[Paul Acciavatti]

Mixed reports have emerged that Apple may have created a new "Explicit" category for app submissions using iTunes Connect. Last week, Apple removed as many as 5,000 titles from the App Store that it determined were inappropriate for some users. The dragnet caught some apps but left others - like Playboy and the Sports Illustrated swimsuit app - still available for download. Some devs, however, have said that the new category does not appear on their iTunes submission screens.

Last night, Cult of Mac passed on a developer's report that an "Explicit" category had appeared on the dropdown list of options for classifying his submission, providing a screenshot to verify his find. Later, a different dev emailed Recombu further evidence of the new title. As of this writing there is no Explicit category on the iTunes App Store, and Apple has made no comment on any change. It's unclear why some devs see the option and some do not.

The deleting frenzy over the past week has caught a few legitimate apps. One title that allowed users to browse bikinis for sale was pulled from the App Store for objectionable content before being summarily reinstated the next day. Phil Schiller, Apple's head of worldwide product marketing, told the New York Times that pressure had built on Apple due to "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." Regarding the objection that Sports Illustrated's mostly-naked models were allowed to remain, he retorted that the magazine's publisher "is a well-known company with previously published material available broadly in a well-accepted format."
 So, alrighty then.

Whether the "Explicit" category will come to all iTunes Connect users is unclear, as is the reason for the change. Some have speculated, though, that the use of a specific category for "explicit" content could be used in conjunction with the age-rating system on iTunes that will allow users to control what their children can see through the Parental Controls settings.

[0Milk0]

Sex Sells, what can i say. And if that means putting more money in Apple's pocket why not.

[RonHC]

We need boobies

[rickybobby]

if u are jailbroken there is a app called isteamy which is pretty much 10x better than any explicit appstore app dont believe me go check for yourself it has real porn

[RonHC]

Originally Posted by biggie81

if u are jailbroken there is a app called isteamy which is pretty much 10x better than any explicit appstore app dont believe me go check for yourself it has real porn

LOL you make it sound like it was new, that thing is old and of course its real porn, duh!

[rickybobby]

everyone knows it not new read my post again and u will understand why i said it i was stating that for JAILBROKEN iphone users this is no big deal for us we had explicit content

[HDoan112]

Originally Posted by biggie81

if u are jailbroken there is a app called isteamy which is pretty much 10x better than any explicit appstore app dont believe me go check for yourself it has real porn

too bad it's full of penis

[SnowLeo]

^^ lol

[lolcats1]

Originally Posted by biggie81

if u are jailbroken there is a app called isteamy which is pretty much 10x better than any explicit appstore app dont believe me go check for yourself it has real porn

yeah i saw this app and laughed. people actually downloaded this? nice

[pyromcr]

i thought that it was stupid when they would not allow them, and i really think that it is stupid that they just banned them. really, who cares? let them stay. this would not be such an issue, but they let the playboy app stay. so why again did you ban all the others?

[1shuttle1]

Originally Posted by pyromcr

i thought that it was stupid when they would not allow them, and i really think that it is stupid that they just banned them. really, who cares? let them stay. this would not be such an issue, but they let the playboy app stay. so why again did you ban all the others?

Maybe Hugh told Steve he could be invited to the mansion if he left the playboy app on the store. A life time GEEKS dream come true.

[glendoor]

First of all, stop ragging on iSteamy. It has its ups and downs.

Second, what's the big deal? Just add in more parental control and bam you can put all the porn u want in the appstore. Stop whining grandmas, its not the 1920s anymore (although we are in a Great Depression)

[yellowhunt]

Apple needs to move more serious staff on the top 25 lists. They will hide boobs, and put those in a hidden place for us to see... They will not kill the chicken which makes golden eggs

[Tizocman]

yeah one thing you got to understand is that with every new iDevice more people join and few learn about all the things that were out before

[JA.3]

When they block explicit content from being accessed through safari is when I'll really have a serious problem with Apple.

I'll start burning Apple stores to the ground. No.. Not really.. But don't you put that evil on me Ricky Bobby.