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Related to App Store removals: http://www.theguardian.com/technology/2015/sep/30/apple-removing-drone-strikes-app http://www.theguardian.com/technology/2015/sep

Related to App Store removals: http://www.theguardian.com/technology/2015/sep/30/apple-removing-drone-strikes-app http://www.theguardian.com/technology/2015/sep/30/apple-remo...

jobu 11y ago
> Related to App Store removals: http://www.theguardian.com/technology/2015/sep/30/apple-removing-drone-strikes-app http://www.theguardian.com/technology/2015/sep/30/apple-remo... That seems completely unrelated, but it also seems a whole lot shittier. Why would Apple remove an app for reporting casualties of US Drone strikes? It's basically a very specialized news app.
- caskance 11y ago
  The reason is right there in the article - excessively crude or objectionable content. If a porn website released their own video player as an app, you could call it a "very specialized web browser", but it would still obviously violate the app store ToS.
  - pjc50 11y ago
    The content was not "crude". And what's objectionable about it? It's a list of locations.
    - caskance 11y ago
      Locations where people were murdered.
      - pjc50 11y ago
        What's specifically objectionable about that? If the NYT app mentions the location where someone was murdered, would that be grounds for removal?
        caskance 11y ago
        No, just as Safari isn't removed because you can visit porn sites with it, but an app that was dedicated only to porn would be. Are you being intentionally obtuse?
        vonmoltke 11y ago
        Safari doesn't create the content its users view with the app; the New York Times does. They aren't the same thing.
        caskance 11y ago
        Most distinct entities aren't.
        mikeash 11y ago
        OK, what about one of the crime mapping apps? Random example: https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/crimemapping/id452856454?mt=8 https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/crimemapping/id452856454?mt=... Should that be pulled too?
        caskance 11y ago
        No clue. You could report it and find out.
        pjc50 11y ago
        No, I'm arguing that there should be a clear boundary between "acceptable" and "unacceptable" and trying to find out why a list of locations where people have been killed is objectionable to anyone. What about the list of V2 target sites from https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=10302576 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=10302576 ? Would that be banned?
        caskance 11y ago
        The more likely case is that nobody will know or care about it and it will remain unnoticed forever.
  - mikeash 11y ago
    That is the stated reason but it doesn't make any sense. There are games in the app store where you actually pilot a drone and blow people up and Apple has let them be. Are we to believe that graphically simulating drone strikes is not crude or objectionable, while textually reporting on real drone strikes is?
    - caskance 11y ago
      You can believe what you want. Personally, I believe that either nobody has bothered to report the apps that are still up, or Apple doesn't give a shit about games because those are in their own bucket.
      - RIMR 11y ago
        I think what it boils down to is that Apple shouldn't be deciding if newsworth facts are too obscene to be published. Should news apps be removed if they report on murders?
        caskance 11y ago
        There's a huge difference between a news app that happens to cover murders and a "murder news" app that only covers that specific subset. The app in question is clearly much closer to the latter.
        deleted 11y ago
        [deleted]
        simoncion 11y ago
        So, software that only provides reports on firearm-related-homicides in a neighborhood is a "murder news" app and should be banned?
        caskance 11y ago
        I've been deliberately avoiding talking about what should be banned. I would expect Apple to remove such an app from their store once they found out about it, yes.
- pjc50 11y ago
  Either the personal politics of one of the app store reviewers, or they've been told to by the US government. Neither is particularly brilliant.
carlosrg 11y ago
The wonderful post-PC world we live in. Where a central authority censors applications, sometimes for political reasons, in the devices we paid for.

Related to App Store removals: http://www.theguardian.com/technology/2015/sep/30/apple-removing-drone-strikes-app http://www.theguardian.com/technology/2015/sep/30/apple-remo...

jobu 11y ago

> Related to App Store removals: http://www.theguardian.com/technology/2015/sep/30/apple-removing-drone-strikes-app http://www.theguardian.com/technology/2015/sep/30/apple-remo... That seems completely unrelated, but it also seems a whole lot shittier. Why would Apple remove an app for reporting casualties of US Drone strikes? It's basically a very specialized news app.

caskance 11y ago
The reason is right there in the article - excessively crude or objectionable content. If a porn website released their own video player as an app, you could call it a "very specialized web browser", but it would still obviously violate the app store ToS.
- pjc50 11y ago
  The content was not "crude". And what's objectionable about it? It's a list of locations.
  - caskance 11y ago
    Locations where people were murdered.
    - pjc50 11y ago
      What's specifically objectionable about that? If the NYT app mentions the location where someone was murdered, would that be grounds for removal?
      - caskance 11y ago
        No, just as Safari isn't removed because you can visit porn sites with it, but an app that was dedicated only to porn would be. Are you being intentionally obtuse?
        vonmoltke 11y ago
        Safari doesn't create the content its users view with the app; the New York Times does. They aren't the same thing.
        caskance 11y ago
        Most distinct entities aren't.
        mikeash 11y ago
        OK, what about one of the crime mapping apps? Random example: https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/crimemapping/id452856454?mt=8 https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/crimemapping/id452856454?mt=... Should that be pulled too?
        caskance 11y ago
        No clue. You could report it and find out.
        pjc50 11y ago
        No, I'm arguing that there should be a clear boundary between "acceptable" and "unacceptable" and trying to find out why a list of locations where people have been killed is objectionable to anyone. What about the list of V2 target sites from https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=10302576 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=10302576 ? Would that be banned?
        caskance 11y ago
        The more likely case is that nobody will know or care about it and it will remain unnoticed forever.
- mikeash 11y ago
  That is the stated reason but it doesn't make any sense. There are games in the app store where you actually pilot a drone and blow people up and Apple has let them be. Are we to believe that graphically simulating drone strikes is not crude or objectionable, while textually reporting on real drone strikes is?
  - caskance 11y ago
    You can believe what you want. Personally, I believe that either nobody has bothered to report the apps that are still up, or Apple doesn't give a shit about games because those are in their own bucket.
    - RIMR 11y ago
      I think what it boils down to is that Apple shouldn't be deciding if newsworth facts are too obscene to be published. Should news apps be removed if they report on murders?
      - caskance 11y ago
        There's a huge difference between a news app that happens to cover murders and a "murder news" app that only covers that specific subset. The app in question is clearly much closer to the latter.
        deleted 11y ago
        [deleted]
        simoncion 11y ago
        So, software that only provides reports on firearm-related-homicides in a neighborhood is a "murder news" app and should be banned?
        caskance 11y ago
        I've been deliberately avoiding talking about what should be banned. I would expect Apple to remove such an app from their store once they found out about it, yes.
pjc50 11y ago
Either the personal politics of one of the app store reviewers, or they've been told to by the US government. Neither is particularly brilliant.

carlosrg 11y ago

The wonderful post-PC world we live in. Where a central authority censors applications, sometimes for political reasons, in the devices we paid for.