Men all over the world are claiming foul at the apparent double standard that Apple is placing on what apps should be allowed on the iPhone app store and what apps should not.
As we all know, Apple has pretty strict rules about which apps it will allow to be posted and made available online. While they recently eased back on the tightness a few weeks ago, a sudden change of heart from the folks at Apple saw the banishing of over a thousand applications they deemed not suitable for the app store due to the inclusion of malicious and adult content.
At the same time, applications for both Playboy and Sports Illustrated are still allowed by Apple.
Many believe that Steve Jobs has a lot to fix regarding this matter. Applications such as iBoobs offer just as much ‘adult content’ as Playboy yet only iBoobs was taken off the site. Some may argue that the Playboy application offers plenty of content for viewing while the iBoobs application is simply a novelty app that allows users to jiggle virtual breasts.
When asked about Sports Illustrated, it is defended as a “well-known company with previously published material available broadly in a well accepted format”. While the rest of the statement holds true, we doubt that “well accepted format” would be an apt term when you look at all the women’s rights lobbying against the sale of both Playboy and Sport Illustrated.
Would Apple have shut down iBoobs had it been a Hugh Hefner product? We certainly doubt it, Apple seems to allow big name companies and developers to keep their wares with small independent app devs are getting a wrong end of the shaft.
In any case, this will not be the first time Apple has faced backlash over its double standards in mobile phone apps.
Read more about Apple and iBoobs on Know Your Mobile.
Tags: Apple-iPhone, Apple-iPhone-3G-S