Company says complaints have led to a reevaluation of the App Store acceptance policy for sex-related applications; some developers calling it a ‘purge’

CUPERTINO, Calif.—Sex is throwing everyone for a loop. The press is painfully uncomfortable covering the subject—i.e., Tiger Woods—and Apple is twisting itself into a lather trying to find the right policy to employ for sex-related iPhone apps. The latest development points to an ongoing evolution (confusion?) within the company, with increasing reports that a significant number of apps have been removed from the App Store while other similar ones remain available.
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The story broke Thursday, when TechCruch reported that Wobble iBoobs, an app that was previously accepted for sale through the App Store and has reportedly been downloaded 970,000 times, had received a very recent email from Apple saying that the app has been removed from the store, pending changes to it that would align it with the new policy.

TechCruch posted the email that Wobble developer Jon Atherton said he received from Apple:

The App Store continues to evolve, and as such, we are constantly refining our guidelines. Your application, Wobble iBoobs (Premium Uncensored), contains content that we had originally believed to be suitable for distribution. However, we have recently received numerous complaints from our customers about this type of content, and have changed our guidelines appropriately.

We have decided to remove any overtly sexual content from the App Store, which includes your application.

Thank you for your understanding in this matter. If you believe you can make the necessary changes so that Wobble iBoobs (Premium Uncensored) complies with our recent changes, we encourage you to do so and resubmit for review.

Sincerely,
iPhone App Review

TC’s Jason Kincaid wrote that he tried to download a few other sex-related apps—specifically, “Exotic Positions” and “Sexy Women”—but found they were no longer accessible.

“However, some applications with similar themes (‘Beautiful Boobs,’ ‘Sexy Girls Uncovered,’ and ‘Sex Strip’) worked,” he wrote. “All of these applications came with Apple’s ‘objectionable material’ warning that requires you to affirm that you’re over the age of 17. This may be a case of Apple picking and choosing which apps are too sexual, or they may still be figuring out which apps to pull (or the changes may not have propagated to all of Apple’s servers). There are reports on Twitter of other developers having their applications pulled as well.”

Over at Silicon Alley Insider, the new policy is being called Apple’s new “war on porn” and the removal of apps a “purge.”

“Apple has a history of making sudden changes to its policies and removing apps,” wrote Nick Saint, “but a developer we spoke to said that the scale of the current purge is unprecedented.

“On the Go Girls, for example, has had 17 apps removed so far,” he continued, “about half of its total portfolio. The latest notice came less than an hour ago, so the clean-up is still in full swing. Jens Ltd, another top adult developer, has only one app remaining.”

Saint says that developers were given no advance warning of the new policy, and no indication of why it was instigated. The emails, he reported, started going out Thursday.

“This could be a major financial setback to adult app companies, most of which are very small,” warns Saint, who also reported that Apple had not replied to a request for clarification of a new and thus far confusing policy shift.

Over at ZDNet, Jason D. O’Grady is singing a similar refrain. “My problem is that Apple is applying its new decency and morality standards in a totally random and opaque fashion. If it removes one app, it should remove them all,” he wrote. “When’s the madness going to stop at Apple?”

The company’s lukewarm response thus far is unlikely to assuage critics of the new policy—whatever it is. “Whenever we receive customer complaints about objectionable content we review them,” the company has said. “If we find these apps contain inappropriate material we remove them and request the developer make any necessary changes in order to be distributed by Apple.”

Of course, Apple’s wobbling could benefit other outfits in the app space. Mikandi, for instance—“The World’s First Mobile Adult App Store”—is perhaps the most logical beneficiary of a negative (or even arbitrary) stance by Apple toward adult apps. The company currently supports Android phone only, but has said that it will soon be able to support the development and marketing of iPhone apps, as well.

AVN contacted Mikandi for comment on the App Store policy shift. The company is crafting a response, which will be provided as soon as we receive it.

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