“MacRumors has a story on Pull My Finger, an iPhone App that plays a variety of fart sounds,” Daring Fireball reports. “The demo video shows that the app is clearly well done for what it is — it even vibrates the phone while it toots — but Apple rejected it:”
We’ve reviewed your application Pull My Finger. We have determined that this application is of limited utility to the broad iPhone and iPod touch user community, and will not be published to the App Store.
Daring Fireball reports, “I’ve already heard from a top-tier developer this morning who, in response to this story, is dropping an idea for a very cool iPhone app out of fear that the work to create it would be for naught as Apple might reject it.”
“Apple really, REALLY needs to get its act together here,” Former Apple employee Chuq Von Rospach writes.
“I actually don’t have a problem with them rejecting this app, but that’s somewhat irrelevant to the larger picture. The larger picture is a lack of communication and feedback, and a lack of any published policies and standards on what is and isn’t acceptable,” Von Rospach writes.
“The App Store needs a developer evangelist. Someone who interacts with the developers, tells them what to expect, listens to them bitch and moan and carry their arguments back into Apple (hopefully to be dealt with, not blown off), and who can act as a ‘pre-flight’ checker. If this person exists, they’re hiding really, really well, and that’s bad,” Von Rospach writes.
“That developer who killed a project — that’s a real problem. The best way to kill development on the iPhone, to nuke the chance of really out-there, innovative solutions, is to force a developer to do the development and finish the product without knowing if they’ll actually be able to sell it,” Von Rospach writes.
Full article here.
Apple should create a special category.
Limited use, but fun. Let the market sort it out and let Apple reap the profits.
First?
That’s a shame. That would come in handy when the man or woman in line in front of you bends over to pick something up.
So on one side, you have market control and censorship, and on the other, you have apps like GetRichQuick. It’s time for this concept to leave beta. Post guidelines. Remove the SDK NDA. Let’s bring this to a professional level.
“I’ve already heard from a top-tier developer this morning who, in response to this story, is dropping an idea for a very cool iPhone app out of fear that the work to create it would be for naught as Apple might reject it.”
Hearsay… FUD?
It seems unlikely to me that a “top-tier” developer would summarily “drop” their “very cool iPhone app”, solely as the result of this one joke app being rejected.
Not denying the legitimate concern here – I just don’t like this kind of unverifiable, fear-based “reporting”.
Unreported by Daring Fireball, the app the Top Tier developer was working on was a game called “Rover’s Red Rocket”.
It had a picture/video of a dog, made use of the iPhone’s multi touch UI as well as the accelerometer and vibrated to accommodate certain sound effects.
“And now you know… the rest of the story.” -Paul Harvey
Apple should not take up the role of censor. Let the market decide. Personally I would pay a buck or two for something like this app, If it makes someone laugh and smile, then I think I got my money’s worth.
So, how is myLighter or Moo any different?
I can fart fine with no assistance from my iphone thank you!
MW-past as in you’ll past gas!
Get real
this is apple baby not yours deal with it … hack your ZUNE or your iphone for that matter
a serious problem is world hungar …… no farts on your iphone????
trying farting for real because you sound like you are full of S**t
There goes a few great ideas I had for iPhone apps:
– Mooning
– Middle finger
– Kiss this!
My boys would think this is the funniest app ever created. Assuming the story is true, what could be better than iFarting with your friends? Have some sliders so you can create your own farts, and even record really good farts. Just think of the practical jokes you can pull by having your iPhone throw a fart at your mother-in-law when she bends over . . . .
Come on, Apple – limited utility? Certainly more utility than Moo, Jared, and other novelty apps. Just create a novelty category and let it live or die on its own.
The real truth is that Apple is afraid their servers wouldn’t be able to handle the download requests.
alot of this apps on the store right now are BS… this easily would have been one of them
Possible headline:
“14 year old commits suicide after being made fun of with farting iPhone at school”
This is extreme but not out of the realm of possibility as a headline. We know how the media spins things.
Apple needs to be very careful with apps that are Apple iPhone branded. Some apps could be used to emotionally hurt or belittle others.
Well, it’s kind of like with Widgets, their is some that are of esteem limited use, yet, they are out their.
Even if this application is considered crass and of little use, it could still be funny in certain settings. Apple needs to step down from it’s high horse and worry about quality of the coding not the quality of the content, the user needs to worry about the content.
This big brother attitude can be a problem.
And yet on iTunes they sell rap songs with all kinds of offensive (to some) lyrics…
Good for Apple! It is there ball, their field and their game, they can do what they want. I for one am glad they can keep bad taste off the iPhone. I suspect some will argue Farts Jokes aren’t bad taste…..yeah right.
Apple,
THIS IS FU**ING RIDICULOUS! STOP CENSORING THE PUBLIC!!!
STEVE JOBS SHOULD STEP DOWN. HE HAS CLEARLY LOST IT. HE CAN NO LONGER SUCCESSFULLY GUIDE APPLE.
Another way to deal with this issue, is to set some minimum number of downloads per month. If nobody wanted this app – it would go away and if it was popular it would stay. Let the market decide. Apple isn’t forcing anyone to buy this app.
The problem with the ‘bad taste’ test is who decides what is bad taste?
“The best way to kill development on the iPhone, to nuke the chance of really out-there, innovative solutions….”
You’re talking about Fart Noises, right?
YES, TIS TIS APPLE. I must have my fart app. No- Really
Gives new meaning to cloud computing.
I agree with bizlaw. Apple should create a “novelty” category for useless stuff like iBeer, etc. Apple has no business disallowing a harmless App like this and it certainly isn’t any worse than some others as far as utility goes. The predictions of Apple misusing their power by going too far and playing “big brother” to suit their own ends have been confirmed true today, unfortunately.
Give me a can of pork ‘n’ beans, and I will fart all day long for you. Charge is minimal…
Maybe it was the danger of someone placing the Pull My Finger app next to myLighter.
BOOM!
Oh, and I forgot to add … the devs could add a little more “utility” by using the accelerometer to let the user modulate the sound by shaking it.
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@Mo
That is a heck of a slippery slope you are living on!
Apple shows a bit of class. Our society is sinking lower by the hour.
“Apple really, REALLY needs to get its act together here,” Former Apple employee Chuq Von Rospach writes.
More muq from Chuq. WTFq
I sure hope Apple doesn’t get the idea that having complete control over what is and what isn’t allowed on a customer’s iPhone should spread to a customer’s Mac.
If I weren’t allowed to install *any* app that I wanted to, on *MY* Mac, it might just drive me over to using Linux or <shudder>, Windows.
For me, it boils down to who owns the equipment. In the case of a Mac or an iPhone, the customer does, not Apple, not AT&T;. As long as an app isn’t causing problems for AT&T;’s network, there should be *no* restrictions.
G O A W A Y
Apple should provide some clear advance guidance if Apple has some definite tastes where software on the iPhone is concerned. Otherwise leave the developers alone.
That would come in handy when the man or woman in line in front of you bends over to pick something up.
Or in an elevator.
Or in a carpool.
Or as a setup for someone on a first date.
Or… you get the idea.
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@Nick Fury
LOL! Best comment all day!
…really, I would buy this app in a second
Apple is like a crabby old bitch in a bad relationship.
The rules are arbitrary and change without notice. You have no idea what they are until you’ve violated them, then it’s all your fault. You cannot win.
The only way out is to either send the hag packing, or up & leave yourself. Are you listening, Apple?
Until Apple gets their shit together, the iPhone is not worth coding for.
A simple solution IMO would be to add a novelty/enter at your own risk section in the App Store.
What Apple should do is create an “Adult” category for applications of questionable taste (and explicit music).
By default the Adult category should be turned off for all accounts, but anyone who has a master consumer account in a reasonably free country should be able to activate it.
The outrage about the previous bans was all “tempest in a teapot” stuff IMO and there were valid reasons for removing those that have been removed. This one really is seriously worrisome though.
This is a ban based soley on a moral decision, because it’s “offensive.” In other words, censorship.
Understandably, they need to censor *some* things. An app that tracks children or is heavily pornographic is offensive to more than 90% of most people buying the apps. But this is “fart jokes” More obscene things are readily available at the corner drug store all over the world.
Also, no one seems to be mentioning that this censorship is *USA* censorship. Most other countries are years ahead of the USA in terms of tolerance for “rude” material. What about an app that is deeply deeply offensive to someone from another, let’s say Muslim country? They don’t count right?
An app that simply showed “sexy” pictures of Muslim women (like you can maybe see their hair and perhaps the outline of their bodies), would be more offensive to a larger part of the world population by far, but there is no way Apple would remove such a tame application. Apple is headed for a fall here.
Possibly the only solution would be to allow a second way to get apps on the iPhone, but it won’t happen until the app store has established itself. Maybe a couple of years down the road? And what hypocrisy that would be. To force users to go to the app store, knowing that eventually they will have to open it up, is just self-serving lies no matter how you slice it.
Folks, whatever you personally think is appropriate or not, the point of this article is to suggest that developers will not want to put effort into an app if they don’t know it might be acceptable to Apple. It’s actually a silly suggestion. The real question being asked here, is developers will not put effort into an app if they think Apple — or their customers — might find it offensive. This is not the gray line many suppose. We all know a lot of folks would have found this one offensive. Oh, we can gripe and moan about it, but the fact remains. As does the solution. Developers should NOT put effort into producing apps that everyone knows will offend [some] people, all in the name of “novelty.” Simple. Trying to change the minds of the “conservative” folks out there is another battle for another venue.
“That’s a shame. That would come in handy when the man or woman in line in front of you bends over to pick something up.”
LOL, you’re right! I thought to myself “Who cares?” when I read the headline but now that I’ve read your use for it I want to download this app at once.
Damn you, Apple.
Yet this one gets thru. Enjoyable game tho.
http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/RecentlyAddedIphoneApplications-PinchMedia/~3/382923093/viewSoftware
Wait a minute… When a new game console comes out, does the maker open up his platform to just any old game that anyone wants to sell? I doubt it! The iPhone is not a generic media player. What right does the market have to demand that it become one? The iPhone is what it is. Anyone who is unhappy with it doesn’t have to buy one. Any developer who is unhappy with Apple’s guidelines doesn’t have to create iPhone apps. Where in the world did this insufferable attitude come from that everybody has the right to do whatever they want, wherever they want, and that anyone who prevents them from doing just that is limiting their freedom? Since when did four-year-olds start using computers and credit cards?
Grow the fuck up for a change and stop sending you stupid fucking apps to Apple, you sniveling little entitlement generation baby
The I’m Rich app was a political statement, not an App. It was a clearly a stab at iPhone users and the Apple culture, but I read the description and it clearly stated it contained nothing more than a photo of a glowing ruby and a saying. Those 8 people who paid $999 for it apparently also knew what they were buying but considered it pop culture art and wanted a copy before it disappeared. Despite their claims, Apple pulled it to protect their own image, not consumers.
Pull My Finger has again quite obviously been pulled to protect their own image because Apple doesn’t want people saying the iPhone is a joke or a toy because of it.
If I were running RIM or MS advertising, I’d be all over this censorship trend with a parody of Apple’s own iPhone ads declaring how the iPhone lets you browse or install “anything Apple sees fit”. With the precedent so far they would have the legal right to make such a claim.
That’s not the point, alansky. Didn’t you read the link?
“I actually don’t have a problem with them rejecting this app, but that’s somewhat irrelevant to the larger picture. The larger picture is a lack of communication and feedback, and a lack of any published policies and standards on what is and isn’t acceptable.
“If only Apple would TELL PEOPLE where the lines are in the sand, 90% of this controversy would go away. And yet they don’t.
“My argument, though, is that you have to invest in your partnerships and relationships and goodwill during the good times, or you won’t have much to fall back on when a bad thing hits. Evidence for the prosecution: the MobileMe rollout and the lack of any real support, patience or tolerance among the users and pundits.
“The App Store needs a developer evangelist. Someone who interacts with the developers, tells them what to expect, listens to them bitch and moan and carry their arguments back into Apple (hopefully to be dealt with, not blown off), and who can act as a “pre-flight” checker. If this person exists, they’re hiding really, really well, and that’s bad.”
Mobile OS X developers are completely in the dark. They develop apps and submit them blindly with no guidance hoping Apple opens the door. Who would want to work in that environment?
As for the app itself, there’s worse things in the App Store (or at least equally bad). So what would make this developer assume that Apple will reject their app?
I’m having a hard enough time as it is trying to get my work pay for my iPhone (instead of a BlackBerry) without having this fart app being touted on the news (or the water cooler) as an example of what the iPhone can do.
On the other hand, I do agree with the article that Apple needs better communication with developers as to what will be approved before a finished product is produced.
On the other-other hand, the anonymous “top-tier developer” quote was a cheep shot.
It was just the wrong form letter. They meant to use the vulgar rejection letter and sent the lack of utility letter instead.
” width=”19″ height=”19″ alt=”wink” style=”border:0;” /> That said, I don’t really find this app all that offensive. Poor taste maybe, but there’s plenty of that to go around. Leave it up to the buyer to decide, in my opinion. And for those that complained why Apple let certain seemingly useless apps into the App Store, you’re now reaping what you sowed.
Of limited utility? I’d use that app all the time! But I am just a nerd.
One thing I would like to try is the “alternative” distribution methods.
From the original MacRumors article, the message from Apple continues:
“It may be very appropriate to share with friends and family, and we recommend you review the Ad Hoc method on the Distribution tab of the iPhone Developer Portal for details on distributing this application among a small group of people of your choosing.”
So, if he was planning on doing this as a free app, choose the Ad hoc method. If you can get 100 people to download it via Ad hoc, you might be able to come back to Apple and say, “Hey, 100 people wanted this app. Can I now put it on the AppStore?”
Damn! I really wanted one of those especially if instead of a finger how about a pair of cheeks that you use the pinch to control how it sounds & add a timer to catch some victims! LOL 😀 If it created a smell then I could see a problem. It’s probably not in good taste, juvenile, silly etc. but much better than “I Am Rich”!
“serious problem????????” Misses the point. Yes, world hunger is more important than fart jokes, but this isn’t about farts. Its about censorship which is always important.
HOW TO BYPASS APPLE
step 1) Get “Quickvoice”
step 2) Record your own farts
step 3) Wipe clean. (iPhone and whatever else…)
My Zune will squirt…
Zune will squirt…
For 5 bucks, I’ll fart in an air-tight jar and send it global…satisfaction guaranteed.
Nothing wrong with a little bathroom humor, but alot of people could get in trouble with it.
In high school the trick was to get the person two desks in front of you to get the person in front of you to lean forward while the person behind them slipped a whoopie cushion under their butt.
We made a girl cry doing that when the whole class laughed. It was fun, but there are some Obama sensitive feelings out there.
If you can fart out loud with a girl on a first date, then she is the one for a lifetime.
The ‘ol silent fart in bed while making a simultaneous whip-wind adjustment of the sheet in the opposite direction of your sleeping wife works well for me when necessary.
“It was fun, but there are some Obama sensitive feelings out there.”
Stow it, Orange Juice. Take your political take somewhere else. Can you exercise self-control? I’m guessing you’re not nine years old.
“That developer who killed a project — that’s a real problem.”
That developer who killed a project… was likely working on “Tickle me iPhone”. Oh, that’s such a problem!
To all those that thought I Am Rich shouldn’t be on iTunes, well, this is what you get.
Has Apple lost its mind? or did it simply forget to take its bi-polar meds?
Does Apple wish to retain its place as the creativity center of the PC-Universe or would it prefer to devolve into the Stalinist dictator of political correctness or enterprise smugness?
Apple should concern itself with the quality of iPhone apps (i.e Do they perform as promised?) and should leave the policing to the market!
Any attempt to dictate the kinds of iPhone apps that developers bring to market will backfire. It will chill developer enthusiasm and dampen iPhone user confidence.
Personally, I would have bought a copy of the “gulagged” farting app. What a great gag! Yes, it would have extremely limited utility! In fact, I imagine that I would have used it once. BUt, what business is this of Apple?
There are actually real problems in the world. The lack of fart phone applications is not one of them
@Dr. Billy;
Nice attempt at political spin!
NOT.
If you’re telling me the Lib Dems wouldn’t fight tooth, claw and nail against an App depicting women being barefoot, pregnant and denied the right to vote… I’ll be 1st in line to call you out as a hypocrite.
Political hatred made your argument stupid, so keep your narrow minded opinions to yourself
Wow. Two full pages of comments about an app that makes fart sounds. I bet it will easily go to four or five pages.
Now if the iPhone had smell-o-vision or fully integrated scratch and sniff, the app would have “slid” by.
Just told the wife about this app and she said a woman at Apple must have killed it. No man could resist.
She is happy it was killed. I am sad.
This sounds like the perfect App for the Zune.
Does the developer create ring tones as well?
As George Carlin said, “Farts are universal.”
Think of all the funny variations.
Farts in the bathtub.
C’mon, Apple.
That would be THE biggest app EVER.
Yes, SOME bad press, so what?
Another good app- BURPS.
Always Right,
Just buy a Zune, not only will it play farts in glorious WMA stereo, it also looks the part!
I love Carlin too, btw.
If this is going to help weed out some (you just can’t seem to get them all) of the crap-making iPhone “developers” from the AppStore, i say go with it. If you really must have your daily crap fix, jailbreak.
From what I have heard Apple said they will not allow pornographic apps. That is the policy and that program crosses the line, it’s as simple as that.
Now a scientific scatological program that can help wildlife biologists determine what type of animal feces you are looking at and what the animal ate, and how far away it might be certainly can be of some value. Don’t laugh, I have had to resort to such techniques when finding fresh Ursus droppings. Caused me to make a big detour to higher ground and up wind.
I hate to come into the argument late, but is this not a rumour?
Has it not come form a site that mongers in rumours?
If it came from a MacFact Site that would be a different story, if it came from roughly drafted that would be very serious.
But, it is only a rumour. The so called developer who has decided to scrap his/her project even though it is a very cool or useful app. is just that, an unknown quantity who could or could not exist.
If I said that I had done something similar but did not provide any evidence of acceptance or rejection, would you believe me and therefor scrap your own project?
Suppose I saw or heard of a project that I wanted to sabotage, couldn’t I use this method to do it?
The suggestions of an app store project consultant or advisor is a good one, but how would your idea be protected from imitation from a rival if they got pointed towards your road map accidentally by the consultant?
The App Store is only two months old? Is that long enough for the platform to be considered mature enough to take on board each and every project that is submitted to it?
Perspective everybody! keep your views, opinions and reactions in perspective please!
What right does the market have to demand
Ignoring your own customers is death. Ask Detroit….
Let’s approach this another way: What right does Apple have to control what WE want?
If Apple doesn’t really want third-parties coding on iPhone, FINE. Close the platform and kick everyone out. This half-in, half-out business isn’t doing anyone any good.
@poo
personally I don’t agree with tight censorship. Just saying this is what can happen at this level. We have all seen the “man gets beaten up for iPod” or “iPod causes deafness” articles. It’s not really about censorship it is about managing the negative optics that can be caused by the media. Apple is covering their butts more than they are trying to take a moral stand, in my opinion.
This kind of behavior will destroy the App Store.
Apple should allow everything (sans Porn, I guess… since that’s the only thing they really took a stand on)…
Then let the ‘free-market’ make the decision on what sells or doesn’t. If it doesn’t sell at all, that will weed out potential future developers to that type of app and won’t stain Apple as being the Big Brother who gets to make the decision on what stays and goes.
It’s totally the developer’s fault. They should have clearly foreseen Apple’s insistence on the app doing more than one stupid trick; the app should obviously have included a tip calculator.
The problem I see for the iPhone making inroads into the business market is stuff like this. Too many corporate types may feel that the iPhone is a little too much fun and won’t want their employees playing Monkey Ball and making fart sounds. I think that’s a real concern.
Apple needs to set some clearer guidelines about what apps would get into their store, absolutely. But to anyone here who complains about Apple’s “censorship” needs to remember that Apple has standards and just because they made a kick-ass platform doesn’t mean every noodle-headed idea for an app should get through. Seriously. Apple’s reputation is at great risk of being cheapened if we start seeing all sorts of puerile and ridiculous apps being used by (and even worse, against) people. Lowest common denominator is Windows’ business, not Apple’s.
All these “free market” advocates are likely forgetting too that the free market is what led to a world 90% dominated by Windows machines. It doesn’t matter if the free market eventually weeds out a stupid or offensive or childish app — there’ll always be people out there who WILL buy it, and if it can be used to annoy, embarrass, or negatively affect other people’s lives, the victims will quickly associate Apple as being the company that allowed such an app to be sold on their store.
The prosperous future of Apple’s app store is never going to be in doubt as long as this kind of app screening is applied. However, the case for clearer guidelines has now definitely made by now.
How many stupid tip calculators are on the App Store?
“How many stupid tip calculators are on the App Store?”
It’s typically 15% of the total number of apps. And 20% if the App Store service is especially good.
Apple can censor anything it wants! People need to get over themselves thinking they own everything and have every right to a technology they had NOTHING to do with creating! They can do what the hell they want to preserve the integrity of their image. That means no farting, no porn, no disgusting ideas. That said, I think the fart thingee would have been a big seller! I would have downloaded it for 99 cents fo sho!!!
Too many corporate types may feel that the iPhone is a little too much fun and won’t want their employees playing
That never stopped Windows, complete with Solitaire and Mine Sweeper (two productivity killers on part with Windows itself!).
Folks,
There is a VERY strong need for a trusted third-party source of iApps, the ones Apple wants to suppress.
Apple does have a good case for not having certain things the App Store.
Apple has NO case to restrict how people can use their own hardware, or what they can put on it.
What next, speech recognition software that filters what you say & can hear? How about an internal block that only lets you call certain numbers?
We’re not there yet, but Apple’s control is getting a bit creepy…
MW: nearly. Hmmmm…..
I bet someone tried Pull My Finder on Steve as a joke.
That’d explain everything.
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This is really no different from all the big name publishers.
So many people don’t dare write great books.
Or those who do, commit suicide when rejected.
“John Kennedy Toole.”
@Brau,
“If I were running RIM or MS advertising, I’d be all over this censorship trend with a parody of Apple’s own iPhone ads declaring how the iPhone lets you browse or install ‘anything Apple sees fit’. With the precedent so far they would have the legal right to make such a claim.”
And Apple could then justifiably run ads saying if you want to listen to fart sounds or pay a grand to say to yourself you are rich then then should check out other phone makers.
Steve is both a blessing and a curse for Apple. On the one side his control freak tendencies and attention to detail drives Apple to create great products.
But on the other side that desire for complete control forces him to make dumb business decisions. Not allowing the iPhone to be an open platform is one of those. That’s what Apple will always innovate, but 5-10 years later you turn around and find someone else owns the market for whatever idea Apple was pushing.
“We’ve reviewed your application Pull My Finger. We have determined that this application is of limited utility to the broad iPhone and iPod touch user community, and will not be published to the App Store.”
This sounds very “corporate” and stuffed shirt like MS, and not at all “cool and hip” like what we expect from Apple.
A dismissal based on a definition of “limited utility” could just as easily be applied to any game available for the iPhone, because… really now… just how much “utility” does any video game have?
Unless you’re in the video game/entertainment biz, from an overall business perspective the “utility” of a video game is zilch.
Now Jobs has said there are things Apple won’t do, which is perfectly understandable… but I would advise him to consider that being an arbiter of “good taste” is one of those things Apple should consider not doing.
Now that said, if Apple had just come out and said this app is in poor taste and we won’t sell it because of that, I can understand that… but in a business sense this is really (to put it in common wording) cutting off your nose to spite your face.
Because it is actually your customers (the marketplace) that determines the “utility” of something to them.
As another poster commented, maybe Apple needs another category for things like this… perhaps a humor category with ratings of some kind.
Cool stuff! I love joke apps too. I made a joke app, more of a simulator type app called “Baby Translator” and several other comedy translation devices. Check out the Baby Translator when you get a chance!! Viva la iPhone!