New applications continue to roll out on Apple’s App Store. Apple last week reported that customers have downloaded more than one billion applications from the platform — but the nagging issue of the Baby Shaker app is still casting a shadow.
Apple removed the controversial Baby Shaker application last week. Sikalosoft developed Baby Shaker, which features a drawing of a crying baby. The object of the game is to get the baby to stop crying. This is accomplished by shaking the iPhone until red Xes appear over the baby’s eyes.
“This application was deeply offensive and should not have been approved for distribution on the App Store,” Apple said. “When we learned of this mistake, the app was removed immediately. We sincerely apologize for this mistake and thank our customers for bringing this to our attention.”
Is This Really a Controversy?
Sikalosoft also issued an apology: “Okay, so maybe the Baby Shaker iPhone app was a bad idea. You should never shake a baby! Even on an Apple iPhone Baby Shaking application.” It’s not clear whether the Baby Shaker application will end up on a rogue application site or if Sikalosoft will nix it. The company wasn’t immediately available for comment on the ongoing controversy over freedom of speech.
“The controversy continues among those who are looking to have a controversy. We already saw last week the application outraged some folks, and other folks said this is a freedom of speech issue,” said Michael Gartenberg, a vice president at Interpret. “We can talk about it from a theoretical perspective as it relates to freedom of speech, but there probably wasn’t going to be much of a market for this application anyway. I don’t think anyone is lamenting it from that perspective.”
Meanwhile, beyond the Baby Shaker drama, the App Store is seeing new additions to…