There is a subset of folks very excited about the iPad, yet none the less rather quiet about their bubbling anticipation – the (probably underage) set that has made applications like “Hand Bras” and “iPasties” almost overnight hits – the smut enthusiast. Why is mobile smut so enticing? Probably because the personal nature of a handset makes it even less likely that their hidden past time will be accidentally discovered by friends / parents / significant others, not to mention the highly portable nature of the phone. What better then was the thought that soon this would be transferred onto a larger, high definition multi-touch screen? Who wouldn’t want to multi-touch away?

Apple – That’s who. KRAPPS has discovered that Apple is rapidly but silently removing anything that it considers too risque from the app store, either due to an internal policy change, or to recover from a slowly pushed line that more and more were able to cross. Here is their full article:

Via KRAPPS:

It’s been well documented that Apple does not allow porn in the App Store … but nevertheless, developers aggressively push the envelope in efforts to show as much skin as possible in their apps. At first, Apple began approving apps featuring girls in full-back bikinis. Later they lightened up … thong bikinis became acceptable. In November, Apple approved the first pasties app … iPasties by Pastease … which broke into the Top 100 Paid Apps and created a flood of new approvals featuring adhesive nipple covers. And finally, raising the “how much skin can we get away with” bar to its peak … Apple allowed the Boobs In Hand Bras app on January 14. Today, there are literally thousands of sexy girlie apps available for sale.

Well all that came to a screeching halt yesterday. Apple changed its mind and began emailing developers that their once approved sexy girlie apps were no longer welcome in the App Store and thus, removed from sale. Why the sudden reversal of standards? Seems Apple was receiving a number of customer complaints about inappropriate content. Below is the email Apple sent to developers regarding removed apps.

So exactly how much skin can you show these days without fear of getting the boot? Since Apple did not provide concrete examples to developers, it’s tough to say. However, it’s clear that hand bras are blacklisted … they have all been removed from the App Store. Most pastie apps are absent as well.

It’s also tough to figure how many developers were effected by this change of policy. We spoke to a half dozen developers regarding the matter and figure at least a dozen more had their apps removed. Is Apple done cleaning up? Who knows. The entire situation is confusing and mysterious … but one thing is certain, Apple is doing some major housekeeping and removing numerous sexy girlie apps. College Girls Extreme, Epic Boobs, Sexy Bikini Contests, Yau’s Asian Boobs Fruit Punch, Sexy Topless and many more … all these apps were once approved by Apple and now banned.

The developers we spoke with were completely blindsided by yesterday’s occurrences. “I wish Apple would adopt detailed written standards like every other mobile storefront in the world,” said one developer. Agreed … perhaps clearly communicated standards would help Apple avoid that reoccurring theme … Inconsistent Review Process.

This made us laugh – so we wanted to share.  Enjoy!

[youtube]_h6dD674stw[/youtube]

2010 started off with a bang!   The good news for all of us – Apple announced that over 3 Billion apps have been downloaded since the app store launched.  The bad news is that there are a TON of apps in the store now, close to 150,000 apps at this point.

A break-out of the 20 categories by number of apps:

1. Games  26,580 18%
2. Entertainment  21,267 14.4%
3. Books  21,000 14.2%
4. Education  9,469 6.4%
5. Travel  9,315 6.3%
6. Utilities  8,996 6.1%
7. Lifestyle  8,645 5.9%
8. Reference  5,712 3.9%
9. Sports  5,494 3.7%
10. Music  4,944 3.3%
11. News  3,638 2.5%
12. Productivity  3,488 2.4%
13. Navigation  3,407 2.3%
14. Business  3,285 2.2%
15. Health & Fitness  3,030 2.1%
16. Social Networks  2,548 1.7%
17. Photography  2,425 1.6%
18. Finance  2,013 1,4%
19. Medical  1,804 1.2%
20. Weather  622 0.4%

(Source: Mobclix)

The moral of the story is that you need to market your app if you want customers.  Appency is here to help.  We will work with your budget to get you noticed.

Email us any time – info@appency.com