Apple’s Sex Ban Extends to 3% of All Apps

Monday, February 22, 2010

Apple’s recent purge of anything remotely sexual led to a single day removal of over 4000 apps, according to AppShopper.com. That’s right, 4000 apps in a single day, with a total to date well in excess of 5000. Generally speaking, the App Store is in the habit of removing around 100 apps each day. But the recent sex ban deleted about 3% of all apps in the App Store in less than 5 days.

This maelstrom of puritanical madness began with the removal of “Wobble iBoobs” developed by ChiliFresh. In a subsequent conversation with an Apple representative, the owner of ChiliFresh claims to have been told that the following are no longer acceptable in The App Store:

“No images of women in bikinis”
“No images of men in bikinis! “
“No skin (he seriously said this) (I asked if a Burqa was OK, and the Apple guy got angry)”
“No silhouettes that indicate that Wobble can be used for wobbling boobs (yes – I am serious, we have to remove the silhouette in this pic)”
“No sexual connotations or innuendo in app titles: boobs, babes, booty, sex – all banned”
“Nothing that can be sexually arousing!!
“No apps will be approved that in any way imply sexual content”

If these are to be Apple’s policy, it’ s easy to presume that this wholesale removal policy will see thousands more apps taken down from The Store. Playboy surprisingly remains in The Store. Double standard or oversight? Time will tell.

This is a story by The Apps Machine.