Tag: software

You’ve probably heard of People of Wal-Mart, a site showcasing the, uh, dregs of society that can be found shopping at Wal-Mart. (If you haven’t, it’s quite entertaining. No, I’m not affiliated with them in any way.)

An iPhone app, Funny Shoppers, was developed for the site that allowed users to view images from the site within an app, and submit their photos from the app. However, Apple rejected the app, citing obscene content – something that they’ve used many times in the past to ban apps that they don’t like.

So, the developers, Alkali Media, decided to remove photos of any people from the app. Yep, still offensive…

Yet, Apple later approved an app, Shopper Fail, which used the same content! Apple wouldn’t comment on it, and it took a cease and desist to stop the second app from being distributed.

Apple eventually suggests that Alkali Media remove all references to Wal-Mart from the app. Alright, so they do so. Several MONTHS later, Apple approves the app.

A day later, after it becomes fairly popular? They pull the app, citing offensive content again.

What?

Apple, stop jerking developers around. Developers make your platform what it is, and if you keep jerking them around, they’ll jump ship to Android. You’re also hurting your customers by doing this – not everyone wants you to be their moral police.

Source: Gizmodo

Just check the source link. That was rejected from the App Store for THAT?

WHAT?

Source: Gizmodo

Apple has removed iChatr, a Chatroulette-style app for the iPhone 4, from the App Store, due to too many people exposing themselves.

OK, that’s something to be expected on a Chatroulette-like service, but here’s the thing. You could very easily make a Chatroulette-like service that uses phone numbers, completely avoiding the app store, and then making FaceTime calls. (Granted, Chatroulette and iChatr have better privacy than that approach.)

Or, you could even have a single number for a FaceTime service that acts like Chatroulette. Call the number, hit FaceTime, get a random partner. Want to switch partners, hang up and call back. (Or, if the other person hangs up, it could autoswitch.)

And, there’s nothing stopping people from exposing themselves on FaceTime.

Source: Gizmodo

Two graphic novels were rejected from the iPad due to sexual content, Ulysses “Seen” and a graphic novel version of The Importance of Being Earnest (Amazon link, no affiliate info).

One thing I’ll emphasize, first, is that Apple does have every right to control content that they distribute.

However, the content in both of these graphic novels wasn’t intended to be pornographic in nature.

The publishers were willing to work with Apple, to get their novels published. In the case of Ulysses “Seen”, some panels had to be completely redrawn – even pixelation or fig leaves weren’t sufficient. As for the The Importance of Being Earnest graphic novel, one entire page had major parts of the story blacked out, involving partial nudity (but no genitalia shown) of two male characters together.

Again, Apple has the right to control content they distribute.

However, a heterosexual sex scene was preserved in an approved comic, Kick-Ass. So that doesn’t fly. (The content in Ulysses “Seen” was completely non-sexual in nature, and less was shown in The Importance of Being Earnest.)

Apple did ultimately reverse their decision, and asked both publishers to resubmit their apps, but only after the uproar about their actions. (Yes, I’m slow to post this, sue me.)

Sources (possibly NSFW): Boing Boing, Gizmodo

It appears that Reddit has abandoned their iPhone app.

Apparently, when Reddit has released bugfixes for approval, an approver happened to stumble upon some user-submitted content that was bad, and rejected the app. Multiple times.

So, Reddit gave up on the iPhone app, is making a new web interface, and is open sourcing the app.

This is why the approval process needs some serious work, or better yet, a way to break out of the walled garden.

Source: App Rejections