Phil Schiller Comments on 'Ninjawords Dictionary' iPhone App Rejection
Yesterday, we reported on Daring Fireball's coverage of Apple's lengthy approval process for the Ninjawords Dictionary iPhone application that ultimately resulted in the application not only receiving a "17+" age rating but also having removed a number of "objectionable" words, including some with non-objectionable definitions, from the application.
In a follow-up post, Daring Fireball's John Gruber reports that he received a detailed e-mail from Apple senior vice president of Worldwide Product Marketing Phil Schiller explaining the situation. Briefly, Apple's App Store approval staff objected to the presence of a number of vulgar "urban slang" terms that appeared in the application upon its initial submission in May and recommended that the developers resubmit their application after iPhone OS 3.0 was released so that it could carry a "17+" rating and be subject to 3.0's Parental Controls. Rather than choosing that route (as iPhone OS 3.0 had no known ship date at that time), the developers opted to press ahead in advance of Parental Controls implementation and stripped "objectionable" content from the application itself. Schiller wrote:
Gruber does, however, point out that Apple should do a better job of applying reasonable uniform standards and communicating with developers looking for clarification on or appealing reviewers' decisions. In particular, the dictionary entries Apple specifically objected to in Ninjawords' rejection notice did not include the so called "urban slang" that Schiller references, and if Apple's reviewers had found other examples of "urban slang" that it felt pushed the application to a "17+" rating, those specific objectionable terms should have been communicated to the developer.
Schiller's closing comments to Gruber lay out Apple's goals for the App Store and acknowledges that while the process is not always perfect, Apple is working to fix those errors and deliver the best experience possible for all parties.
In a follow-up post, Daring Fireball's John Gruber reports that he received a detailed e-mail from Apple senior vice president of Worldwide Product Marketing Phil Schiller explaining the situation. Briefly, Apple's App Store approval staff objected to the presence of a number of vulgar "urban slang" terms that appeared in the application upon its initial submission in May and recommended that the developers resubmit their application after iPhone OS 3.0 was released so that it could carry a "17+" rating and be subject to 3.0's Parental Controls. Rather than choosing that route (as iPhone OS 3.0 had no known ship date at that time), the developers opted to press ahead in advance of Parental Controls implementation and stripped "objectionable" content from the application itself. Schiller wrote:
You are correct that the Ninjawords application should not have needed to be censored while also receiving a 17+ rating, but that was a result of the developers' actions, not Apple's. I believe that the Apple app review team's original recommendation to the developer to submit the Ninjawords application, without censoring it, to the App Store once parental controls was implemented would have been the best course of action for all; Wiktionary.org is an open, ever-changing resource and filtering the content does not seem reasonable or necessary.
Gruber reports that Ninjawords Dictionary's developers agree with Schiller's assertions, noting that they did wish to push ahead with the application's launch by whatever means necessary instead of waiting for Parental Controls to be launched in iPhone OS 3.0.Gruber does, however, point out that Apple should do a better job of applying reasonable uniform standards and communicating with developers looking for clarification on or appealing reviewers' decisions. In particular, the dictionary entries Apple specifically objected to in Ninjawords' rejection notice did not include the so called "urban slang" that Schiller references, and if Apple's reviewers had found other examples of "urban slang" that it felt pushed the application to a "17+" rating, those specific objectionable terms should have been communicated to the developer.
Schiller's closing comments to Gruber lay out Apple's goals for the App Store and acknowledges that while the process is not always perfect, Apple is working to fix those errors and deliver the best experience possible for all parties.
Apple's goals remain aligned with customers and developers -- to create an innovative applications platform on the iPhone and iPod touch and to assist many developers in making as much great software as possible for the iPhone App Store. While we may not always be perfect in our execution of that goal, our efforts are always made with the best intentions, and if we err we intend to learn and quickly improve.
Top Rated Comments
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33 months ago
Gawd, are we returning to the 1985 reign terror of Tipper Gore??? :mad:
33 months ago
Finally, we see some good PR coming out of Cupertino! It's big, in my mind, that Schiller took the time to send this to Gruber, and it removes at least some of the sour feelings for Apple lately.
Now let's see if Apple actually goes ahead and "[learns] and quickly [improves]".
Now let's see if Apple actually goes ahead and "[learns] and quickly [improves]".
33 months ago
He said he did it "Strictly for my Ninjas"... haha..
BTW, look at the new Onion Newspaper cover. It's pretty hilarious. There's an article on the front page about how Steve Jobs created the worlds first invisible iPhone that only loyal users can see.. Pretty freaking funny.
Roocka
BTW, look at the new Onion Newspaper cover. It's pretty hilarious. There's an article on the front page about how Steve Jobs created the worlds first invisible iPhone that only loyal users can see.. Pretty freaking funny.
Roocka
33 months ago
It absolutely didn't need a 17+ rating.
If they did censor it themselves (as Schiller says they did) then they should be able to be approved with a 3+ rating.
If they didn't censor it then they should get a 13+ (not a 17+, man... Chill it)
Maybe two apps? :/
If they did censor it themselves (as Schiller says they did) then they should be able to be approved with a 3+ rating.
If they didn't censor it then they should get a 13+ (not a 17+, man... Chill it)
Maybe two apps? :/
33 months ago
Always nice to hear the rest of the story.
This makes sense. We all know Apple was playing nanny prior to the release of the 17+ age rating. And expecting them to release a comprehensive list of vulgar terms isn't realistic either, as there are simply too many, and any list they did create could obviously be circumvented. It would be nice, however, if they could provide general guidelines to help a developer in understanding what this content might be. (Common sense would probably narrow the list down more than a little, though).
It seems the developer, in an effort to raise some fuss, opted to leave out certain important details so their plight would come across as more desperate and dramatic than it really was.
This makes sense. We all know Apple was playing nanny prior to the release of the 17+ age rating. And expecting them to release a comprehensive list of vulgar terms isn't realistic either, as there are simply too many, and any list they did create could obviously be circumvented. It would be nice, however, if they could provide general guidelines to help a developer in understanding what this content might be. (Common sense would probably narrow the list down more than a little, though).
It seems the developer, in an effort to raise some fuss, opted to leave out certain important details so their plight would come across as more desperate and dramatic than it really was.
Monopolies are bad.
What monopoly? Do you even know what that word means in the business context?
33 months ago
This tells me that there is another side to these proceedings, another viewpoint, other than what is being blogged by the developers.
33 months ago
Oy! I submitted this and posted it in the Ninjawords thread!
So now to Teh Schill™ - define "urban words"
So now to Teh Schill™ - define "urban words"
33 months ago
This sounds more like a developer who wanted his product out there and did not want to wait for the 3.0. As a result the DEVELOPER censored his own stuff in order to get the product to market quickly...
Maybe now that 3.0 is out he can re-submit the product with the other words that were taking out, intact and add the 17+ to it.
Maybe now that 3.0 is out he can re-submit the product with the other words that were taking out, intact and add the 17+ to it.
33 months ago
As is unfortunately so common in our "instant info" time --- immediate knee-jerk frothing outrage about something that did not, in fact, happen.
Perhaps
- slow down... just a little
- don't believe EVERYTHING
Perhaps
- slow down... just a little
- don't believe EVERYTHING
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