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Apple Pulls 500px’s Mobile Apps From The App Store

techcrunch.com

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Re: Apple Pulls 500px’s Mobile Apps From The App Store

#91

Post by jmreid »

markross wrote: post #49

So anyone can use the web browser on their iOS device to view nude photos on the 500px website, but they can't download the app and view them via that? It's a bit ridiculous really. Are they going to start blocking websites they dont approve of as well?

The point is, if I have set my son's iOS device to block Safari as well as apps rated as mature, then he won't be able to do either.

If 500px's app was rated 12+ because it's default was 'Safe On" (according to one of 500px's owners: http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=5099607), and my son can just toggle a "Safe On" switch in the app, it side-steps my parental controls.

Re: Apple Pulls 500px’s Mobile Apps From The App Store

#92

Post by 9oliYQjP »

jjcm wrote: post #77
gte910h wrote: post #57

The app was rated 4+, yet would show pictures of naked people http://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache:itunes.... I think trying to paint Apple as bad in this case is pretty crappy, as it's very clear what the different ratings mean and 500px didn't follow the VERY CLEAR list of what each thing means. http://www.internetsafetyproject.org/wiki/apple%E2%80%99s-ap... True nudity only belongs in 17+ in their…

If it was just a matter of being in the wrong rating category, it seems like it would make more sense for apple to just re-categorize it. Any insight into why they pulled the app instead of doing that?

IANAL but I'd imagine it is due to legal implications for Apple setting the rating. If Apple categorizes the app, it means they're essentially vouching for the app's capabilities. They need the actual seller to set the rating. That way if there's an issue, Apple isn't on the hook legally. They can wipe their hands and say "we just sell it, we don't vouch for the quality/integrity of the product".

Re: Apple Pulls 500px’s Mobile Apps From The App Store

#95

Post by FireBeyond »

bollockitis wrote: post #58
burningion wrote: post #18

I recently launched an App for the iPhone for the first time ever. And the approval process can be ridiculous. In my case, my meditation app allowed the user to optionally measure their heart rate while meditating with a heart rate monitor. When I submitted for the App Store, I had to wait a week to find out I'd been rejected because they didn't have a heart rate monitor to test my app. It works without it. And never…

Maybe it's just me, but I'm actually glad they wanted to verify that your app worked as advertised before approving it. They should probably have peripherals on hand for testing though.

I wouldn't be - such apps are not regulated medical devices. Why should Apple be giving such things the okay? It adds an air of at least implied reliability for such tools, and that's probably not a good place for anyone to be in.

(Not to mention, at least for me, such tools have proven horribly inaccurate.)

Re: Apple Pulls 500px’s Mobile Apps From The App Store

#96

Post by schoper »

joebadmo wrote: post #42

A few years ago, I was in a big box store and overheard a young (~10y/o) child and his mother picking out a new video game. The kid excitedly picked up a box and asked his mom if he could get that one. She checked out the cover, then started reading the rating. "Rated 'mature' for sexual content? No way!" "Aw, man! Ok, how about this one?" "Rated 'mature' for extreme graphic violence? Well... ok."

The woman was right. Depictions of sex have huge individual and cultural repercussions. Depictions of violence have little to no effect on all but the most borderline of individuals.

Porn can really make your life worse. Violence on TV ain't going to.

Re: Apple Pulls 500px’s Mobile Apps From The App Store

#97

Post by mikeash »

taligent wrote: post #74
neya wrote: post #30

This is good in my opinion. The more the rejection, the more the developers will tend to flee away from arrogant Marketplaces like that of Apple's. It will also, in a way, probably force developers to try out other marketplaces like the Windows Phone Marketplace and the Google Play store. Now, I do understand 500px is trying to create a uni-platform experience for its users, but now that 500px isn't allowed to publis…

> due to the fear of the ridiculous approval process It's not ridiculous and pretty easy to understand. No questionable content. No trying to be clever about the rules. No private APIs. I have been involved in over 20 popular apps on the store and not one has ever been rejected. > their development efforts for the iOS platform may go a waste Developers aren't stupid. The iOS platform is by far the largest and most pr…

And then you do something as seemingly innocent as querying the NSComputer image on a Mac, sending it over the network, and showing it on an iPhone, and Apple rejects you.

It's great that you've had no trouble, but please don't extrapolate that into a belief that there is no trouble.

Re: Apple Pulls 500px’s Mobile Apps From The App Store

#98

Post by mkr-hn »

chc wrote: post #69
eupharis wrote: post #66

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Why do we continue to accept the Apple euphemism that their ecosystem is a "walled garden"? There are much more accurate terms to describe the Apple ecosystem. When governments do this, prevent their users from looking at fine art that happens to involve nudity, we don't call the society a "walled garden."

That isn't an "Apple euphemism." It's a pejorative term much older than the iPhone that Apple's critics apply to the Apple ecosystem.

I think I first heard the term used in the context of technology on Observers.net in reference to AOL, but it's probably even older.

Re: Apple Pulls 500px’s Mobile Apps From The App Store

#99

Post by jlgreco »

sp332 wrote: post #52
joebadmo wrote: post #42

A few years ago, I was in a big box store and overheard a young (~10y/o) child and his mother picking out a new video game. The kid excitedly picked up a box and asked his mom if he could get that one. She checked out the cover, then started reading the rating. "Rated 'mature' for sexual content? No way!" "Aw, man! Ok, how about this one?" "Rated 'mature' for extreme graphic violence? Well... ok."

That's because violence is not relateable. When people see violence, they don't think, "Hey, I want to do that!" But when they see sex, they do.

Lack of video games is hardly going to prevent a kid of that certain from realizing that the opposite seems a bit different all of a sudden.

These bans are puritanical, not pragmatic.

Re: Apple Pulls 500px’s Mobile Apps From The App Store

#100

Post by FireBeyond »

elemeno wrote: post #8
myko wrote: post #2

This is just silly. How does Apple justify pulling this vs Flipboard/Currents?

I would assume that someone made a complaint to Apple, which then forces Apple to take action and investigate - at that point there's likely a procedure that they need to follow mandated by Apple's Legal department for how it gets handled.

Apple is "forced" to do no such thing, any more than a parent can't sue Comcast because her son found a nude picture on the Internet.
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