "Pull My Finger" as #1 paid app within the week :P

[rednic]

No doubt the next version of the iphone will come equipped with an odor generator to make this app more realistic and worthwhile.

I can see it now the app is renamed to EMPTY the ROOM! ....

and sells a million (gas mask not included)!

[syklee26]

if that app can pull these fingers, I am in.

http://www.epicycle.org.uk/images/ballmer.jpg

[BruceEBonus]

AND if your iPhone battery should ever run out .. then there's always the genuine article!

IE: http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.d...7#ht_500wt_924

[peterlobl]

There's the real vision of Steve Jobs' AppStore we've been waiting for!

Not a closed, uber-dense, dictatorial sasquatch cloud of games & whatnot --- but an open-minded if judgmental, free thinking hodge-podge of everything creatable!

Let the porn, drug-recipes, and Lord-knows (if He exists) what else start to flow!

of course, video recording would be nice...

[macdim]

Does this mean "I am rich" will be allowed back in?

[nagromme]

Good to see Apple tweaking the App Store and procedures. Especially nice of them to telephone the Pull My Finger team. Not every developer warrants personal attention... maybe Apple sees a real future in that direction

No more will my Blackberry friends taunt me with flatulence sims that I can't run!

[kattie]

I use this app to pull fingers, heads or eyes less destructively ( YouTube video )

[kdarling]

they are going to start approving a whole new "genre" of apps

What genre? "Super Crapware", because just plain crapware wasn't bad enough ?



Apple will go down in computer history as inventing the "99 cent pile".

[Rojo]

While I DEFINITELY don't think Apple should be censoring apps like "Pull My Finger," I also fear that it's inclusion will bring a bunch more useless apps to the store (and don't we already have enough?).

I appreciate the dumb humor found in "Pull My Finger," but man -- wouldn't more really USEFUL apps be even cooler? I pray developers don't suddenly make a ton of farting apps, and that the trend will somehow go towards more quality (hey - maybe even costing more than 99 cents!) apps.

[IphoneLaker]

These are the type of programs that ruin the app store experince for me.

[akm3]

They wanted to keep as much crud as possible off the store to give it legitimacy, now they can relax a bit that it is established.

Some stuff like 'I am rich' will generate big headlines/controversy so they let that stuff through as well.

Soon, I expect them to just let anything through and only pull it if it has problems/security concerns/mocks Steve.

[kockgunner]

Originally Posted by IphoneLaker

These are the type of programs that ruin the app store experince for me.

Yeah, I hate having to sort through all the crapware to find the really good ones that some developers actually spent time on. The perception of the App Store will definitely change from one that offers apps that add functionality to the iPhone to one that is a breeding ground for immature novelty apps.

[fluffy]

Originally Posted by kockgunner

Yeah, I hate having to sort through all the crapware to find the really good ones that some developers actually spent time on. The perception of the App Store will definitely change from one that offers apps that add functionality to the iPhone to one that is a breeding ground for immature novelty apps.

Obviously they just need to call the category "immature novelty apps."

[Sky Blue]

Awesome. If there's one thing the App Store is missing it's cheap shovelware crap.

[irun5k]

Originally Posted by mikeinternet

finally the one killer app that makes the device genuinely useful.

Ha! So true. Or not true, depending on whether quoting preserves sarcasm.

I was browsing app categories last night. I'm convinced it is no exaggeration that 95 percent of the apps are either junk or just simple toys.

The productivity and utility categories are anything but. It appears the most development hours have went into games. This has led to some pretty nice games actually, which is cool. But, the "killer apps" don't really exist yet IMHO.

A couple of applicable killer apps are sometimes all it takes to help sell a device. Maybe these things will come, in time.

[Zimmer62943]

This i think is a bad idea, all you people complain about apple being too tough on accepting pathetic apps like pull my finger, just wait till the whole store fills with complete junk and it becomes impossible to find and decent apps, then you'll all begin to complain about all the crap in there.

[Porco]

On Apple's phone you can hear it nice and loudly.

Google are going have a phone where it's an intricately detailed 3D model of a finger with GPS co-ordinates that link up to maps and Google Earth to sell you advertising.

Microsoft's phones will have an app that just smells funny. It'll come in brown, probably.