The guy in charge of the App Store approved three of his own apps - including a urination/flatulation simulator called iWiz and another novelty app entitled Animal Farts - in what appears to be a violation of Apple policies. According to a story in WIRED, Apple's Director of Application Technology, Philip Shoemaker, also released several apps before he took his current position overseeing which apps should be allowed on the App Store. Apple's standard policy is to prohibit employees from developing apps, to avoid a possible conflict of interest. After WIRED published its story, Shoemaker deleted information about his side business from social networking sites.
As part of its crackdown since the beginning of this year on explicit and "minimal functionality" apps on the App Store, Shoemaker has often been directly involved in decisions on which apps should be accepted or rejected. The conflict of interest inherent in him submitting apps for approval has been highlighted by a number of observers. Apple is defending Shoemaker, though, with a spokesperson claiming that the "apps were written, submitted and approved before he became an Apple employee,” adding that "Apple’s policy allows for employees to have apps on the App Store if they’re developed and published prior to their start at Apple." However, the WIRED story clearly established that three of the seven apps in the App Store published by Shoemaker's company - iWiz, Medical Poetry and 101 Cocktails - were approved after he started working at Apple.
The content of some of his apps have earned Shoemaker particular derision: one of Apple's main guardians of App Store decorum created an app called iWiz that allows users to “simulate the experience of urinating for a long time,” with options to make the output "faster, slower or just a trickle.” The game Animal Farts, meanwhile, depicts animals' rear ends with “Fart,” “Poot,” “Drop” or “Wiz” buttons that trigger sounds and animated movements. In a further embarrasing reveal, Valleywag also discovered that the man charged by Steve Jobs with establishing "freedom from porn" on the App Store had been "following at least 16 porn stars and escorts" from his Twitter account. Shoemaker quickly deleted that account after the story went online.
LinkBack URL
About LinkBacks
App Store Boss Makes Fart Apps
Reply With Quote
Posting Permissions
