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Apple Now Blocking 'Overtly Sexual' Apps from App Store
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Then you have made your choice, however before you call people names consider the other side, what you consider prudish ideas might be very offensive to someone from another culture, belief system, of which you do not have to agree but do need to respect.
These people might call you selfish for pushing smut on them against their choice, they might call you other names. Your definition of SMUT might not be the same as theirs, but then that is there right, Right?
You ask for freedom, and no censorship, but only on your terms.
How about freedom not the be exposed to that type of content?
How about freedom not to have you family or children exposed to that type of contest?
Frankly, I am embarrassed to see the icons, they are often over the top. I will let you purchase all the boob applications you want, just I want and demand the freedom not the be FORCED by people who in the name of their own definition of FREEDOM force me to walk through the muck of things like this especially when it exposed my wife and kids to these in an online store that should be family friendly.
No, a small minority of whinny prudes want these apps removed.
The majority want them (otherwise they wouldn't be so highly ranked).
For those who want the App store to be more open, use Apple's feedback webpage to tell them.
I don't see what the big deal is. Most of the overly sexual apps are super crappy anyway and obviously made by money grabbing developers who just spam the store with as many apps as possible.
It's not like Apple is preventing people from putting any kind of adult content you want on the phone. There are plenty of password protected picture apps that let you put whatever kind of hardcore images you want on there, and of course you can always access the internet. I hear they have uncensored porn on that now.
It's not like Apple is preventing people from putting any kind of adult content you want on the phone. There are plenty of password protected picture apps that let you put whatever kind of hardcore images you want on there, and of course you can always access the internet. I hear they have uncensored porn on that now.
Why does YOUR freedom supersede other people's freedom?
Apple already has ratings on the apps, you're FREE to not look at the ones meant for free thinking adults.
As for your kids, if you give them a iPhone or iPod Touch, they can see all the porn they want via Safari, so no reason to care about a few apps.
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...
No, because the app is already installed on your iDevice, it's not going away. No need for refunds.
That is your own cultural bias, the other parts of the world might disagree saying your part of the world suffers from too much of one or the other.
Keep in mind, just because you think it is right does not mean it is right for others.
1. Apple was not forced to sell this dren, they chose to.
2. Apple has indicated that they have received complaints, so, effectively, they are being for to NOT sell this dren, when they otherwise would have.
It seems that the primary complaint around here is the presence of these kinds of apps in the Top 25 lists. That's simple to fix. If you consider the brick-and-mortar store analogy, there are plenty of book stores, video stores, convenience stores, etc., that sell adult content, but they generally never have it sitting in the store window (that's reserved for the Adult Store). Instead, they have it behind the counter or on a blocked back shelf or a back room. That way, if you don't want to see it, you don't have to. You can pretend it doesn't exist, if you want.
That's what Apple should do, move this content into "a back room" and get it out of the app store's front window.
And the reason that many people are advocating this approach is not because we like porn (though I'm sure that some do), it's because we care about the platform. Twenty years ago Apple learned the danger of having a platform that was too closed. They did pretty well for a while then started loosing ground, and they almost went out of business.
While the iPhone platform is not the Mac OS of the 80s and 90s, it's a little troubling to see Apple potentially making choices that parallel those that almost killed the Mac platform. It is for that reason that we advocate having a more open platform policy with the developers on the iPhone OS.
Apple said:
The comment above seems to indicate the opposite. Apple certainly believes it's in their interest (to make money), to remove these apps. Why? Because the demand is what it wants. The majority doesn't want them.
I'm sure that if you let developers make and publish porn games, porn movies, etc. in the App Store, they'll sell like pancakes. It's in human nature to feel attracted to these kind of things, but that does't mean it's the best business.
I'm a quality over quantity guy myself. They could get rid of most of that crap too. It would give people less crap to sort through to find the good stuff.
You are generalizing....I am being specific....I don't think Apple needs to condone porn in their place of business...even if it is PG-13 porn. It's not censorship....it's common decency.
Steve
This is exactly what is wrong with Apple blocking apps due to content. They should be hands off except for privacy concerns and malware. Other than that they should not be "judging" apps. It just makes me want to jailbreak my iPhone merely on principle.
Apple sells songs with explicit lyrics, R rated movies and TV shows from HBO. How in the world have they determined that adults may not purchase applications that may contain "overtly sexual" content? Who the f*ck is Apple to make that decision?
Yes I realize it is their store and they may do what they want with it. But seriously, what a bunch of hypocrites.
Apple sells songs with explicit lyrics, R rated movies and TV shows from HBO. How in the world have they determined that adults may not purchase applications that may contain "overtly sexual" content? Who the f*ck is Apple to make that decision?
Yes I realize it is their store and they may do what they want with it. But seriously, what a bunch of hypocrites.
One: You're not a raging liberal.
Two: If "seeing iBoobs or HoxSexSuperHotGirls in the top apps makes you really lose faith in humanity" are you saying that censorship and control, and forcing people only to purchase what you deem appropriate, will help you regain that faith in them? You raging liberal, you...
We don't know that. In fact, I'd be very, very confident in saying the majority of App Store users DIDN'T complain about these apps.
It goes to show that those who make the most noise often get what they want.
Hi,
As this is Apple's store, they can chose to sell or not sell whatever they want.
I know you can JailBreak the iPhone and iPod to access additional Apps, but I don't know what the details are with this. So, in theory you can get Apps onto your iPhone or iPod through means other than the App Store.
Remember, you can take your business someplace else if the App Store is not working for you, and the iPhone is not the only smart phone option available.
s.
The App Store is the only way to get apps onto your iPhone, you're right. However, the iPhone isn't the only phone being sold. The iPhone, being heavily integrated with iTunes and its features, basically comes to you as a package from Apple. If you don't like how Apple, as a whole, operates their business and dictates what's good or not good for the iPhone/App Store, you DO have more than just one option. It all comes down to, how bad do you want the iPhone? If Apple/iPhone/App Store is too restricting for you and your device, you ought to consider other alternatives. Please don't act as if you stuck without options, because you're not. You CAN "take your business someplace esle", if you think about it. Nothing in the law books requires all US citizens limit themselves to Apple's iPhone. The options are damn near next to infinite. Explore them!
This to me, seems to make the most sense. When I do a search on Google images, it has filter moderate/strict/off. Same concept can apply to the app store. The default can be moderate/strict, and if the user wants to turn the filter off, the have to agree to a disclaimer.
Your a raging liberal, don't make me laugh, sound more like another conservative Christian with issues about anything sexual.
I can't even imagine who would complaint about something that does not even have pictures of actually naked bodies. Oh wait I can imagine who would be complaining about basically everything sexual in nature.
Ehehehe...sex is great and I'm an agnostic socialist...
but these apps are not sex any more than putting the sticker over the Dell logo makes a laptop a Mac.
I would totally have the "naked people" app on my home page if it wasn't appealing to the lowest denominator of viewers and wasn't sensationalized hormonal almost-revealing-boner-perker crap.
I am liking the attention my remark received though...
Thank you Apple for making it easier to be a parent.
It's not stupid or ridiculous, it is what most people want. Apple made billions of dollars last quarter, oh yeah, they are real lazy. Great analysis and input there. I love when people resist efforts to make things safer to use or more decent for society.
I want iTunes to be an OK place for my small kids to look for things, I have parental controls on their computer. If crap like that is in there, then we won't be using iTunes. A "toggle" is not an answer.
It's not stupid or ridiculous, it is what most people want. Apple made billions of dollars last quarter, oh yeah, they are real lazy. Great analysis and input there. I love when people resist efforts to make things safer to use or more decent for society.
I want iTunes to be an OK place for my small kids to look for things, I have parental controls on their computer. If crap like that is in there, then we won't be using iTunes. A "toggle" is not an answer.
Thing is, people are locked into 2-year contracts with AT&T. Indeed, they may have just signed a contract in good faith thinking they'd be able to gorge on naughty apps for the next year.
I wouldn't be surprised if Apple make a separate, ahem, "Adult store" with effective age verification at the point of entry. Right now it looks like they're making a a preliminary cleanout to gauge customer's reactions.
Then parental controls should apply to the App Store (in addition to the iTMS) as well.
People who want the adult content, or dislike Apple filtering our choice, and see this content on the App Store.
People who want to avoid it, or keep their children away from it, can do so too, using a personal toggle/Parental controls.
Everyone wins.
you're right...i'm not raging. I'll abstain from personal attacks or trying to prove my worth in the face of online insults.
Censorship and control are bad. So are really crappy apps. I'm not saying it's good that the sex apps are removed because they're sexual (and I love me my violent video games when I'm not writing letters about foreign policy), I'm saying it's good that the apps were removed because they were really crappy and because and I can lose my liberal cred here if I must I would much rather see those interested in sexual pictures to NOT have the option of these stupid apps and instead find something better (including though the App Store if Apple allowed the content, which I would not be bothered with at all).
So if I'm a hypocrite, it's not because I'm a liberal who loves censorship, it's because I'm a liberal who thinks really poorly of people who look at crappy "porn" when better stuff exists.