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

[guzhogi]

Why these apps, Apple already answered, because they consider them to be overtly sexual. Why now, that's a good question. As an adult, you are correct, I can avert my eyes. (Usually...) But for my four children, who are becoming more interested in the net and I want to be net savvy, as a parent, I have a responsibility to seek safe areas for them. While I did not petition Apple to remove these apps, I think it is great that they did and I will support that with my wallet. I don't think I am being a prude for wanting to provide a safe place for my kids. I know that you were not calling me that, but I would hope that people understand that some parents are thinking about their children in this matter. I also respect that for some parents, they are fine with their kids being exposed to these apps, and that is their choice. For me, I surf the web with my kids and provide guidance.

It has been pointed out that these apps are not porn. I think this might be one of those gray areas that people need to decide about on their own. I find it hard to believe that these overtly sexual apps are not in some way geared towards getting people to consume porn, which makes them a link in the chain in my book. I may be wrong, but isn't almost every app is in some way trying to get people to buy something, whether it is the functionality of the app or some sort of ad?

Whether or not anyone would like to consume porn is their own decision. I have no desire to remove that freedom. I guess I do not have a problem going to my local MyCal cinema knowing that they will never show porn (soft or hard) there, and don't feel like they are dictating to me what I can and can not see. Yes, there are movies that are shown there, including graphic violence, that I choose not to see. I choose to avert my eyes. And if they did start showing adult movies, I would once again vote with my wallet.

I encourage everyone who thinks Apple made the wrong decision to voice your displeasure to Apple. Vote with your wallet. Also, check out Windows Mobile 7, perhaps they will have an app for it.

I could understand your reasoning with the kids thing. I don't see why Apple can't just have a Parental Controls thing in iTunes so that these things aren't displayed. Don't they already have something like that for songs with explicit lyrics?

Violence sells.

So does sex.

 

[guzhogi]

Oops, double post. Sorry!

 

[ugp]

I agree. But it seems we are more okay with violence in our country than sex.

 

[sharkinfested]

I guess the next step is for Apple to start pulling music with “offensive” lyrics AND R rated movies show a lot of boobs too… so I guess these need to go as well.

 

[QCassidy352]

I wonder if Apple is going to allow sexually explicit books. There are lots of big selling romance books that get real dirty.

Also note... Look at the videos you can watch on YouTube. To be realistic Apple should remove the YouTube App if they want that kind of content removed from the devices. You can watch all kinds of girls shaking their ass in a tiny thong.

Again, this is a business decision, not a moral judgment. Stop looking for consistency. The romance books, violent games, and explicit songs will stay because people are not complaining about them en masse. I agree that there is a moral inconsistency to banning girls in bikinis but allowing GTA, but again, you're misunderstanding the motivation here if you're looking for a guiding moral principle.

 

[ugp]

I don't see why we are so scared of sex. I mean we as a whole. It's all part of life. Making it restricted makes the desire for it greater.

 

[mabaker]

http://trailers.apple.com/trailers/fox_searchlight/kinsey/


Fitting much?

 

[spencers]

good riddance!

 

[Chupa Chupa]

I don't see why we are so scared of sex. I mean we as a whole. It's all part of life. Making it restricted makes the desire for it greater.

It's not about sex, its about immature high schoolish apps that tarnish the App Store brand. Apple wants to target the iPad to businesses and it's hard to do that with a bunch of silly pin-up apps cluttering up the joint and making it look like its an after school hangout. If you want pin-up girls or harder then I'm sure the Google Search app will help you out if you lead it in that direction.

 

[epo]

What is beyond argument is that Apple is engaging in censorship. I find it repulsive and unnecessary.

Get a grip, this is no more censorship than my local supermarket choosing what it will or will not stock.

These idiotic (not pornographic except to the most retarded or repressed people) are bad for business because they clog up the listings with garbage and hinder people searching for useful apps.

 

[mccldwll]

I guess the next step is for Apple to start pulling music with “offensive” lyrics AND R rated movies show a lot of boobs too… so I guess these need to go as well.

It's.....a......business.......decision......regarding......how.....its......SDK.....is.....used. Now hurry up or you'll be late for your school bus.

 

[rhumbaclave]

I am surprised and pleased with this decision.

 

[Chupa Chupa]

Umm...when I bouthgt my iPhone 6 months ago I could choose to wiggle anything I wanted or choose to view women in beach wear. Now I cant...give me my money back??

You bought an iPhone so you could buy silly "wiggle" and bikini-clad women pic apps? Really? Your mom must be so proud.

 

[bludodge]

Define useless: the Apple remote app is useless for ppl not owning that crappy Apple tv.

Anyhow, Apple should make a decent search engine or just purchase one. If actually one could search the app store the way you search elsewhere, no one could care for the useless apps (by just blocking some words in a search).

"-fart" was invented ages ago.

Disagree, I use mine all of the time to access content without having to turn my tv on to see what I am doing, when I just want to hear music through the stereo. Do you have an AppleTV? I'm guessing not. Remote is on my main screen.

 

[mccldwll]

It's not about sex, its about immature high schoolish apps that tarnish the App Store brand. Apple wants to target the iPad to businesses and it's hard to do that with a bunch of silly pin-up apps cluttering up the joint and making it look like its an after school hangout. If you want pin-up girls or harder then I'm sure the Google Search app will help you out if you lead it in that direction.

and schools. It's one thing if students can access content, as they can on a computer. Any computer. It's another if the iPad has apps, specifically designed for iPad/iPhone using aapl's sdk, which are specifically designed for that content.

 

[freediverdude]

Well, this could turn into a potential reason for a lot of people to bother with jailbreaking the iphone. Up until now, I haven't had a good reason to do that, as I got Netshare before it was pulled (and it still works by the way). So the only real reason for me to jailbreak was to be able to customize the background or something, so I haven't bothered. But if Apple goes down this draconian road where they try to be the censoring police, more people will turn to jailbreaking to get the same kinds of content apps that are allowed on other phones. Apple has placed themselves in an odd position now.

 

[baleensavage]

One thing I haven't seen many people mention is that this was a direct response to customer complaints. And there had to be a lot of them for Apple to do something. So while people can complain about Apple, really they should be complaining about all the "prudes" who got Apple to ban these apps.

Personally, I don't consider it a bad thing that Apple is removing most of these apps. They've never allowed nudity anyway, so few of these apps had a point to begin with. However a blanket approach is likely to end up removing some useful apps as well. The only other real solution Apple had was to create a "red light district" in their store. And to be honest, while it would allow people to get their jiggly bikini-clad boob fixes, I can't see how ghettoizing these apps would have been any better than banning them.

Eventually though, I think Apple's closed environment for apps is going to crash and it will crash hard. Apple cannot indefinitely be the arbiters of good taste for all their customers. This new banning is just the latest in a growing trend of Apple trying to tell people how to use their iPhones. There is some real double-standard going on in their stores and it's going to come back and bite them soon enough.

 

[epo]

Wow!

The number of people calling this stuff 'porn', they were the mildest form of girly pix, bikini shots and the like. The problem was the sheer quantity of this dross.

Are Americans so repressed that they find beachwear 'pornographic'? That is sad.

 

[mccldwll]

The number of people calling this stuff 'porn', they were the mildest form of girly pix, bikini shots and the like. The problem was the sheer quantity of this dross.

Are Americans so repressed that they find beachwear 'pornographic'? That is sad.

No. Just intellectually lazy. And if real porn were involved they couldn't make the same silly censorship arguments.

 

[bludodge]

Anyone happen to have one of these apps that were pulled on their phone only to find it missing when you re-synced your phone? Still curious to know if they just pulled them from further purchases. If they take them from you, wouldn't you be due a refund if you paid for them?

 

[cmaier]

Anyone happen to have one of these apps that were pulled on their phone only to find it missing when you re-synced your phone? Still curious to know if they just pulled them from further purchases. If they take them from you, wouldn't you be due a refund if you paid for them?

Apple never takes banned apps away.

 

[sharkinfested]

It's.....a......business.......decision......regarding......how.....its......SDK.....is.....used. Now hurry up or you'll be late for your school bus.

Lol - I'm 47, but I have to give you props for that retort.

I'm on board with the iPad and I'm planning on buying one as soon as Apple lets me. I'm actually more interested in iBooks than anything else. (I bought a Kindle but can't get it away from the wife but the iPad does so much more than that Kindle anyway.) So I've been cruising the app store just to see what else my iPad's going to do. I haven't seen any overtly sexual apps to begin with so I'd really like to know what the hell they are pulling and why. It's starting to look like the iPad is aimed at little kids. Am I about to buy an expensive toy?

 

[jsanche6]

It's about time!!

This is perfect!! I reported like 200 apps from the same developer "Sheryl Apps". This guy had I think 700+ apps that had the exact same pictures in his apps. Not only did he flood the Utilities Section but he also took advantage of the Name Sorting by Alphabetical Order. He would use like "Amazing Women, Awesome Women, A Big Boob Puzzle", he named all his apps with some word that started with an "A". Very unfair because he would take up all the "Release Date" section since he would release like 20+ apps a day. I couldn't be happier that this happened!! Now this guy's down to like 10 apps!!

 

[ugp]

This is perfect!! I reported like 200 apps from the same developer "Sheryl Apps". This guy had I think 700+ apps that had the exact same pictures in his apps. Not only did he flood the Utilities Section but he also took advantage of the Name Sorting by Alphabetical Order. He would use like "Amazing Women, Awesome Women, A Big Boob Puzzle", he named all his apps with some word that started with an "A". Very unfair because he would take up all the "Release Date" section since he would release like 20+ apps a day. I couldn't be happier that this happened!! Now this guy's down to like 10 apps!!

My question is why did Apple approve them all to begin with?

 

[zzyzx]

Why these apps, Apple already answered, because they consider them to be overtly sexual. Why now, that's a good question. As an adult, you are correct, I can avert my eyes. (Usually...) But for my four children, who are becoming more interested in the net and I want to be net savvy, as a parent, I have a responsibility to seek safe areas for them. While I did not petition Apple to remove these apps, I think it is great that they did and I will support that with my wallet.

While I think these apps are stupid, I hate this argument. You're hoping to restrict my rights - even if it's a right to get something I don't want - in order to control what your children can see. While you have the right to decide how your children are raised, you do not have the same rights over this adult. If I want a stupid jiggle app, I don't see why I shouldn't be able to get it. It's not like kids need iPhones to begin with...