Updated at 3:00 p.m. PT with word from Sikalosoft.
Apple issued a statement Thursday apologizing for allowing the Baby Shaker application onto the App Store.
Just hours before the App Store offers up its 1 billionth download, Apple was forced to acknowledge that perhaps the most notorious iPhone application ever constructed was "deeply offensive" and a "mistake." Baby Shaker appeared on the App Store Monday, and was pulled Wednesday after a media frenzy grew following the discovery of the application by the founder of a shaken baby syndrome foundation.
Apple has apologized for approving Baby Shaker for inclusion on the App Store.
(Credit: Screenshot by Tom Krazit/CNET)Apple's statement follows in its entirety:
"This application was deeply offensive and should not have been approved for distribution on the App Store. When we learned of this mistake, the app was removed immediately. We sincerely apologize for this mistake and thank our customers for bringing this to our attention."
The company refused to comment on the process that led to the approval of Baby Shaker as an iPhone application. The day it revealed the software development kit for the iPhone last year, Apple said it planned to review every single iPhone application submitted for inclusion on the App Store, and reject applications that violated certain guidelines for porn, spam, or other offensive content.
However, in practice, Apple has chosen to wield its rejection stamp in confusing and sometimes contradictory ways.
Applications have been banned for containing off-color language. The creators of South Park were not allowed to sell their application because of "potentially offensive" content, despite the fact that the show's episodes are available in the iTunes Store. And Apple has rejected applications that appear to compete with its business interests while approving applications submitted by well-connected friends that break App Store rules.
Apple's decision to play App Store gatekeeper has forced it into what might be an unsustainable position. If the volume of submissions to the App Store continues to grow--there are now more than 35,000 applications currently on the store, Apple executives said Wednesday--Apple will be forced to employ an army of application inspectors who will not only have to scour each app for technical quality, but make content-related decisions based on criteria Apple has yet to disclose.
Sikalosoft, the company that created Baby Shaker, has not responded to e-mails requesting comment on the application as well as the approval process, and whether or not Apple raised any objections to the application during that process. Any mention of Baby Shaker has been removed from Sikalosoft's Web site, but a benign application called Dice Mosaic is still available in the App Store.
Updated 3:00 p.m. - Macworld noticed that Sikalosoft has posted an early candidate for Understatement of the Year on its new Web site. "Okay, so maybe the Baby Shaker iPhone app was a bad idea." The rest of the site is devoted to information about Shaken Baby Syndrome. Alex Talbot, who appears to be the developer behind Baby Shaker, has still not responded to e-mailed requests for comment on the application.
Apple appears to have pulled Baby Shaker from the App Store.
(Credit: Screenshot by Tom Krazit/CNET)Apple has removed the Baby Shaker application from the App Store, just hours after it was discovered.
The application still shows up in the App Store search, but upon clicking on the title, an error message appears. Baby Shaker, a game in which the user is invited to silence a baby's cries by violently shaking an iPhone, appeared on the App Store Monday despite Apple's policy of banning "offensive" iPhone applications.
Company representatives have still not responded to inquires about how Baby Shaker made it into the App Store in the first place. In the past, Apple has shown no hesitation in rejecting iPhone applications that it felt contained offensive language or objectionable content.
Updated 1:25 p.m.: Apple has pulled Baby Shaker from the App Store.
If you needed any further proof that Apple's App Store approval process is horrifyingly out of whack, consider one of the latest additions to the App Store: Baby Shaker.
A successful game of Baby Shaker, now available on the App Store.
(Credit: Screenshot by Tom Krazit/CNET)A company called Sikalosoft is currently selling a $0.99 iPhone application called Baby Shaker, as of Monday. The object of Baby Shaker is to stop the incessant crying of an infant pictured on screen by violently shaking the iPhone, at which point two red "x" marks appear over the baby's eyes. "See how long you can endure his or her adorable cries before you just have to find a way to quiet the baby down!" reads the sales pitch for Baby Shaker.
Jennipher Dickens, who founded a nonprofit organization in 2007 after her son Christopher was injured from being shaken by his father, brought the new application to our attention after reading about it on Krapps, an iPhone application review site. I downloaded it from the App Store this morning to verify it existed and worked as described.
"As a mother of a child who was violently shaken at 7 weeks old, causing a severe brain injury, and the founder of a national organization for Shaken Baby Syndrome prevention (as well as the communications director for a national organization helping children with brain injuries), I don't have to tell you how much this horrifies me!!!" she wrote in an e-mail.
When the App Store was first announced in March 2008, Apple said it would vet every single application submitted to the App Store and approve or reject applications based on its internal standards. So, as Apple approaches the one billionth download of App Store applications, let's review what Apple has decided you're allowed to do, and what you're not allowed to do, with iPhone applications.
You are not allowed to have swear words in your application.
You are not allowed to develop applications that could potentially harm existing or future Apple businesses.
You are allowed to develop applications that break App Store rules if you work for one of the most important companies on the planet, whose CEO happens to sit on Apple's board of directors.
You are allowed to simulate infanticide.
Apple representatives did not respond to requests for comment on Baby Shaker.
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