Apple vetoes 5000 adult iPhone apps

Explicit content isn't allowed in iPhone apps.  We knew that much already, but Apple has just made it clearer by removing by renewing its fight against adult apps by slinging 5000 of them out.

According to the Wall Street Journal, Apple is planning to crack down even harder on what's allowed in the Store.  It started cleaning things up a few days ago, removing several thousand apps.  And bosses in Cupertino don't just want to remover outright explicit content: even sexually suggestive apps will have to go too. 

Basic decency or censorship?

Apps that don't fit the bill--either because they don't meet the company's own criteria, or because they have been the subject of complaints from users--are gone from the Store.  It's up to the developers to adapt them and try again if they want to be allowed back in.

Although this policy is no doubt in part designed to reassure parents whose children have an iPhone or an iPod Touch, Apple no doubt also has an eye on the arrival of the iPad, which it's keen to position as a mobile Internet tablet for the whole family.  Being so rigid could well drive developers towards other platforms--and there are now plenty for them to choose from.

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