February 25, 2010 | Online

Apple realizing potential profit in 'explicit' content?

Just this past weekend Apple aggressively cleaned house, removing thousands of apps considered too sexual for its iPhone, iTouch and upcoming iPad. Apple has now shifted gears somewhat and added an "Explicit" category to its submission system. What gives?

"The reason for Apple's addition of the new category is unknown, although it seems possible that the company may have reconsidered its decision to remove the 'overtly sexual' applications in the face of backlash from developers and users and has decided to create a dedicated category in an attempt to find a middle ground in the controversy," Eric Slivka of MacRumors.com blogged. "The use of a dedicated category for explicit material could supplement the age-rating system used for all App Store applications to easily make the entire category invisible to certain users using Parental Controls."

You won't be able to find the new category in the App Store itself, as it is only available to individuals and companies uploading potential apps for review, but it is only a matter of time before consumers can take advantage of the change.

"We've been waiting for such a place since the App Store opened, actually getting excited when Parental Controls made their way into iPhone 3.0, hoping it would release a pent-up flood of apps like the long-lost South Park app, or Playboy for those so-inclined," Matt Buchanan of Gizmodo.com said. "An explicit category suggests that it could finally happen."

But not everyone is convinced that there was really much of a change within Apple policies.

Argued Pink Visual's Q Boyer:  "[There's] nothing new about explicit ratings within the App Store, and no guarantee that anything Apple labels 'explicit' will actually be explicit as that word is defined by anybody else in the known universe. Our recently booted Cutest Girls app was rated 17+ for 'explicit sexual content,' 'frequent nudity,' and 'frequent sexual themes,' and it had no nudity whatsoever."

In other words, that 'hot men with big cocks' app you've been waiting for is still a very long way off.

Apple Adds ‘Explicit’ App Category [XBiz]