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Apple Pulls 500px’s Mobile Apps From The App Store
- pyroMax 14y agoApple needs to grow up and stop acting like a 12 year old.
- myko 14y agoThis is just silly. How does Apple justify pulling this vs Flipboard/Currents?
- loceng 14y agoSomeone is better friends with Apple? Possibly Facebook?
- elemeno 14y agoI 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.
- FireBeyond 14y agoApple 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.
- georgemcbay 14y agoThey don't have to justify it. That's the danger of mandatory locked-down app curation.
- Peroni 14y agoExactly. NSFW content (and a hell of a lot worse) is instantly accessible via any of the Reddit apps. Why not pull those too?
- twoodfin 14y agoAlien Blue is also listed as 17+. Was 500px's app?
- tchebotarev 14y agoIt was 12+, because default experience is always 'SAFE ON'.
- jmreid 14y agoCan someone upload a nude photo and not flag it as a nude? Do you guys check this before it gets published? If not, Apple might not care that the default is "Safe On" when someone can either disable it easily (outside of iOS's parental controls), or the tagging is inconsistent.
- tchebotarev 14y agoYes they can. Although there are special tools to discourage non-tagged or improperly tagged photos. We don't check, but our community self-monitors and reacts very quickly (few minutes at most).
- jmreid 14y agoWell, you can see Apple's side of this, no? You're basically saying that you don't deserve the mature, "internet app rating" because your users as usually pretty quick at flagging things or that you have a safe default to catch the rest (which can be turned off by creating a 500px account and just turning it off). Both of these subvert Apple's built in parental controls and I'm guessing that's exactly why this happened. If there's a chance of mature stuff, you have to set your rating correctly. Everyone already got all bothered about this ages ago. Apps that had built in web views had to set a mature rating because a user could then surf the web even if Safari was disabled. I guess this comes down to what they've asked (yet?) of you. Can you resubmit the app with a higher age-restiction?
- 14y ago
- gte910h 14y agoThis was rated safe for 4+ year olds. Flipboard is not.
- akashshah 14y agoWhy don't they pull the Chrome app because I can turn the default safe search off and search for porn?
- twoodfin 14y agoChrome is already listed as 17+, presumably for this very reason. What was the 500px app's rating?
- tchebotarev 14y ago12+
- luney 14y agoWell I was going to write: Time to pull safari But then I checked tech crunch's comments and it seems that I would be very unoriginal. Same goes for any of the other apps mentioned... So to trump them all: Time to disable the internet!
- sp332 14y agoApple's response has always been: if you want content on iOS that we don't allow, make a web app. The App store is not a public place; Apple only puts things there that they like.
- rogerchucker 14y agoWhich in the larger scheme of things is a moronic position because the same device they are trying to keep pristine and pure through their app store can be used to see dirty things through the Web. We know what Apple has always been responded to these arguments with - what we are pointing out is that is that it is extremely douche-y to take such a position.
- sp332 14y agoIt's not about keeping the device "pure". It about not putting things in the App Store they don't like. https://xkcd.com/1150/ https://xkcd.com/1150/
- rogerchucker 14y agoAnd what strategic purpose does it serve Apple by "not putting things it doesn't like" in the App Store?
- sp332 14y agoApple doesn't want an app in the app store. Apple bans the app from the app store. Flawless victory! It's par for the course with Apple: unusual strategy, perfect tactics.
- endgame 14y agoOh look, one of these stories again. Why do people keep building on this pile of shifting sand?
- pyre 14y ago500px's business model isn't based around an iOS app. It's supplemental to their service. View your comment in the context of the following headline: Apple Pulls iOS Flickr App from AppStore Building an App for iOS isn't the same as basing your business model around playing in someone else's sandbox.
- orionblastar 14y agoPeople build on this pile of sand because "Apple can do no wrong" and "Everyone uses iOS products because they are soooooooo popular and hip" plus "Everyone else ripped off Apple, might as well develop for the original" and other logical fallacies Apple markets to developers.
- lambda 14y agoOr, really, people build on this pile of sand because it's more valuable than not doing so. There is enough money to be had in the iOS ecosystem that even when you take into account the risk of being dinged for something stupid like this, it's still an expected net gain for many people to release an iOS app.
- meh01 14y agoYou missed the obvious reason: Money. Lots and lots of money.
- hkmurakami 14y agoBecause unfortunately, the shifting sand is made of gold :(
- rimantas 14y agoNow consider, how many apps have been accepted vs. apps rejected. Google does not even offer an option to sell apps where I am.
- deleted 14y ago[deleted]
- SCdF 14y agoThis is fairly absurd, any app that allows user generated content (including, dun dun dun, Safari) allows young precious eyes previously untouched by the horrors of boobies to be exposed so dangerously. Still, this is a bit like writing a twitter app and then being sad when they flip their API on you. Apple runs the game, they get to set the rules. If that bothers you, don't make iOS apps. I imagine if enough people did that, they may get the message.
- pyre 14y agoDidn't you know? This just the walled garden protecting you from viruses! Without the walled garden you might have picked up an STD from that nude photo! </sarcasm> [ Someone should post a bunch of sensationalist pieces about how Safari allows you to view nude photos, all of them insinuating / claiming that Apple supports the porn industry. If Apple wants to take some ultra-conservative view, let's hold their feet to the fire on it. If no app is allowed to possibly show a nude body, let's apply that to all Apps. ]
- kryptiskt 14y ago"...have been pulled from the Apple App Store due to concerns about nude photos." The horror. It's a blessing the web came along before app stores became trendy. Now at least there's a huge vibrant world outside the walled gardens.
- jpdoctor 14y ago> "...have been pulled from the Apple App Store due to concerns about nude photos." Thank god the first-person shooter games are allowed to continue unhindered. We certainly don't want to jeopardize the future of our children by inculcating wrong behaviors.
- bollockitis 14y agoThe sad part is that most parents won't bat an eye while Junior guns down his opponents, but they would be up in arms at the sight of a nipple.
- rimantas 14y agoI wouldn't be surprised if this was done after some parent complained.
- PanMan 14y agoThat strongly depends on the country. In the USA, probably. Here in europe there is no problem showing naked breasts in the evening news, when relevant. However, the US finds mild nudity the most offensive thing ever. Back on topic: unfortunately Apple applies its US based rules on all content worldwide: I know an app by a huge broadcaster that got rejected based on nudity in an item on, I think, breast cancer. Which is no problem here at al, to show on national TV.
- rimantas 14y agoWell, you can compare outcry that happens every time some violent movie is shown on TV compared to outcry that happened after J. Jackson's "wardrobe malfunction". I think this kind of attitude is stupid, but that's the problem with society, not the Apple.
- samtp 14y agoI've never bought into whats so bad about a naked body. We all have one. From what I understand people get scared/agitated about nuditity because it makes humans seem more a part of nature, savage, and wild. People want to think of humanity as on a pedestal above "beasts". Still, this is a very strange aspect of our society
- pyre 14y agoI'm pretty sure it's a combination of: 1. The view that the naked human body can be sexually appealing / a temptation, so it must be hidden to prevent temptation. 2. People not wanting to view the bodies of 'ugly' naked people. 3. Feeling a sense of vulnerability while naked.
- terhechte 14y agoI'm from Germany, and whenever I have US friends over, they're aghast when they see our newspapers or magazines or TV ads, where nude bodies are nothing special and nobody cares if a kids sees boobs. On the other hand, violent media, like gore, or blood depiction, is explicitly forbidden. In games that were to be sold for minors, the publishers usually color the blood blue before releasing it on the German market. I tend to think that we're more open with the creation of life (nude, sexual intercourse) versus of the destruction of life (killing, gore, blood). While it is exactly the opposite in the US. I've never understood that, especially given that the us is so religious - isn't religion all about cherishing and praising life instead of death?
- tbrownaw 14y agoI've never understood that, especially given that the us is so religious - isn't religion all about cherishing and praising life instead of death? I suppose some of them can be. Or it can be "I believe that doing $X will cause $Y (even tho physics and science say it won't)". Or it can be "doing $X / giving up $Y makes me special and better than you [which gives me the right to make you also do $X / give up $Y, for your own good of course]".
- rimantas 14y agoI'd say religion is the main cause of such attitude in US.
- elliottkember 14y agoThis is exactly why I use my phone in airplane mode.
- luney 14y agothis made me laugh pretty good. thanks!
- burningion 14y agoI 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 mind there are literally hundreds of apps which also incorporate the Bluetooth LE heart rate monitors. Apple wanted me to send them one, so I ended up overnighting them one, only to have them take another week to let me know they'd taken a look at my app, then approved it. I agree, this marketplace approval thing sucks.
- bollockitis 14y agoMaybe 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.
- marquis 14y agoThere are other methods to tests apps. Perhaps Apple needs an anonymous but controlled 'approved beta test' group who willingly give their feedback and save everyone some time and grief.
- FireBeyond 14y agoI 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.)
- burningion 14y agoI want to address your last comment, about heart rate monitors being horribly inaccurate for you. According to a large body of research (http://www.polar.com/en/about_polar/who_we_are/research_index?cat=1 http://www.polar.com/en/about_polar/who_we_are/research_inde...), the Polar brand heart rate monitors provide basically medical quality data. Have you really tried one of the new Bluetooth LE monitors, and what sort of problems did you have? It's vitally important to me, because my startup revolves around the rock-solid, years of research that have gone into developing these devices. Thanks for letting me know.
- diziet 14y agoFunnily enough, Apple had their own snafu with app store searches for lewd words showing up kid's apps like Disney's apps: http://www.forbes.com/sites/kashmirhill/2012/11/15/dirty-word-searches-in-itunes-store-suggested-apps-for-disney-fox-washington-post-and-kids-games/ http://www.forbes.com/sites/kashmirhill/2012/11/15/dirty-wor...
- nicholassmith 14y agoThis isn't an awful decision just because Apple pulled it, it's an awful decision because Apple was finally starting to get a better PR stance from not hell banning apps for trivial bullshit on a large, public scale. It is an awful decision though, rules being applied inconsistently across the board again.
- D3nver 14y agoI hope the App Store reviewers look over the Safari app. You can do the same thing, but there's no default safe search!! Scandalous!
- jmreid 14y agoIt's funny how this comment comes up in this discussion. It's not about Safari also being able to surf porn sites, it's about Apple wanting to protect the integrity of their parental controls. If I've disabled mature apps as well as Safari on a child's iOS device, should I now worry that they can see mature content using 500px? Those parental controls are there for a reason and rely on accurate ratings for apps. Yes, sucks that everything with web access gets a mature rating, but you must see how that's the point, right?
- gte910h 14y agoSafari is disabled on the same screen install of apps that allow nudity is disabled on (General -> Restrictions). 500px rated their app 4+, when their app should have been 12+ or 17+ by appstore rules.
- magoon 14y agoI'm sure they can just resubmit with an M-17 rating.
- analog 14y agoThis is beyond ridiculous. And I know that what Apple is doing doesn't breach any laws, but imo it should be illegal in the same way that MS bundling IE breached anti-trust laws. Personally I'm going to try Android when it comes time to replace my iPhone.
- sp332 14y agoYou can't get angry at someone else for not letting you sell stuff in their store. https://xkcd.com/1150/ https://xkcd.com/1150/
- Dylan16807 14y agoThe problem is not the store rules. The problem is that the store is made mandatory.
- analog 14y agoI don't sell apps. I own a piece of hardware. Apple restricts the software I can run on the hardware that I own. We would all be better off if Apple did not do this.
- roc 14y agoA quick look shows any number 500px browsing apps still on the store. But they're all rated 12+ or 17+. Which makes me wonder if 500px didn't mark their app accordingly? Or perhaps they used to, but then switched it to a lower rating thinking their 'safe search' toggle was sufficient?
- 3pt14159 14y agoWe were called by Apple to let us know; they specifically told us to completely block even artistic nudes. Although I'm not sure of their stance on photos of Michaelangelo's David (see: http://500px.com/photo/765271 http://500px.com/photo/765271). I'll have to get someone on the phone over there. (NSFA warning: Nipples)
- Simucal 14y agoWhy doesn't the Bing app have to adhere to these same restrictions?
- bookwormAT 14y agobecause the app store restrictions are guidelines how to please Apple, not rules. Apple can let hard porn through the app store and block letterpress if they like to. Maybe Bing is just a more important strategic partner than 500px
- roc 14y agoJust to be clear, I was wondering about some other circumstance -- perhaps naively -- because I thought Apple had seen the error in this sort of nonsense, so I wondered if there was some other explanation or consideration. If Apple is indeed getting back into the game of selective, uneven enforcement of their guidelines, it's a monumental fuck-up.
- adamgravitis 14y ago"a monumental fuck-up." - no pun intended, I'm sure ;-)
- Spittie 14y agoThis isn't the first time Apple do it. They've already removed Chan Elite [1] and every other 4chan's browser based on the same concern (and those were tagged as 17+ applications). I wonder how Apple chose which apps are out, and which apps stay in. Opera mini and Chrome are browsers, it's extremely easy to find porn with those. Yet they still are in the store. Reddit has several subreddits for porn, and yet there are several application in the store that allow you to browse it. This is just getting ridiculous. [1] http://legendarysoftwarelabs.com/2012/06/13/chan-elite-is-gone/ http://legendarysoftwarelabs.com/2012/06/13/chan-elite-is-go...
- kybernetyk 14y ago> I wonder how Apple chose which apps are out, and which apps stay in. If the process is in any way similar to the review process then it's just about luck. If you're lucky you get a reviewer who isn't too strict about the rules and lets your app through. If you're not so lucky you get one who will apply the rules like a robot.
- neya 14y agoThis 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 publish their app, I'm sure it's only a positive sign for other market places. More and more developers will start (slowly, but surely) to neglect Apple's Appstore by default due to the fear of the ridiculous approval process and the uncertainty that their development efforts for the iOS platform may go a waste, because they have seen the history of popular apps like 500px and others. There is a very thin line of difference between being an elitist and being a d*ck. Apple is making it clear to everyone that they are the latter.
- w1ntermute 14y ago> More and more developers will start (slowly, but surely) to neglect Apple's Appstore by default due to the fear of the ridiculous approval process and the uncertainty that their development efforts for the iOS platform may go a waste, because they have seen the history of popular apps like 500px and others. I really hope this happens, but it seems so far that people are more than happy to put up with Apple's draconian App Store policies. We're not even talking about equal treatment - iOS apps continue to come out before Android apps, and Windows Phone apps often aren't even made.
- neya 14y agoLike I said, I predict it will be a very slow change. You know how MySpace was once THE Social Network to be on, and when you weren't there, you would be looked down upon? Now, despite an epic re-design, nobody even talks about it, except for examples like these, perhaps. It could be the same case for Apple's Appstore, assuming they continue this painful trend of pissing off developers.
- bollockitis 14y agoI don't think that analogy works very well. If anything, the App Store is more comparable to Facebook: despite all of its pitfalls and drawbacks, everyone is already so invested that switching seems impossible. Developers will go where the money is, and as long as Apple continues to sell millions of iDevices, most developers won't abandon a profitable platform.
- niggler 14y agoDoes apple restrict html5 mobile sites in safari? Seems like the best bet is to build as much in the website and use the app if certain native functionality is needed ...
- chris_wot 14y agoSo Apple wants to compete in this space, and 500px is an active threat. The wonders of a closed ecosystem.
- jfb 14y agoAssumes facts not in evidence.
- jeffk1337 14y agoUh oh, watch out Tumblr.
- joebadmo 14y agoA 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."
- sp332 14y agoThat'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.
- rimantas 14y agoInteresting theory. Alas, many cannot see the difference between sex and naked body.
- just2n 14y agoWhen I see images of awesome looking food, I think "Hey, I want to try that!" Same with pictures of people sky-diving, drinking, racing in fast cars, etc. All of these things can be pretty dangerous, in fact far more dangerous than having sex. Better start the bans!
- sp332 14y agoIn the USA, they put disclaimers on skydiving and racing cars. Stuff like "don't try this" or "at your own risk" or "these are professionals, this is dangerous" etc. Also tobacco and alcohol companies are prohibited from advertising to minors.
- jlgreco 14y agoLack 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.
- 14y ago
- ryojeo 14y agoThanks for sharing these great tips. I always find it difficult to come up
- markross 14y agoSo 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?
- jmreid 14y agoThe 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 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.
- gte910h 14y agoThe app was rated 4+, yet would show pictures of naked people http://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache:itunes.apple.com/us/app/500px/id471965292?mt=8 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-app-rating-system http://www.internetsafetyproject.org/wiki/apple%E2%80%99s-ap... True nudity only belongs in 17+ in their system. 500px put it available for 4+.
- jjcm 14y agoIf 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?
- 9oliYQjP 14y agoIANAL 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".
- gte910h 14y agoApple doesn't change ratings, or to my knowledge, any metadata about any of the apps.
- FireBeyond 14y ago4+, but only shows nudity if you go to the website in a browser, create an account, verify your age, then specify that you want to be able to see "mature" images. Instead, the rationale from Apple and defended by you and others is that it is better to make the entire app 17+, and deny a whole raft of people the ability to use it, on the chance that they might do the above to "get around" the Apple rating system. It's always insightful to see the hoops that are jumped through to defend Apple.
- politician 14y agoApple announces mobile photo sharing app in 3, 2, 1...
- callmeed 14y agoWait, so no artistic nudes but minors can send each other pictures of their genitalia via SnapChat?
- stephengillie 14y agoWhat about non-nude porn? Images that people find gratifying, but don't involve naked women?
- Camillo 14y agoThis is pretty good for 500px. I had never even heard of them before, and now they're going to be all over the Internet. I just downloaded the ISO500 app, which apparently they acquired, and which is still available on the App Store.
- pedalpete 14y agoI bet they'll look back at this in a few months and think the publicity they are getting was the best thing for their business.
- edwinjm 14y agoAnd so the purist American norm is forced upon the rest of the world. Yes I know I can buy a different phone, but that's not the point. It's about a company deciding for me what my morals should be.
- bobsy 14y agoI wonder what a young Steve Jobs would have thought of his App store. The guy who went to India looking for spiritual enlightenment. Forcing a certain level of quality is fine. Protecting users from scamware is also fine. Apple goes far beyond this. They nanny the user and force upon them what Apple perceive is right and wrong. I got my first iMac 5 years ago and I thought Apple were awesome and innovative. Now I just find them overbearing. Like success has lead to the corporate types making decisions instead of those that originally drove development and change. I have an iPad for testing. I avoided getting a new Apple computer in favour of a Linux computer. First time I turned on my latest computer i felt somewhat liberated being away from an Apple logo. Looking back I had the same feeling firing up my Mac for the first time. I felt free of a virus filled Windows and I remember thinking that the future had finally arrived. Its interesting how feelings and perceptions change.
- patgarner 14y agoThe impression I got at some point was that the reason for the absence of nudity or porn in apps sold on the iOS app store was not to nanny what users do with the device, but rather that Apple/Steve Jobs did not want to be the purveyors of nudity or porn in the same sense that if I owned a news stand I wouldn't want to sell magazines that promoted racism. I can see where the strictness of the current app store in that regard might be in line with the uplifting side of spirituality. Having said that, I'll add that I think there are things about the app store that don't fit with that quest for spiritual enlightenment.
- gurkendoktor 14y agoThis is not about money, unlike the Microsoft/Dropbox IAP quarrel. iOS has been a PG-rated nanny 5 years ago when you bought your iMac. If typical corporate types were making decisions, they would probably see a lost opportunity and reverse Apple's stance on porn - having millions of credit cards on file would be a perfect base to start selling adult content. > The guy who went to India looking for spiritual enlightenment. Buddhism can be incredibly prude, though I am not familiar with the kind(s) of Buddhism that one would find in India.
- jiggy2011 14y agoI've never used this app. But assuming I'm an adult and want to use an Apple device to show my penis to other adults with Apple devices, why should Apple care?
- salmanapk 14y agoWhat's with this Arab/Muslim mentality? What harm can non-pornographic nude photos do to kids?
- savethejets 14y agoAs of 4:27 PM MST I can still find this app in the app store.
- uptown 14y agoUnrelated - but did TC switch off Facebook as their commenting system? This is their first post where I see Livefyre comments instead of Facebook.
- ishansharma 14y agoNow this is getting too much. Apple should be putting some sensible reviewers there. I wander what kind of people take such steps. Additionally, "we also received customer complaints about possible child pornography", what kind of bozos report such things. Dear Apple, Chrome and Safari let me access porn too easily, I just need to follow following steps: 1. Open Safari 2. Tap address bar. Then tap s,e,x,.,c,o,m keys and press return. 3. PORN! OMG, now will you block Safari as well!
- Susan1 14y agoTumblr is rated 4+ and is full of animated GIFs of hardcore pornography.
- fotoblur 14y agoHere are the facts: The app had a +4 rating which apple defines as "Apps in this category contain no objectionable material." Did 500px honor this rating? No. Also, they shouldn't have been surprised. The review right on their iTunes page lists a complaint about nudity. I think if the app was properly rated Apple should put the app back up. http://i.imgur.com/GESYvRs.jpg http://i.imgur.com/GESYvRs.jpg