Jesus iPhone App Is Just Not All Right With Apple

By Chad Berndtson, CRN May 11, 2009

An iPhone application that allows users to superimpose other faces on an image of Jesus Christ has been rejected by Apple as objectionable. The app, titled "Me So Holy," came from the same developers who'd previously created an app called "The Animalizer," which allows users to put faces on animal bodies. The developers pasted an excerpt from Apple's rejection letter for "Me So Holy" on their blog Monday.

Apple cited Section 3.3.12 from the iPhone agreement, where, according to Apple, "Applications must not contain any obscene, pornographic, offensive or defamatory content or materials of any kind (text, graphics, images, photographs, etc.) or other content or materials that in Apple's reasonable judgment may be found objectionable by iPhone or iPod touch users."

The developers responded to Apple's statement Monday, citing the recent Apple dustup over a rejection, then reinstated application update from Nine Inch Nails front man Trent Reznor.

"You may be familiar with recent snafus over the baby shaker app and the rejection of the Nine Inch Nails apps. Our question is, is religion really to be placed in the same category as these violent apps? Sex, urine and defecation don't seem to be off-limits, yet a totally nonviolent, religion-based app is," the developers wrote.

The word on "Me So Holy" comes down as Apple continues to tighten its restrictions for would-be iPhone app developers. Apple last week said it would reject outright any new apps that didn't comply with iPhone OS 3.0, Apple's updated operating system for its smartphone devices.

Several pundits from around the blogosphere Monday said the rejection by Apple is a sign Apple wants to remain top tastemaker for all its applications, but also said its rulings on certain apps haven't been consistently within the bounds of "taste."

"In this case," wrote Dan Frommer on Business Insider, "the 'Me So Holy' developer invested time and money making an app that really isn't too much sillier than apps like 'iFart,' which has made a lot of money for its developer and for Apple, or 'Soft Serve Poop Machine.' "

Readers, what do you think? A baby shaking app falls outside the bounds of what most people would find tasteful, but Reznor was able to mount a successful Twitter campaign to get his Nine Inch Nails app's initially "objectionable" content approved by Apple.