More AppStore Age Ratings
I’ve been looking at some of the ratings Apple has assigned to the apps on its iPhone AppStore. Yesterday I found a recipe book rated 17+, which I assumed to be a mistake. Today I found several other recipe apps rated 12+ – the common theme seems to be anything that references alcohol gets you a 12+ minimum, with occasional 17+s probably depending on the reviewer. You have to wonder how many Mormon reviewers they’ve got. Although there are guides to making cocktails that are only rated 12+, so I really want to know what kicked that recipe book to 17+. Other random notes – a harmless looking CRM client (TopFloor HighRise Client) gets a 17+ for, amongst a long list of other things, “Frequent/Intense Alcohol, Tobacco, or Drug Use or References”. It doesn’t look like it’s CRM for crack dealers, but just maybe it is. Healthcare and fitness has a lot of quit smoking apps rated 17+, which is tough if you’re under 17 and want to stop smoking. In other categories referring to alcohol seems to be the best way to get a 17+ (although the rules seem inconsistent and some are rated 12+). The largest selection of 17+s is in the lifestyle section, where the dating and bikini apps are joined by one that creates Marijuana advocacy letters (presumably because that’s really hard to do when you’re stoned) and a couple of interfaces to Craig’s List. More as I find ‘em…
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