Apple: "If You Want To Criticize Religion, Write a Book"

Andy Chalk

One Flag, One Fleet, One Cat
Nov 12, 2002
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Apple: "If You Want To Criticize Religion, Write a Book"


Apple's new guidelines provide an interesting look at what it does and does not want to see on the App Store.

Terms of service, EULAs and the like are typically packed with dense legalese that makes them utterly boring and impenetrable. Apple's new guidelines for app developers, on the other hand, are far more casual and accessible, laying out in clear terms not just what the company will and will not allow, but also why.

"We have lots of kids downloading lots of apps, and parental controls don't work unless the parents set them up (many don't). So know that we're keeping an eye out for the kids," the document says at one point. It also warns that there's not a lot of interest in more fart apps, and that anything appearing to have been hastily thrown together will likely be rejected. "We have lots of serious developers who don't want their quality Apps to be surrounded by amateur hour," it adds.

But it also betrays a certain dismissive attitude toward videogames, reflected in the recent decision to reject Endgame: Syria [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/news/view/121381-App-Store-Rejects-Endgame-Syria], a strategy app based on the Syrian civil war. "We view Apps different than books or songs, which we do not curate. If you want to criticize a religion, write a book. If you want to describe sex, write a book or a song, or create a medical app," the guidelines state. "It can get complicated, but we have decided to not allow certain kinds of content in the App Store."

"We will reject Apps for any content or behavior that we believe is over the line. What line, you ask? Well, as a Supreme Court Justice once said, 'I'll know it when I see it.' And we think that you will also know it when you cross it," it continues. "If your app is rejected, we have a Review Board that you can appeal to. If you run to the press and trash us, it never helps."

It's a bit of a disappointing approach, since we all like to think that videogames are capable of handling tough topics at least as well as movies, television or even books, but the sheer volume of apps on the App Store mandates a certain amount of flexibility in the approval process. Even so, Endgame: Syria Lead Designer Tomas Rawlings said that content is what counts, and that "the form of the media should be irrelevant."

"Games, films, apps, comics, music, and books should all be held to the same standard," he told GamesBeat [http://venturebeat.com/2013/01/15/apple-want-to-criticize-religion-write-a-book-dont-make-a-game/]. "To suggest that there is an invisible line that says it's OK to say something in a book but not in a game? That feels wrong to me."

But Edmund McMillen, designer of The Binding of Isaac, said the problem isn't what Apple said so much as how it went about saying it. "The way it is written is obviously bad and upsetting in many ways because on a surface level, most will view them as saying a video game can't express what a song or book can and [that they] shouldn't,"he said. "But I really just think it's a misguided way of saying [not to] submit games that are controversial and might upset people."

Apple's new App Store Review Guidelines are available in full at Cult of Mac [http://www.cultofmac.com/58590/heres-the-full-text-of-apples-new-app-store-guidelines/].


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danon

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Jul 20, 2009
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Yeah games are still in the offended at every serious or controversial topic part. It will pass eventually sigh.
 

Quaxar

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Sep 21, 2009
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And if you want to criticize a book? Do you have to found a religion?
 

Baneat

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Jul 18, 2008
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Am I right in thinking you need to jailbreak your iDevice in order to even install an app somebody wrote and didn't want to distribute within the app-store?

Yeah not a chance.
 

Wackymon

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Jul 22, 2011
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Yeah, I have to say that it's rather annoying, to be honest. But you must admit that they addmitted to the Ipod and such are "Kid Toys" to a minor degree, and who knows, maybe they'll take it back.
 

Scars Unseen

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May 7, 2009
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If you want to criticize religion, write a book buy Android.
Edited for accuracy.

I find Apple's condescending nature offensive. Last(and only) product I bought from them was an iPod back in 2005. Wouldn't touch them with a barge pole now(and I don't own a barge pole anyway)
 

Oskuro

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Nov 18, 2009
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Oh, so they are protecting the children because parents can't be bothered to set up parental control?

#@$% you, Apple! Who are you to decide where the line is, or if it exists at all? I bought your overpriced hardware, so I am the one to decide if I want a fart App or a bouncy cock on it!

I keep saying this once and again, but this is Wal-Mart imposing their personal moral code on their retail outlets all over again, and seeing how big the outlet is, it will have similar disastrous results for both developers and audiences.

Or, in other words, censorship executed not by an elected government, but by a private corporation, in the name of their public image.


It is true that freedom of speech does not grant the right to say anything you want on a privately owned locale (They can kick you out), but when said locale is so massive and influential it can shape an entire industry, we should be taking a closer look at what is going on there. Because I think there *is* a line, which was crossed long ago by most if not all major retailers and publishers.

But hey, what do I know, I'm just a customer.

Edit: And about the parental control "problem", they know full well they could enforce parental control more strictly (Say, link access to adult-oriented content to a valid credit card, which requires participation of a willing adult). Their use of the "won't anyone think of the children" smoke screen makes them despicable.
 

TWEWER

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Feb 8, 2009
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I'm really glad that Apple had the balls to law down the law in the most simple way possible. They don't want to put up with shitty apps or pretentious bullshit. They never said anything about games not being able to explore deeper themes. All Apple said was that they don't want their platform to be used as a soapbox for your religious or political preaching. And they are well within their rights to maintain that policy.
 

TheRightToArmBears

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Dec 13, 2008
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Whilst it's not good, I can see where Apple are coming from. They don't want to deal with the shitstorm of bile generated by some of this stuff, and I'd guess it's quite a large one given the size of the appstore (and how dim some people can be).
 

thesilentman

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Jun 14, 2012
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This is for real? Good; now let's show that most of the Apps on their Store cross several lines if they're analyzed thoroughly enough. And...

"We have lots of kids downloading lots of apps, and parental controls don't work unless the parents set them up (many don't). So know that we're keeping an eye out for the kids,"
It's good to see that you've picked up parenting, Apple. Just step aside and let the parents do it. It's their fault most of the time for blindly believing that any and everything is safe for kids. Good on ya for implementing quality control, but parenting exists, ya know.
 

teh_gunslinger

S.T.A.L.K.E.R. did it better.
Dec 6, 2007
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And that's why I've been ranting about fucking Steve Jobs and Apple for neigh on 10 years.

Nice going, all you consumerist sheep who bought their products. Think different my ass. None of you ever thought an independent thought. You just wanted the shinies.
 

Griffolion

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Aug 18, 2009
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I don't understand why the title of the article was specifically the religion comment. It could have been "Apple shows dismissive attitude towards games in new app developer guidelines.". Or, if you wanted something a little more link bait-ish, "Apple reinforces its authoritarian rule over the app-store, says it knows to ban apps 'when they see it'.". Considering how that religion comment was an illustration (a bad one) of a larger point they were trying to make, I personally didn't see it as the meat and potatoes of the argument as the article title seems to imply. I guess it just puzzled me about the choice of words for the title.

OT: Yeah, well, Apple run their show how they want to. The best thing you can do, if you disagree, is to not participate by not buying their things. I've successfully being doing that for years now with a minimal of fuss.
 

Owyn_Merrilin

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May 22, 2010
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Scars Unseen said:
If you want to criticize religion avoid obnoxious censorship and/or believe in parental and personal responsibility, write a book buy Android.
Edited for accuracy.

I find Apple's condescending nature offensive. Last(and only) product I bought from them was an iPod back in 2005. Wouldn't touch them with a barge pole now(and I don't own a barge pole anyway)
Edited a second time for more accuracy. This is sounding like Nintendo's early 90's stance on violence (specifically their mis-step regarding Mortal Kombat on the SNES), except I'm afraid that the kind of people who care about this sort of thing are the kind of people already using android and avoiding iOS like the plague.