AppStore age ratings
The introduction of age ratings to the iPhone appstore recently made a lot of people think that some of the problems over app blocking that have made the headlines lately might be solved. After all, if I submit my app and say that it has an 17+ rating, shouldn’t Apple just take my word for it and post it without even rating it? A little simplistic perhaps but Apple really don’t need to get involved with censoring 50000 plus apps. The model just doesn’t scale. Unfortunately it looks like there may be few teething problems with the new system. Unless the app calling itself “Easy Recipes – Food & Drink” is hiding something that neither its description nor its many positive reviews are hinting it, it seems strange that it gets a 17+ (the highest) rating. The reason is apparently “Frequent/Intense Alcohol, Tobacco, or Drug Use or References”. I haven’t bought a copy of the app (I’m tempted but not that tempted) but I really want to see what they’re cooking. Or is it possible that a few too many recipes contained alcohol and either a very uptight employee or a too thorough automated scanner set the rating?
You can see the app for yourself in iTunes.