Apple Reached New Level of Stupidity in AppStore Approval

Apple’s just reached a whole new level of stupidity in App Store approval shenanigans: the Tweetie 1.3 update was just rejected for displaying “offensive language” in its Twitter trend search view. Right, not for offensive language in the app itself, but for offensive language on Twitter — an insanely strict new standard that could conceivably be used to reject each and every iPhone Twitter client out there. (And if you haven’t noticed, there are quite a few iPhone Twitter clients.) Hell, Apple might as well reject the next versions of Safari and Mail, since they can display dirty words too — and let’s not forget the awful things people are doing with Notes and the camera. Better lock it down.

Rejecting a Twitter client for Twitter’s content is simply indefensible. It’s a sign that the App Store approval “process” is broken beyond repair. It’s time to drop the seemingly-random black-box approach — which has earned nothing but well-deserved scorn — open up, establish consistent, easy-to-understand rules with a well-defined appeals process, and actually work with innovative developers like Tweetie’s Loren Brichter to actually push your platform forward in the face of newly-stiff competition. The massive popularity of the iPhone and the App Store may prevent a mass exodus, but the best devs are going to leave if they feel jerked around, and we doubt a store full of fart apps and misogynistic jiggle apps is really the vision you had for your platform. Think about it.