MacFlaunt

Apple have taken steps to remove all sexually suggestive apps from the App Store after a series of complaints from women and parents.

The problem came to head four days ago, when Apple was inundated with complaints from concerned parents, offended women and other developers who felt sex apps were crowding the games, books, software and other categories.

The company have now tightened their app policy, stating that even apps containing pictures of women in swimsuits will now be unacceptable. This has come as a surprise for some developers, who had been making huge profits from their “soft-core porn” apps.

Developers who had their apps removed in the purge were sent a notice, saying: “We have recently received numerous complaints from our customers about this type of content and have changed our guidelines appropriately. We have decided to remove any overtly sexual content from the App Store, which includes your application.”

Phil Schiller, head of worldwide product marketing at Apple, stepped forward to discuss the changes within the App Store. He said: “It came to the point where we were getting customer complaints from women who found the content getting too degrading and objectionable, as well as parents who were upset with what their kids were able to see.”

The iPod touch is a popular music player with children and teenagers and the iPhone has international success, with a sizeable portion of the mobile market. Next month, Apple will also be releasing the iPad, which will use apps from the App Store. If the tablet is used for educational purposes, as well as a family-friendly device, Apple will of course want its usual squeaky clean brand image before the iPad’s launch.