“Apple will soon have an excuse to slang those controversial potty-mouth NIN apps to all of your kids. In version 3 of the iPhone and in iTunes 8.2 you can now select parental control for apps and choose the age of the iPhone owner. The choices are 4+, 9+, 12+, 17+. When version 3 of the iPhone is released, Apple will allow more adult-themed applications to go thru the app store, albeit with NC-17 ratings,” Seth Weintraub reports for 9 to 5 Mac.
MacDailyNews Note: As we mentioned on Monday, Apple already has ‘game ratings’ in which games many not be suitable for children under certain ages (4+, 9+, 12+, and 17+) as part of the App Store. We also asked, “So why not ratings for all apps, so that such apps such as Reznor’s can be offered to users of appropriate ages?” Looks like it’s coming. By the way, the current iTunes 8.1.1 already has the parental controls: iTunes>Preferences>Parental. So, it’s not new in 8.2. What’s new is greater parental control on the iPhone itself which currently has only rudimentary restrictive controls: Settings>General>Restrictions.
Weintraub reports, “17+ huh? Does that mean the iPhone 3 will finally fulfill its destiny as…nah.”
Full article here.
MacDailyNews Take: We agree with Weintraub. 17+ is for “R” rated movies and violent games. Don’t expect porn via Apple’s iTunes Store. Ever.
