App Store Follies: Phil Schiller Responds
August 7th, 2009
On Tuesday, we reported on how Apple repeatedly rejected Ninjawords, forcing the developer to submit their dictionary app with a 17+ rating. This of course sent shockwaves through the blogosphere regarding Apple’s decision to effectively censor a dictionary. Apple’s VP of Worldwide Marketing contacted Daring Fireball’s Jon Gruber to offer insight and clarification regarding Apple’s decisions.
Schiller writes, “…the Ninjawords application was not rejected in the App Store review process for including common “swear” words.” He continued, “The issue that the App Store reviewers did find with the Ninjawords application is that it provided access to other more vulgar terms than those found in traditional and common dictionaries, words that many reasonable people might find upsetting or objectionable.”
It appears Apple’s review team was not interested in censoring content, but they were intent on Matchstick submitting the application with 17+ rating. The decision appears to be based upon the use of Wiktionary.org, the data source for Ninjawords, having slang terms you would not find in popular dictionaries. From what we gather, the process of Matchstick filtering words would have never resulted in the app being approved for those under the age of 17.
There are worse things than preventing minors from access to a dictionary that is readily available by simply launching Safari. Despite your position on the topic, It is certainly encouraging to hear Apple actually respond and provide their reasons for the rejection. Now, about those Google Voice apps…
You can read the full context of Phil Schiller’s email at Daring Fireball.
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