3 ms·

The app is rated "12+" in iTunes because of "Fear / horror-related themes" and "drug and alcohol references." This is surprising for an innocent messaging app,

• derefr 12y ago
  Yep. I believe Chrome is rated 17+ in the iOS store because people can visit arbitrary websites with it. Really, though, the app age-ratings system would work much better flipped around. There are certain apps that either have no user-generated content/social interactions, or which restrict what user-generated content/social interactions they do have to being nonthreatening (usually by not allowing that many degrees of freedom in expression. thatgamecompany's Journey is a good example.) Games that are safe for kids could ask Apple to give them additional vetting; Apple could then declare them to be explicitly "safe for children", put them on additional "For Kids" lists, etc. Unlike the current setup, there would be no such thing as an "adult" app--just an "unvetted" app. The parental controls, if turned on, would prompt a parent to independently evaluate unvetted apps.
  • bsaul 12y ago
    There is something called "made for children" on the app store. It's an explicit flag that you can set on any app.
• siralonso 12y ago
  You're pretty much spot-on. When you submit to the App Store, they give you boxes to tick for each potentially offensive type of content. If you have a lot of user-generated content, you tend to tick boxes that apply to content you think users might generate. This really needs to be fixed - plenty of apps carry a rating that could fluctuate substantially, because users can write what they wish.