Apple has always taken pride in their walled garden approach, claiming that it helps protect users from malicious apps and giving them a better user experience. Some of that is true; malware is much more likely to hit an Android device than one running iOS. However, that protection also takes away a lot of freedom of choice.
Today, Apple removed the photo-sharing tool 500px from the App Store. While applications get removed all the time, the reason for the removal is puzzling. According to TechCrunch, Apple stated that the popular app was removed for "featuring pornographic images and material."
The problem with that statement is that 500px already filters pornographic images from their site. While it's true that the site does have photos of naked women, they're generally of an "artistic" nature as the site attracts both professional photographers and high end hobbyists. Even worse, 500px was in communication with Apple and was in the process of limiting the search results to be even more restrictive, but instead of waiting, Apple pulled the program from the store. What's even more strange is the fact that this application has been available in the Apple App Store for the past 16 months without issue.
So where does Apple draw the line on so-called pornographic material? Should Safari be removed from everyone's iPhone since users can search for naughty pictures? What about apps like Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram? Why was 500px singled out in this instance? That's a concern you run into when you allow one company to control the flow of information to a device.
Source: TechCrunch | Image courtesy of 500px
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