Two Drone Strike Reporting iPhone Apps Taken Down By Apple

Ali Salman

Apple polices apps on the App Store very carefully for various reasons. Some of the apps are held responsive for malware vandalism while others just reflect the real world political scenarios that carries objectionable information. Seemingly, Apple removed two apps from the App Store that reports deaths caused by US drones. The apps contained biased content that can be objected by users and may seem inappropriate. Both of these apps are journalistic in nature and contains 'objectionable content'.

 

Both Metadata+ and Ephemeral+ reflected content that showed US drone strikes, reporting the number of deaths and more. Previously, Metadata+ have been rejected by Apple several times that ran under the name of Drone+. However. Metadata+ had been available on the App Store since the beginning of 2014. The app was designed by Josh Begley, Intercept editor. It aimed to provide drone strike data published from the Bereau of investigative Journalism.

Apple Removes Two Drone Strike Reporting Apps From the App Store

The Ephemeral+ has also been taken down according to reports from the Guardian. Apple maintained the App Store with sterile content that is neutral and unbiased in nature. Apple did not respond to any queries about the removal of the apps, but it did highlight the clause that was indirectly relevant to the apps. The clause has an open-ended interpretation that leaves programmers in a confused state of mind. Programmers face a difficult time trying to interpret what app might be appropriate for Apple.

Since Apple products are used in different countries with different norms and cultures, a single guideline for different regions does not sound appropriate. This is where the developers wag in confusion for the development of apps that stand on Apple's guidelines as well as reflect the culture of the region. However, Apple has the bigger hand in the situation. The removal of apps from the App Store due to violation of rules or guidelines is not the first decision from Apple. The company has removed quite a lot of Apps from the App Store in the previous years and even this year. In the previous months, you might have come across the that Apple removed apps from the App Store that featured Confederate flags.

While Begley has an appeals advantage at his sleeve which he can use to make Apple consider the app appropriate for the App Store, we have no clue if he would use the appeal. This is it for now. What do you guys think whether Metadata+ should be added back to the App Store? Let us know in the comments section below.

Share this story

Deal of the Day

Comments