Apple Bans 'Hottest Girls' iPhone App

Apple has reversed itself on the 'Hottest Girls' app for the iPhone. The company briefly allowed the software into the App Store on Thursday, but then removed it after the developer started showing pictures of topless women.

Availability of the app made it appear that Apple may have loosened its strict prohibitions on adult content in the store. But Apple pulled the software, and made it clear its policies are still the same.

"Apple will not distribute applications that contain inappropriate content," Apple spokesman Tom Neumayr told Macworld.

Neumayr said the developer of "Hottest Girls" added the nude pictures after the application had been approved and distributed and was asked to remove the content before the application was taken down.

Many apps in the iPhone store depict scantily clad woman, but the latest program was the first offered on the store to show nudity. Apple's latest version of the iPhone and iPod Touch software enables developers to build an age-verification process in applications.

Nevertheless, Apple has the final say on what goes into the App Store, and some developers have complained that the company's vetting is unfair or arbitrary. For example, Apple blockedSouth Park and Nine Inch Nails apps for explicit language, but briefly allowed a baby-shaking program that critics said depicted child abuse.

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