Apple recently removed upwards of 5,000 apps with sexually "objectionable" content from the App Store. Per Phil Schiller's statements to The New York Times, the move served to pander to parents and prep for the iPad.
Still, there may be more to the story, as developers have uncovered a new category dubbed "explicit" in iTunes Connect. As Recombu reports, now when developers submit their applications to Apple via iTunes Connect they have a new option to select "Explicit" as the primary category, which did not exist before. The back-end only category could be a placeholder for a future iTunes App Store front-end that may serve as a more restricted corner of the market for those of us who are 18 and over and want our apps on the naughty side.
If Apple has felt the weight of the blogosphere's disapproval in recent days, it has yet to show visible signs of sweat. Bloggers are taking the company to task for further restricting and removing App Store content based on its own subjective criteria. The maneuver, as others have also suggested, could be part of a very calculated strategy to make the app store more parent and child-friendly in light of the iPad's pending release date.
Should Apple soften its restrictions and support an explicit category in the App Store, we doubt it will be as simple as just another App Store category. Accessing and downloading apps with sexual content will likely involve additional measures as Apple moves to maintain the store's overall ambiance and aesthetic. Of course we'll continue to monitor the story as it develops and report when we know more on the matter.
Update: New reports indicate the explicit category has already disappeared. Gizmodo writes that a developer "just got off the telephone with Apple, who confirmed the removal."
