Over 5000 'Overtly Sexual' Apps Pulled from App Store (And Counting)

[inkswamp]

I guess I don't get how this is censorship. I may be wrong, but I don't think Apple is telling people that they can't create, distribute or consume porn. They are just saying that they don't want to sell it in the App Store.

Since when does censorship require the act of stopping people from producing the content in question? Apple is removing these apps from their store. It's the very definition of censorship.

Comparable situation: the head of your local library decides to remove all books that have overtly sexual content. By your definition, is that not censorship?

Is certainly is, and what Apple is doing is every bit as disgusting as a library censoring content. I think this is a really stupid thing for Apple to be doing.

 

[ChazUK]

You know what? I kind of agree with Apples stance.

There are 'developers' about will take advantage of the juvenile nature of some owners who will spam app stores (all of them) with ad infested adult themed apps hoping to collect ad revenue in the process.

Its not a problem limited to the app store as I've experienced this on Android Market as well as others. I've expressed my hatred of such crap on the Android support boards too (User Chaz_UK in the thread below).

http://www.google.co.uk/support/forum/p/Android+Market/thread?tid=29fd988c3a8620c2&hl=en

Spammy developers who exploit peoples weak minds need to be dealt with. Everyone complains that a percentage of apps on the app store are crap, then people complain that Apple are heavy handed when dealing with the crap.

Lose/lose for apple.

 

[Friscohoya]

I agree, but the amount of just stupid apps with pictures and porn on them was getting out of control. Like i said though, we can all have it, but in safari, not in the app store

Yeah there was one developer that had all kinds of garbage in the store. All of it with bad ratings.

 

[mattmikewitt]

Interesting that Grindr is still there, seeing as I literally had actual sex with an actual human male using that app the other day...

Also, this is terrible, I'm an adult who can make my own decisions, etc. What with this and the internet filter I'm starting to feel the pressure of the nanny state.

Becasue Grindr is a dating website... Yes, it can be used for hookups but you can't show nudity, etc. Just b/c it's for gay people doesn't mean it HAS to be for hookups.

 

[rhett7660]

I kind of relate the app store to a real big box store. If the big box doesn't want to have this type of stuff in the store they don't have to and they won't sell it. How is this any different?

 

[dejo]

Yes, it can be used for hookups but you can't show nudity, etc.

Many of the removed apps didn't show nudity either.

 

[Caliber26]

Becasue Grindr is a dating website... Yes, it can be used for hookups but you can't show nudity, etc. Just b/c it's for gay people doesn't mean it HAS to be for hookups.

If they remove Grindr, I am going to grab a hammer and smash my iPhone, Macbook and all of my iPods. And for good measure, any apple that may be in my kitchen (red, green, yellow...it don't matter). Grindr must stay. I have an addiction and that app facilitates a lot of my needs when I'm on the go. Sure, I could go on any of the most popular hook-up sites, via Safari, but the simplicity of Grindr trumps the tedious browsing the iPhone's screen size limits me to. --- Hey, Jobs: take my camera, calculator, email and iPod apps...but leave my Grindr alone!!!

 

[VanNess]

Lose/lose for apple.

You're not seeing the big picture here. This is nothing but win for Apple.

See, this is how it works - Apple wants you, the customer, to do only one of two things: CLICK or FLICK. Depending on the kind of Apple device you own. That's it. Apple does the rest. That's how it works.

No system registry to clean. No DLL files to scan (usually after the fact) with your practically worthless battalion of anti-virus software programs. No disk defragmentation to do. That's all for suckers who were conned into believing that this sort of BS is part and partial to computer ownership. You just click or flick and Apple takes care of everything else.

For the developers of the 4000-5000 adult-themed, soft porn, boobie-jiggling apps that were just canned from the store, you have only one question to ask yourselves. Who's you're daddy now?

 

[SandynJosh]

I was SO looking for "Leisure Suit Larry and the Land of the Lounge Lizards" to make it to the iPod Touch and the iPad. In fact, I will probably not get either device now.

BTW, is it still possible to buy those ball point pens that when you hold them upside-down something revealing happens to the photo of the girl inside? Did cheap Bic® pens flood the market and crowd out those classic writing instruments?

 

[AppleMojo]

Wow, times have changed...

Glad to see so many people stand up against this trash and all that it represents. Was disappointed when Apple began authorizing this trash, but glad they reversed direction.

However at the same time, I've never seen so many people, so willing to step out as complete perverts with no self-control or respect for morals or even society in whole. Pretty classy that they admit to having no control over their little urges... lol

Porn is trash, does nothing but pollute the mind, destroys people, destroys relationships, destroys families... but of course, those who view it will defend it until the end. Good luck with that.

Funny, how they'll call it freedom to view their porn, yet couldn't go more than a few days without their little addiction fix. Not so free are ya...

Anyway, good job Apple.

Next I hope they re-engineer the interface for the AppStore so we can find those little undiscovered gems. It wasn't designed for this number of Applications.

 

[Eso]

If they remove Grindr, I am going to grab a hammer and smash my iPhone, Macbook and all of my iPods. And for good measure, any apple that may be in my kitchen (red, green, yellow...it don't matter). Grindr must stay. I have an addiction and that app facilitates a lot of my needs when I'm on the go.

I am offended by an app that allow people to hook up for casual sex. Much more so, in fact, than a bunch of bikini apps that spam the store like all the other lame apps.

If I complain, will Apple get rid of this app too?

 

[MorphingDragon]

Since when does censorship require the act of stopping people from producing the content in question? Apple is removing these apps from their store. It's the very definition of censorship.

Comparable situation: the head of your local library decides to remove all books that have overtly sexual content. By your definition, is that not censorship?

Is certainly is, and what Apple is doing is every bit as disgusting as a library censoring content. I think this is a really stupid thing for Apple to be doing.

But thats the thing, the App Store is trying to be a library. Full of content for all ages. Too bad they just can't go the Video store way and keep all R18, Horror, Gore, Pr0n alike in the closed off room.

 

[FrankieTDouglas]

I kind of relate the app store to a real big box store. If the big box doesn't want to have this type of stuff in the store they don't have to and they won't sell it. How is this any different?

Yep wal-mart won't sell anything remotely close to porn. So this makes apple like an online wal-mart?

The nicer book stores sell full on porn. And these are much nicer places. We have a weird scale going in here.

 

[guet]

Its not a problem limited to the app store as I've experienced this on Android Market as well as others....

It's not a problem limited to porn apps either. The real solution to spammy developers is to limit the number of apps a developer can submit, and let them pay more per app if they want to submit more than say 10 apps. That would clear out a lot of the crap from the app store without trying to ban certain genres.

As to banning porn apps, whoever wanted to do that is a moron, given all the pornography available on the web. Control over access to such things is entirely illusory.

 

[marksman]

It is interesting to see how really irate the gay guys here are getting at the thought of losing grindr.

I hope apple doesn't remove that or it sounds like they will have a big problem.

 

[MorphingDragon]

Wow, times have changed...

Glad to see so many people stand up against this trash and all that it represents. Was disappointed when Apple began authorizing this trash, but glad they reversed direction.

However at the same time, I've never seen so many people, so willing to step out as complete perverts with no self-control or respect for morals or even society in whole. Pretty classy that they admit to having no control over their little urges... lol

Porn is trash, does nothing but pollute the mind, destroys people, destroys relationships, destroys families... but of course, those who view it will defend it until the end. Good luck with that.

Funny, how they'll call it freedom to view their porn, yet couldn't go more than a few days without their little addiction fix. Not so free are ya...

Anyway, good job Apple.

Next I hope they re-engineer the interface for the AppStore so we can find those little undiscovered gems. It wasn't designed for this number of Applications.

I'd be careful speaking high and mighty about addictions. They're a lot more complex and common than you think.

 

[FrankieTDouglas]

Porn is trash, does nothing but pollute the mind, destroys people, destroys relationships, destroys families... but of course, those who view it will defend it until the end. Good luck with that.

Funny, how they'll call it freedom to view their porn, yet couldn't go more than a few days without their little addiction fix. Not so free are ya...

Anyway, good job Apple.

What, are you a televangalist?

and it's not that it's (not) porn. It's the principal that people are encouraging. You are encouraging removal of free will with great excitement.

 

[swissmann]

I like that they are gone - personally I think that stuff is trash.

However, I also think that everyone should have the ability to choose for themselves, so a better approach would be to rate the apps and then allow the user to filter out based on settings.

So go ahead and leave these apps in but give me the option of seeing them or not. The way it was I didn't have the freedom to search the store without seeing them which took away my freedom of choice - my choice to see the non sexual apps only.

If a filter is not an option I'd rather have them removed - you can get your porn elsewhere if you wish. I don't want to see it nor do I want my kids to see it when searching iTunes.

 

[ThunderSkunk]

I love that graph.

 

[Caliber26]

I am offended by an app that allow people to hook up for casual sex. Much more so, in fact, than a bunch of bikini apps that spam the store like all the other lame apps.

If I complain, will Apple get rid of this app too?

Ha! Good luck, fool! Start thumpin your bible, while you send Steve an email. If they were to remove Grindr, guess what, they'd have to remove: MySpace, Facebook (God forbid!!), all instant messaging, and basically any social networking app. Grindr is no different than any of those other apps I just mentioned. Technically, it's just another social networking app where gay guys can meet talk and schedule a move & dinner date if they so choose. If I go on there and meet someone who's willing to skip the dinner/movie part, that's up to me and John Doe. Nothing about Grindr promotes nudity (in fact, I think it's strictly prohibited for guys to upload x-rated pics), hooking up sexually, or anything of that nature. It's no different than if I were to browse thru Facebook, pick a cute guy, send him a message and schedule a time & place to do the nasty. Should Facebook be removed too?? Get real.

 

[ThunderSkunk]

Wow, times have changed...

Wow, how you're still stuck in the third century. You've got some real issues you're projecting there.

"Good luck with that." ...as you say.

 

[Caliber26]

It is interesting to see how really irate the gay guys here are getting at the thought of losing grindr.

I hope apple doesn't remove that or it sounds like they will have a big problem.

Don't ever incur the wrath of a homo, it can be apocalyptic. And, yeah, I take my Grindr VERY seriously. Using Safari to browse and email on any of the mainstream gay hookup sites is not impossible but it involves too much zooming, pinching, refreshing, etc. A real pain in the butt to do all that. (no pun intended ) It's basically the same as going to yahoo.com to check your email, versus opening it in your email app. Grindr just nicely puts it at the tip of your fingers. It must not go!

 

[PJT]

Since when does censorship require the act of stopping people from producing the content in question? Apple is removing these apps from their store. It's the very definition of censorship.

Comparable situation: the head of your local library decides to remove all books that have overtly sexual content. By your definition, is that not censorship?

Is certainly is, and what Apple is doing is every bit as disgusting as a library censoring content. I think this is a really stupid thing for Apple to be doing.

Good questions, thanks for asking. From my perspective this is not censorship because the creators still have other avenues to express themselves. I am not sure why Apple, as a company, should be forced to sell something that they don't want to.

If I may, I would like to disagree with your library comparison. First, because though it has been a long time since I have been in a public library in the US (which is where I am from originally), I can't recall ever being able to check out the equivalent of iBoobs. If such a book were available, it would have been the most checked out book in the history of every library! At least by me and my friends way back when. Also, the local library, in my understanding, is related to local government, and is not a company like Apple. Why should a company be forced to sell something it does not want to?

Furthermore, by my definition, a library not carrying a book is not censorship. The library is not telling the author that they can not produce the material, only that they will not carry it. My definition of censorship is when a person is prohibited from engaging in freedom of speech. It seems to me, by your definition, me telling you that I will not publish your response to my post on my blog is censorship. I am not trying to censor you, I just have no desire to personally make what you wrote available to others. But I 100% agree with your freedom to express yourself, I do believe in this right, and would never want to see that taken away from you or me.

Thanks for engaging in the discussion.

 

[mrklaw]

why exactly did they create a 17+ category then? Just for violence/profanity?

 

[MacProPIMP]

I would like to see the useless apps pulled also......

+1