Larry Magid: Apple Weeds Out Controversial App
CUPERTINO (KCBS)— Apple has pulled the plug on one of its hottest apps, 'Weed Firm', which follows the adventures of a marijuana dealer. The app is a free game that quickly shot to the top of the iTunes chart.
The game has been removed from the App Store as the company does have guidelines as to what they can and can't include.
Typically there's an approval process involved here and I'm not sure how a game called Weed Firm made it through. However, it's not that uncommon for a game to be approved and then to later be rejected.
Apple screens for pornography and things they don't feel are suitable for children. They also say the app must be well made. That's a more subjective term, but in their guidelines they talk about how if the app looks like it was cobbled together in a few days, it might get rejected.
Cult of Mac had recently reprinted Apple's guidelines and anything that encourages excessive alcohol use or drug abuse is banned by Apple and this game could be perceived as being in that category.
Weed Firm was not banned on Android, but the developer had willingly pulled it from Google's Play store. Google doesn't pre-approve or reject apps based on content, but if there's a lot of complaints or if they're buggy or susceptible to spam then they do tend to pull them from their store.
Assuming Apple gave Weed Firm the boot because of its content, the developer in theory can re-do the app and once more seek the company's approval.