Apple Now Blocking 'Overtly Sexual' Apps from App Store

[WestonHarvey1]

BTW, my opinion is they should not let a similar apps (fart/boobs/noises/etc) spam the entire store. It just makes the developers that did take the time to make a worthy app not shine.

I wish Apple would offer a more broad ad-hoc model to let people download crapware and pornware outside the context of the App Store, and be a lot pickier about what gets onto the App Store. The noise of the garbage could then fade off into the background.

We look at the crap on the App Store and think that's the damage that has been done. But the real damage isn't possible to measure. How many developers have simply decided not to develop a great application simply because they're discouraged by the crapware gold rush?

 

[HarryPot]

This is just stupid. No one is forcing anyone to buy these apps. If you don't like them, don't buy them.

Did it occur to you that maybe all this apps were spamming the app store, and making many people stop coming back to the Apps Store. It did to me just that. I no longer enjoy, as I did before, entering the App Store. And it's not because I'm offended by sex apps, it's just that they were way to much of them, and most of them completely useless and very badly coded.

Apple is making what they think is better for their business. They see this as a way to increase sales. And so far, I think they have demonstrated they know how to manage online stores.

Making a special section for sexual apps or for +17 apps, would just give Apple a bad reputation among some iPhone/iPod Touch users. While not including them doesn't.

 

[WhySoSerious]

I repeat my question... What "bad" has Apple done to the iPhone since you purchased it?

(Sorry WhySoSerios, I had to repeat myself here since he totally avoided my question.)

lol....well maybe from now on you just say something like "refer to my original reply #---"

 

[swingerofbirch]

After I spend millions of R&D into a motorboating app which detects the user's nose furrowing into the screen . . . and now this?


/Seriously though, I don't see how a boobies application is offensive in the context of an online store that also sells sexually graphic movies and music.

 

[HarryPot]

I wish Apple would offer a more broad ad-hoc model to let people download crapware and pornware outside the context of the App Store, and be a lot pickier about what gets onto the App Store. The noise of the garbage could then fade off into the background.

We look at the crap on the App Store and think that's the damage that has been done. But the real damage isn't possible to measure. How many developers have simply decided not to develop a great application simply because they're discouraged by the crapware gold rush?

I couldn't agree more.

After all, didn't Steve said it is about content? Right now if I judge the App Store by it's content, I would say it's quickly falling into the mediocre category. So sad, when it started it was much better.

 

[WestonHarvey1]

You missed the point. It's not like going into a store and demanding shelf space.. it's being told that you can't sell your product at all, anywhere, regardless of consumer demand, because that shelf space is the only place that things are allowed to be sold, and it has arbitrary guidlines and puritanical standards to uphold unless a big buisness name like Playboy or EA's Call of Duty is involved.

And you're damn right that if Apple stores were the only stores on the planet, and that's where I had to go to get my clothes, groceries, and anything else... I'd also be pissed if they didn't sell what I wanted because it was adult material.

You're flirting with the idea of antitrust law here, and while I'm sure it eventually comes into play, I don't think we're there yet. You've got viable, competing platforms, many of which have the same applications available on their own stores.

The govt could barely win an antitrust case against Microsoft, when it seemed a lot more clear cut. You really can buy a Droid, and most of the high quality marquee apps are already available, and you have the opportunity to sell anything you want there.

It could be argued that since there is parity of platforms, people choosing the iPhone are also choosing the App Store and the restrictions that come with it, and don't really have a case.

 

[HarryPot]

/Seriously though, I don't see how a boobies application is offensive in the context of an online store that also sells sexually graphic movies and music.

I actually don't think this is the reason Apple removed them. They just want to remove a category that was spamming the store.

 

[tatonka]

I repeat my question... What "bad" has Apple done to the iPhone since you purchased it?

(Sorry WhySoSerios, I had to repeat myself here since he totally avoided my question.)

I bought the 3g as is became available .. so I knew Apple would control the appstore .. I didn't know what a mess that would be. They have repeatedly approved and subsequently rejected apps and they apply intransparent policies to say the least.
I didn't know that and I consider that a bad thing.

iBoobs could be iNose and only have one wiggle vortex instead of two and would still be in the app store .. that is crap!

And although you don't want to hear that .. but just because I purchase something am I not waving all rights to complain about thing that are bothering me ..

Funny enough, people wrote angry complaints to Apple and they actually changed something .. so complaining loudly may actually change things .. if you always keep your mouth shut, nothing will change.

 

[batchtaster]

Good riddance.

I'm as raging a liberal as anyone and love freedom of speech, but seeing iBoobs or HoxSexSuperHotGirls in the top apps makes me really lose faith in humanity and I'd rather see more worthwhile apps (or at least more...content-heavy apps) be celebrated instead.

This.

 

[eastcoastsurfer]

A store decided to stop carrying a class of product that was bad for business. Go to another store or get over it.

I would love to go another app store, but Apple has decided to make that as hard as possible.

Imagine if Apple were to create a Mac App Store and only things that they wanted you to have were allowed.

You may be joking, but this is where I see Apple headed. Obviously they can't do it in one swoop, but slowly from the bottom up with the iPhone -> iPad ->? they will push all their products to an app store only experience. Full control of the entire Mac product and all of the apps that run on it is SJs and Apples dream.

 

[Erwin-Br]

The defenders in this thread don't seem to realize it's about the principle of the thing.

I also wonder what happens if you bought an app that is later pulled from the store. Do you get your money back? Let me guess...

 

[HarryPot]

I would love to go another app store, but Apple has decided to make that as hard as possible.

So why buy an iPhone? There's always a choice.

 

[ericinboston]

Talk about censorship and letting Big Apple Brother decide what's appropriate.

I know it's Apple's store, but how hard would it be to put an Adult tab on the iPhone?...or a Rating system and rate nudy apps and violent games as R or something? And what's the harm if the app is some silly, immature bouncing boobies app like the billions of stupid Flash files we see on the web every year? Don't tell me I can't have a little immature fun for $1.99. What's next?...banning apps that blast fart sounds or burping sounds? Seriously.

This is just another reason why letting 1 company control the distribution, applications, and device is bad. I personally don't want the banned apps...I just feel strongly against corporations telling me what I can and cannot install on my device.

And I know people will simply reply "if you don't like it, don't buy the iPhone." Yea, I understand that argument.

 

[ericinboston]

The defenders in this thread don't seem to realize it's about the principle of the thing.

EXACTLY! All about principle.

 

[dejo]

I also wonder what happens if you bought an app that is later pulled from the store. Do you get your money back? Let me guess...

Probably not, unless you ask for one. But the app still continues to function. So, no worries.

 

[speedriff]

You're not getting it. You're right, but it's a two way street. You don't have to buy what you don't want to buy. But here's the other side - the side no one seems to be getting - YOU ALSO DON'T HAVE TO SELL WHAT YOU DON'T WANT TO SELL.

I agree totally but...Apple needs to open up the iPhone to other providers if they are going to become the thought/morality police. Let's face it, Apple needs to overhaul the user experience on the App Store. They need to put adult things in a category by themselves. Generally speaking, people get apps from people who tell them about one or they download ones they read about etc. Nobody (at least nobody I know) is going through 493 pages of apps in the business section et al.. I understand that these silly apps show up at the top of the popular lists but that is what the public is buying or they wouldn't be there, hence needing the adult section.

 

[Dae]

Good riddance.

I'm as raging a liberal as anyone and love freedom of speech, but seeing iBoobs or HoxSexSuperHotGirls in the top apps makes me really lose faith in humanity and I'd rather see more worthwhile apps (or at least more...content-heavy apps) be celebrated instead.

So you'd rather be blind and keep faith? lol sucks to be you

 

[HarryPot]

The defenders in this thread don't seem to realize it's about the principle of the thing.

What principle? Who's principle?

Apple is a company seeking business, that's their only final principle. They want to satisfy a demand, and that demand wants this apps removed.

 

[speedriff]

Wirelessly posted (Mozilla/5.0 (iPhone; U; CPU iPhone OS 3_1_3 like Mac OS X; en-us) AppleWebKit/528.18 (KHTML, like Gecko) Version/4.0 Mobile/7E18 Safari/528.16)

You people whining about censorship simply do not get it. I'm going to make it as simple as possible for you, and then I'm going to leave this ridiculous thread.

Apple runs a store. They are in the business of keeping customers happy and interested in returning to this store. These "sexually explicit apps" apparently upset enough customers that it became in the best interest of the store as a whole to remove them.

The reason R rated movies, explicit songs, and violent games hav not been removed is that they are not bad for business. You can rant and rave about how wrong it is to condone violence and not sex, and I'd agree with you. But the fact is that the "sexual" apps are bad for business while Call of Duty and explicit songs are not. That is why one is gone and the others are not and will not be.

This has nothing to do with censorship. Apple made a business decision based on what they believe to be in the best interest of their store. If you don't like it, the thing to do is not to wail about it on message boards, it's to show apple that they made a bad business decision by taking your business to a platform that does not ban these types of apps.

The level of hyperbole, hand-wringing, and misuse of the word "censorship" in this thread is truly astounding. A store decided to stop carrying a class of product that was bad for business. Go to another store or get over it.

Yeah, great points except they kept Playboy and others...hence, censorship. Someone was offended by iBoobs? How ridiculous. Who was offended, Playboy? I tend to follow the money trail and...sniff...sniff, this smells like pressure from a larger client.

 

[knewsom]

Apple needs to take a lesson from history - Porn is the major driving factor behind nearly every media format's success. VHS vs Beta. DVD vs LD. BluRay VS HDDVD. Which side did the Porn industry take? Which side won out?

Why are divX, Xvid, WMV, and flash video so much more popular than QT and MP4? If they push the porn out completely, the porn will look elsewhere, and Apple will once ore be left behind.

 

[lifeinhd]

I am not a huge fan of apple but they have decided THEY don't want to sell certain stuff in THEIR store.
What is the big deal? Imagine owning a store and a group of people demand you sell something, but you do not believe it fits your business model. Should you be forced to sell it.
Censorship, cmon really?

No. This is different, because the App Store is the only way to get apps onto your iPhone or iPod. It's not like I can simply take my business someplace else like I can if Costco doesn't have what I want.

 

[dejo]

Porn is the major driving factor behind nearly every media format's success. ... BluRay VS HDDVD. Which side did the Porn industry take? Which side won out?

Porn industry took HD-DVD side. Blu-ray won out. Porn industry has switched to Blu-ray.

 

[CactusHawk]

I find this funny. You are being "vocal" about your displeasure that Apple is not allowing you to buy iBoob type apps on you iPhone.

Would you be "vocal" about this to your boss? Your Parents? Your co-Workers?

"Honey, Mom, Dad, Boss, Apple is just pissing me off! They took iBoobs and iGiggleBoobs off the app store! I am going to get an Android phone ASAP so I can purchase these apps!"

LOL

Just because I don’t want something banned does not mean I want to purchase it. I have never bought anything related to iBoobs. I don’t want porn on my iPhone.

Are you trying to imply that if I am not willing to "vocalize" something to my "boss, parents, or co-workers" means that I must be doing something wrong? I do plenty of things I would not run and tell my boss...don’t you?

The idea that if you want iBoobs just jailbreak is ridiculous. I am jailbroken and I do not know of a single app that "wiggles" anything.

"Go buy an Android or something else" is also kind of a lame idea. I have spent quite a bit of money on accessories that will only work with my iDevices.

My issue is not with the specific apps that are being removed but the idea that AFTER I spend my money on devices and supporting hardware what I can do with those devices and hardware can change. Today it’s an app that "can be used" to wiggle things...tomorrow it may be my ability to receive my corporate email. Where will it stop? I am starting to second guess any additional purchases of Apple hardware.

Oh and lets not “clutter” the most popular apps lists with what amount to…the most popular apps.

 

[HarryPot]

Apple needs to take a lesson from history - Porn is the major driving factor behind nearly every media format's success. VHS vs Beta. DVD vs LD. BluRay VS HDDVD. Which side did the Porn industry take? Which side won out?

Did BluRay won because of porn? Did the DVD? Even VHS is debatable.

And I don't think the apps in the App Store were coming from the porn industry, since none of them contained real nudity.

Why are divX, Xvid, WMV, and flash video so much more popular than QT and MP4? If they push the porn out completely, the porn will look elsewhere, and Apple will once ore be left behind.

Can it be because the Mac user-base is much smaller than the Microsoft one?

 

[houdinize]

Wirelessly posted (Mozilla/5.0 (iPhone; U; CPU iPhone OS 3_1_3 like Mac OS X; en-us) AppleWebKit/528.18 (KHTML, like Gecko) Version/4.0 Mobile/7E18 Safari/528.16)

You people whining about censorship simply do not get it. I'm going to make it as simple as possible for you, and then I'm going to leave this ridiculous thread.

Apple runs a store. They are in the business of keeping customers happy and interested in returning to this store. These "sexually explicit apps" apparently upset enough customers that it became in the best interest of the store as a whole to remove them.

The reason R rated movies, explicit songs, and violent games hav not been removed is that they are not bad for business. You can rant and rave about how wrong it is to condone violence and not sex, and I'd agree with you. But the fact is that the "sexual" apps are bad for business while Call of Duty and explicit songs are not. That is why one is gone and the others are not and will not be.

This has nothing to do with censorship. Apple made a business decision based on what they believe to be in the best interest of their store. If you don't like it, the thing to do is not to wail about it on message boards, it's to show apple that they made a bad business decision by taking your business to a platform that does not ban these types of apps.

The level of hyperbole, hand-wringing, and misuse of the word "censorship" in this thread is truly astounding. A store decided to stop carrying a class of product that was bad for business. Go to another store or get over it.

Completely agree and I think this is the most on target post on this thread. In the end it is all business. Just as it was for the iBoob developer, so too for Apple. End of discussion.