Third party and pornography app: Apple looks away

Apple, a long, inflexible guardian of its app store, is now constrained by European legislationto allow alternative shopsOn iPhone, with all the implications that this has for its content policy. Unfortunately, a simple formulation in an email was enough to trigger a controversyAround an application with pornographic content, forcing the apple firm to clarify its position without being able to completely block these contents.

The Hot Tub soap opera warm spirits

Controversy broke out whenAlstore, first alternative store at the App Store, announced that Apple had "approvedHot Tub, a pornographic navigation application, for distribution on iPhone in Europe. This declaration caused a wave of reactions, certain media going so far as to titrate that Applenow authorized pornography on his devices. An escalation that the company would certainly have passed.

The Cupertino firm immediately reacted by specifying that it did not approve of this application and did notwould have ever offered it in its official app store. «The truth is that we are obliged by the European Commission to authorize its distribution by marketplace operators like Altstore and Epic, who may not share our concerns about user safetySaid Apple.

The origin of the misunderstanding? A simple automatic email sent to developers after verification of the code, indicating that the application had been "Approved for distribution».

Three words that change everything

Faced with this semantic ambiguity, Apple opted for a minimalist, but effective solution. As Riley Testut, founder of Altstore,The company has changed three crucial wordsin his notification emails. Before, we could read: "The following application was approved for distribution"Now it's:"The following application is now ready for distribution».

A little sleight of hand that now allows Apple to maintain its technical verification process while distanting itself clearlyof any moral or commercial approvalapplications concerned.

This ostrich tactic will certainly work in the short term, but in the long term,Apple will have to find another solution. The management of the opening of its app store to third -party companies will necessarily require that it one day takes its responsibilities. Otherwise, the companyrisks tarnishing your brand image.

• Apple is forced by European regulations to accept third -party application stores, which complicates content control.
• Confusion around an automatic email suggested that Apple validated a pornographic application, triggering a controversy.
• To avoid any ambiguity, Apple has changed the formulation of its messages, but the question of content control remains unanswered.