It's no small wonder that Apple has reconsidered offering the Babyshaker app in its iPhone store. The app showed a crying baby that would quiet down only after the user violently shook the phone, in effect, shaking the baby to death. The hand-drawn baby shown on the device would then
display large red "Xs" over its eyes. It was released Monday, and then yanked yesterday.
The question here is how and why the app ever got approved -- it was submitted several months ago and at the time was rejected, apparently for poor taste. What happened?
"See how long you can endure his or her adorable cries before you just have to find a way to quiet the baby down!" read the description from the application's developers, Sikalosoft.
It's curious considering Apple has (until this week) maintained a pretty strict policy on screening apps for content. Still, Apple has approved numerous farting apps. And it has denied to offer a number of apps that seem relatively inoffensive. But the company has repeatedly denied apps that dealt with sexual themes, drug use or violence.
Child protection groups, including the Sarah Jane Brain Foundation, were outraged by the 99-cent Babyshaker app, lighting up the blogosphere yesterday with commentary.
