Just as we were speculating a couple nights ago, Apple has apparently decided that with the new parental controls now built into the iPhone 3.0 SDK, nudity is now okay in iPhone apps. The first such app, Hottest Girls, has actually been around for a little while. But an update today “upgraded” the pictures from girls in bikinis and lingerie, to topless and completely naked girls.
“We uploaded nude topless pics today. This is the first app to have nudity,” Hottest Girls’ developer Allen Leung tells Macenstein. Quite an accomplishment.
While some will undoubtedly see this as a bad thing, I think this is actually a good thing. First of all, allowing mature content like this should free up the App Store screeners to be able to focused on finding apps that are actually malicious or out of line, rather than being prude-police.
Second, as we all know, porn is a big industry and as long as the kiddies can’t see it, there’s nothing wrong with adults being allowed to get it on their iPhones. It should make developers a lot of money. And it should make Apple, with its 30% cut, a lot of money. Still, I’d be surprised if we see hardcore pornography in the App Store anytime soon, but who knows.
Lastly, this is the App Store opening up a bit more once again. It did a bit last year when it started letting in cartoon violence NC-17 games, and this is the next step. A more open store, is a better store. Yes, even if it means a flood of crappy soft porn apps. Options are good, download what you want. Though I still believe there needs to be a better sorting and highlighting mechanism from Apple for apps.
It’s possible that this is another case of Apple letting an app slip through that shouldn’t have, but given that the developer is playing up the nudity on the app page, I doubt it. And it looks like Apple has a new rating sub-heading: Rated 17+ for “Frequent/Intense Sexual Content or Nudity.”
Hottest Girls is $1.99 in the App Store. Find it here.
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Update: Apparently the app has been pulled. I’m not sure why you would have a “nudity” rating if you’re not allowing for, you know, nudity. But whatever, the App Store approval weirdness continues.
Update 2: It looks like it wasn’t Apple that pulled it, but the developer. Other porn apps remain in the store.
Update 3: And wait, it continues. Now Apple is saying no porn apps. Which seems to go against their own ratings.
