Phil Schiller Acknowledges New App Store Sexual Content Ban and Exceptions

[macrumorsMaster]

I fully support Apple doing this. It isn't censorship, it's choosing what they want to offer in their store.

If you want boobs on an iPhone, use Safari. Plus, anything to help filter all the untold crap out of the App Store is a blessing.

It is censorship and favoritism(and most likely they get a kickback from Sports Illustrated Swimsuit and Playboy.)

"The difference is this is a well-known company with previously published material available broadly in a well-accepted format"

"have to put then needs of the kids and parents first"

So boobs from a well-known company is okay, but not from an unknown user....so hypocritical! If they really wanted to protect kids and parents they wouldn't put playboy or SI swimsuit...it's even worse...it's showing kids that those forms of expression are acceptable....denigrating women and make them only valuable as sex objects. Otherwise they should put all, and use a rating system that can prevent children from seeing these images.

 

[designgeek]

Oh, and if women don't like them, don't look or buy them. I don't use the apps myself, but if I want too, provided the images don't have under-age children, then its my privilege. Too bad you are offended, if you are, don't look.

Exactly, and what happened to the Parental Controls on iPhones and touches? I hope they open the platform soon because I'm going to continue to jail break until I can install whatever I want.

 

[koopa35]

the idevices should have am initial setup screen. where you enter cc info for itunes and DOB. If your under 18 the mature adult apps wont show until you come of age. If the idevice is setup by the parent they will have a master passcode to override those settings if need be.

i also agree with apples statement

 

[jo0]

Gotta agre with this. I currently have:
AnyRSS Reader, Armoured Strike, Battle for Mars, Camera Zoom FX, Centos, Compass, Google Earth, FlickrDroid, Gameboid (GBA Emulator), Gensoid (Genesis Emulator), Google Sky Map, Last.fm (with live scrobbling support), Google Listen, MAhjong 3D, NESOID (NES Eulator), SNESoid (SNES Emulator), Opera Mini, Photoshop, Robo Defense, Seesmic twitter app, Shazam, Shoot u physics, Google Shopper, Speedx3D, Taskiller, Tower Raiders, Vegas Pool, WaveSecure and Wordpress.

All from the Android Market which is "rampant" with crapps at 20,000 but the App Store is full of top grade apps at over 100,000.

Logic has no place here.

im really glad that my comment provoked you to list all your non crapps from the android store. haha. who knew.

 

[sjo]

Apple can do whatever they wish with the app store. They made it and control it. It's not a debate about free speech. It's a store. A very popular store. Any store can choose what they want to put in it.
If people don't like it there are alternatives.

If Apple seriously is trying to be a major player in the smartphone area, especially in the US, they can't go on behaving like this for long. They have to choose between letting go some of the control in choosing the apps and allowing application installation from other app stores.

Imagine MSFT dictating what people can and cannot install in their computers. If Apple wants to get the similar position in smartphone markets with Iphone, they will face the similar restrictions on their freedom to do whatever they want.

The small players Apple can kick around as they wish, but Opera or Adobe or similar is going to sue Apple for rejecting their app sooner rather than later.

 

[Peace]

Exactly, and what happened to the Parental Controls on iPhones and touches? I hope they open the platform soon because I'm going to continue to jail break until I can install whatever I want.

I really don't think this is all about the iPhone and iPod Touch. I think it's about the iPad.

Consider the fact that the iPad does not have separate user user accounts and it is aimed at the family living room,schools and leisure. This is how it is going to be marketed.

Apple really expects to sell a lot of these and the platform it is creating is going to introduce more family-centric devices.

If I were Apple I would clean out the app store of this sort of thing. It is in the best interest of Apple,Inc.

And I bet you the only "developers" that will truly complain will be the ones that made these apps.

Most real developers will be glad to see the app store being straightened out.

 

[sohelpme]

Only in America lol

Yeah, it's fine to play a first-person shooter where you can run a prostitute down in a car, then beat her before shooting her in the head, but ONLY if she's not wearing a revealing outfit.

It's all about the kids.

 

[macduke]

Haha, Phil Schiller back to doing damage control. What did they think would happen when they did this? Did they think that all these developers would roll over and take it?

They should just put them into a special section and have them not show up in any top lists. I think that was the main problem. Some of those boob jiggling and asian hotties apps were showing up all over the place. I read somewhere that one dev had like 500 variations of pasties or something.

Personally though, if I had to pick between them being there or not, I'd pick them not being there. They were getting annoying and I don't use them. They should still do a better job at parental controls though. Even for browsing apps! Leave them turned off by default and let people enable their viewing if they want to.

Besides, who gives their kid an iPod Touch and then leaves the app store wide open? I'd also lock down Safari so that they don't wander onto some weird stuff when I'm not paying attention. It's getting harder and harder to keep the "family computer" in an open location. There are so many tiny computers floating around people's houses! By the time I have kids it will probably be impossible to keep them from chatting with strangers, viewing hardcore porn, learning how to make bombs, or watching any of those sick suicide or death videos. There is so much crap and there will be so many ways to access it. Whoever makes parental controls that actually work (without blocking adults) and can be implemented on multiple systems will be a very rich man / woman.

 

[MrCubes]

Well somebody I know just last week submitted an app that had been commissioned by another established, well known, "classy" brand, along similar lines to those that have the free pass. This all came up while it was in review and it was rejected on the basis of the new rules.

So while I am certainly all in favour of these apps being cleared out of the app store (and it really was getting to be a problem - even if you're not personally offended by them), I think Apple are wrong in allowing some to remain. They can't even be consistent in their exceptions. It opens them up to all kinds of new accusations - just as they were starting to improve their image on that front.

This move should have been an opportunity to demonstrate that they are "doing the right thing", but the un-evenhanded approach is letting them down.

I'm still supportive of the decision, just disappointed in the execution.

 

[tatonka]

Jeez .. people stoping discussing that stupid freedom of speech / censorship argument. I think the vast majority here agrees that this is not a legal issue what so ever and that Apple should be dragged to court for it. It is however censorship in the way that an authority is dictating what I as an individual can do or more precisely that playboy is fine, but woobling boobies isn't.

Yes I know everybody has the choice to walk away from Apple and the iPhone, but in reality most people are locked up in contracts and don't have or don't want to spend the money to just go and buy a new, expensive phone.

And .. apparently Apple is listening to customer complaints from time to time .. so what makes the folks complaining about iWooble have a legitimate cause, but people complaining about the loss of the same being insane nutback that should just accept that it is Apples store where they can do as they please.

One last thing .. the stuff with Playboy and Sports Illustrated and is just crap .. I mean honestly, they are just in there because Apple needs them as partners for the iPad. Total BS. iWooble didn't even feature pictures as far as I understand but merely offered the possibility to upload/snap your own shot and wooble it .. argh. Hurt, sadness and fear ..

T.

 

[Nebrie]

Sigh, guess I can look forward to another daily round of Apple Derangement Syndrome on all the tech site comments from non-Apple users which will never be affected.

 

[bmk]

And oooh won't anyone think of the poor parents and oh-so-traumatized kidz?

Apparently they never heard of the age filter, then.

The point is not so much whether kids should or shouldn't be able to get access to porn, or that it might traumatise them - the kind of stuff that is in these apps isn't obscene in the classic sense - it is the fact that this kind of degrading presentation of women which is presented as 'normal' and 'cool' makes sexist attitudes and violence against women more likely. I am glad they've been removed - not because I don't like porn or sex or women's bodies - but because these apps were simply degrading, cheap and pathetic.

On a side note I wish Apple would take a MORE high handed attitude to submissions to the App store, which is riddled with apps that are simply just deliberate scams. A large number of the apps on the store now have less to do with the skill and innovation of the developer community, than with the greed of hack merchants trying to scam Apple customers out of their money with apps that don't work or don't do what they say.

 

[talkingfuture]

I think that if there have been lots of complaints then they have a genuine reason for this. But, it looks as though they have been a bit clumsy with which apps were removed. Perhaps the more legitimate ones will get reinstated as this all gets sorted out.

 

[charlituna]

While I do agree with the apps they've removed, the problem for me is the removal of anything period. Just leave it alone.

Some of these apps are bordering the line of obscenity and that's a legal issue. If Apple just left things alone by stopping approvals but leaving existing apps in place they put themselves at risk of trouble should any of the apps actually cross the line.

And the fact that they are getting numerous complaints actually speaks to the notion that someone could decide to seek out a lawyer to make such a complaint.

 

[FrankieTDouglas]

Swimsuit and Playboy hardly qualify as "porn" in my book...

Exactly. And neither was anything else that was deleted. It's the broad brush approach by Apple and trying to call it something it isn't, while turning a blind eye to their big content publishers.

It's a certain shade of ********, really.

Like someone else said, I hope these complainers never venture outside America and watch 5 minutes of French television. Otherwise, they'd see real, uncovered, blatant boobs.

 

[winterspan]

I fully support Apple doing this. It isn't censorship, it's choosing what they want to offer in their store...

Which would be perfectly fine if the App Store wasn't the sole source of purchasing and installing applications.

Because of this inherent monopolistic system, this behavior will NOT stand for very long, particularly if Apple obtains a dominant marketshare of the smartphone and/or tablet market.

This censorship and blocking of access to desired applications and/or content because of some vocal minority's complaints is bad enough.... Using their monopoly power to block competitors products from reaching the consumer market (ala Google Voice, Firefox, Windows Live sync, RSS Podcast apps etc) is likely illegal.

Although I love the iPhone 3GS and appreciate Apple's long history of innovation, this nanny-state authoritarian crap has to go, and I hope the FTC breaks up the App Store monopoly.

 

[charlituna]

I'm sorry, but that's complete ********. FIrstly, PlayBoy and Sports Illustrated getting a pass because they also market other stuff? Puh-leeze, what kind of logic is that?

And oooh won't anyone think of the poor parents and oh-so-traumatized kidz?

Apparently they never heard of the age filter, then.

well Playboy and the SI swimsuit apps are all correctly marked as 17+ unlike some of the other apps out there. I saw some marked 12+ that seriously should have been higher.

the idevices should have am initial setup screen. where you enter cc info for itunes and DOB.

so i lift mom's CC and I know her date of birth. problem solved.

 

[speck2001]

SI vs. Playboy

This is truly a slippery slope for Apple. While SI's swimsuit issue gets more and more revealing every year- how can Apple defend the partnership with Playboy? Those are friggin naked ladies (ie. boobs and more!) Is Phil Schiller saying that women and families don't have a problem with overly airbrushed and shaved PB? Why, because there's no pictures of BJ's and back door? This is such a wrong move- either ban it all or fix the adult rating, but don't look like a bunch of jackasses for judging what's appropriate or not, I don't care if it is their store with their rules- it makes Apple look really really stupid, and I'm a fanboy saying this. If they allow R-rated movies with sex and violence, then the door is wide open- let's be honest Apple.

 

[ChazUK]

im really glad that my comment provoked you to list all your non crapps from the android store. haha. who knew.

Just pointing out your blatant lack of logic.
For-eva!

 

[Hazkan]

The point is not so much whether kids should or shouldn't be able to get access to porn, or that it might traumatise them - the kind of stuff that is in these apps isn't obscene in the classic sense - it is the fact that this kind of degrading presentation of women which is presented as 'normal' and 'cool' makes sexist attitudes and violence against women more likely. I am glad they've been removed - not because I don't like porn or sex or women's bodies - but because these apps were simply degrading, cheap and pathetic.

So you say that these applications make that people think degrading women is cool and will start using violence against them...? First of all all humans (even men) are thinking beings. As long as they are not totally stupid or have brain damage, these apps don;t have any effect on them. Second of all it's most probably the other way around. People that already have these twisted ideas will use these apps (along with others that are just curious). Last of all, I don't really see what on earth could be degrading about a naked female body.

In general I agree on the fact that Apple is shop owner and they decide what to sell and what not to sell. On the other hand, I have no clue why this is relevant in this discussion. Aren't we allowed to have an opinion because of this...?

And of course, I also have no clue why violence is accepted and this is not. But that point has already been made often enough.

 

[kresh]

Exactly, and what happened to the Parental Controls on iPhones and touches? I hope they open the platform soon because I'm going to continue to jail break until I can install whatever I want.

What has happened is that the key to the parental control lock is broken. The developers get to set the rating.

I remember when Apple started allowing this crap on the appstore, one of these silly "a girl in a bikini with the touch her and hear her moan action" apps in appeared in appshopper.com's rss feed.

The app was rated 4+. I mean come on, really! It is approved for 4 years olds and up? Yes I emailed and complained to Apple, about 40 times actually and finally got a response that the developers set the rating and that nothing could be done about it.

I wrote a snail mail letter to Steve Jobs at Apple in Cupertino and within a week it was gone.

How can parental controls work if the developers are malignant?

I hear everyone saying that Safari is not safe, but that is not comparable with this situation. With Google safe search turned on my kids can search for safe on-line games and never be bombarded with sexually explicit material. On the appstore all bets were off, it did not matter what my kids were looking for there would quickly turn up a sexually explicit app.

But I don't rely on parental controls. I monitor everything my kids do on-line, I even keep a screenshare of their computer running all the time (even my 16 year old's computer), and now with the corrections to the appstore I am well pleased.

Kudos to Apple and thanks to them for listening!!!

 

[donlphi]

Swimsuit and Playboy hardly qualify as "porn" in my book...

That's right! I just read it for the articles.

 

[donlphi]

Which would be perfectly fine if the App Store wasn't the sole source of purchasing and installing applications.

Because of this inherent monopolistic system, this behavior will NOT stand for very long, particularly if Apple obtains a dominant marketshare of the smartphone and/or tablet market.

This censorship and blocking of access to desired applications and/or content because of some vocal minority's complaints is bad enough.... Using their monopoly power to block competitors products from reaching the consumer market (ala Google Voice, Firefox, Windows Live sync, RSS Podcast apps etc) is likely illegal.

Although I love the iPhone 3GS and appreciate Apple's long history of innovation, this nanny-state authoritarian crap has to go, and I hope the FTC breaks up the App Store monopoly.

Not that I need a bunch of boob apps on my phone or anything, but I agree. If apple doesn't want to be the store that supplies it, allow another provider to upload apps.

I have a hunch there will be a work around soon. However, if I were looking to get into the school and family market, something had to be done about the app store.

It's one thing to have to sift through the lame apps, but to go to the first page of the app store and see nothing but...

iBoobs
iWobbly Boobs
iTits and Arse
etc.

It starts to get a little annoying.

Maybe this could be Microsoft's niche market with their phone. Windows Mobile 7 - All the porn you want!

Watch out Apple!

 

[Prenvo]

If only the App Store filtered .browsing. results based on the age filter, rather than stopping the actual purchase.

 

[sflocal]

So boobs from a well-known company is okay, but not from an unknown user....so hypocritical! If they really wanted to protect kids and parents they wouldn't put playboy or SI swimsuit...it's even worse...it's showing kids that those forms of expression are acceptable....denigrating women and make them only valuable as sex objects. Otherwise they should put all, and use a rating system that can prevent children from seeing these images.

This is beating an old horse to death. You want porn, use Safari.

A child using the device will not think (or know) to open a browser and type midgetsex.com but will wonder about the top 10 apps with stupid sex icons. I certainly would not want kids having that easy access to it. Your egos are so overinflated and your kicking-and-screaming of censorship does not hold any kind of water here.

I would bet with a fair amount of certainty that most people (99%+) honestly don't give a rats-a** about keeping smut off such a public marketplace.

You folks (whiners) give yourselves way too much importance in the public eye. You will be forgotten.

Go to Android... and just watch when they decide to do the same thing someday down the road.