After raising hopes of an adults-only section of the App Store, Apple has cruelly removed an "explicit" category from the submission process before it even made it to the public store itself.
After banning some adult apps from the store, but allowing smut from established players like Sports Illustrated and Playboy to remain, Apple added a new category to the drop-down list which developers use when submitting applications to the store. The category, named "explicit", lead many to think that Apple was opening up an X-rated back-room in the App Store, somewhere to keep sexually explicit content away from the kids.
But almost as soon as it had appeared (and been documented by several independent screenshots), the category was pulled off. One developer got in contact with Apple to ask what was going on. Gizmodo reports that "according to the developer, Apple said that, while they are thinking about it, 'it's not going to happen anytime soon.'"
An explicit section would certainly be a good thing for Apple, as it would deflect accusations of censorship. It's one thing to have control over the kind of apps you decide to publish, but quite another to police their content. And don't forget that all the other iTunes Store departments, from music to movies to podcasts, all use the explicit tag. In fact, perhaps this whole story was caused by a mixup between the sections?
The irony here is that, as Apple teases us with its on-again, off-again behavior, we're all getting rather worked up in anticipation -- exactly what an iPorn ban was supposed to avoid.
Is Apple Preparing To Add An ‘Explicit’ Section To The App Store? [Cult of Mac]
New "Explicit" Category in App Store Could Herald Return of Sexy Apps [Gizmodo]
Apple Removes Explicit Option From iTunes [Gizmodo]
Screenshot: Gizmodo
