Dear Apple: Burn Down the App Store’s Entertainment Category
3:35 am, November 11th, 2009, Pete Mortensen
The entertainment category is loaded with charming applications.
There’s a lot to like about the iPhone’s App Store. The more than 100,000 programs within its occasionally strict boundaries offer a bevy of experience riches unmatched in the mobile computing space. But it’s also frustrating. Great apps get postponed or blocked altogether, while great ones like Skype have key features removed.
All of this is nothing new. Mac bloggers talk about this all the time. But I think I’ve also pinpointed exactly why such minor complaints are so painful. It’s called the Entertainment Category of the App Store.
For those unfamiliar with its seedy contents, the Entertainment Category is sort of a catch-all for all kinds of applications that don’t have a good home elsewhere in the App Store. Here’s a chart I made to illustrate the problem:
Yes, despite the fact that the entertainment category does include some legit apps, some of which are great (Pocket God, Emoji, and Movies spring to mind), it is, for the most part, a giant blue Pac-Man of lame softcore porn devouring all in its path. And it’s impossible to find anything actually entertaining there. Which is a disaster. It’s a disincentive to develop something good (who can compete against Naughty Hotties?), and that means that it inevitably gets worse over time.
And, to be clear, this is porn for, and I don’t say this lightly, the stupidest people in America. Because in spite of Apple’s introduction of ratings for Apps, there is no nudity whatsoever in the App Store. So anyone hoping that purchasing “Pocket Girlfriend” will be like staying up late to watch Cinemax is in for a huge disappointment. And they are, consistently giving negative reviews too, which would be sad but understandable were it not for the fact that the iPhone — brace yourselves — can connect to the entire Internet. Which, I have heard said, contains the occasional birthday suit pictorial.
Who are these people that prop up this sad micro-industry? And why isn’t anyone protecting them from themselves? And protecting us from a never-ending tide of crapware? Honestly, there are times when the new releases list in Entertainment reads like a web browser history that would prompt an awkward conversation with your spouse. I’m no one’s prude, but it’s increasingly hard to envision just how this is a good use of App Store reviewers’ time.
At any rate, there can be only one solution: get rid of the Entertainment Category, replacing it with two or three more specific ones, like Movies, Humor, and Scans of Pretty Ladies from the Sears Catalog. Better still, allow category-specific blocking within the Store application so that users can browse for what they’re interested in, and nothing else. It’s quite clear that the overall seediness of the category is acting as a deterrent to developers, and that’s not good for any of us. Apple should find a way to create a true Red Light District so that great work like Photo Speak doesn’t get buried.
But that’s just one man’s opinion. One man who has never invested a $1 in purchasing Pocket Girlfriend, I should hasten to add. Seriously, Apple. Do something.
Posted by Pete Mortensen in Opinions, iPhone Apps | Comment on this article
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Here in South Korea the Entertainment category is one of the few ways of getting games for the iPod Touch (no iPhone yet), bar jailbreaking, as the Korean censorship board is required to check every game that is sold in the country. As Apple’s App Store Games Section was so big I believe they were not allowed to put it on the Korean site. The censorship board stated they could not possibly check that volume of games. So companies sneak them into the Entertainment Category. So, for the sake of us in South Korea, please don’t burn it,
MikeP, on November 11th, 2009 at 7:50 am
Interesting. But are there any categories which would NOT form a PacMan-shaped crescent if all the worthless apps were segregated into a “crap” subcategory?
Face it: In the iSore, there are a handfull of great apps, a great middleground of mediocrity, and an avalanche of worthless crap.
Despite there being and lots and lots of apps, the good apps in the iSore are quite rare.
iGenius, on November 11th, 2009 at 9:58 am
This is what’s happening in the Android Market. It’s *FLOODED* with “sexy girl pics” apps and stuff like that. TOTAL CRAP. They tout the easier path to market with the Android Market, but the bar is so low that really buggy apps with almost no functionality get added.
The App Store blows the Android Market away so bad. I have been so disappointed with my Android phone that I’m going to sell it on eBay to cover the ridiculous T-Mobile ETF and buy an iPhone 3GS.
For the record, in my market (Dallas/Ft Worth, Texas) both T-Mobile and AT&T have excellent 3G coverage, so that’s not a concern at all. We’re also one of the first markets that will be getting AT&T’s 7.2mbps HSPA upgrade. After all, AT&T is based here.
bob, on November 11th, 2009 at 12:06 pm
Instead of burning the category, how ’bout creating a “softcore porn” category, limiting it to 18+ and make it blockable. That would probably please everyone.
Scott, on November 11th, 2009 at 12:42 pm
Ignore my previous comment, I didn’t read the article closely enough.
Scott, on November 11th, 2009 at 12:43 pm
I actually enjoy the entertainment section.
Steve Davies, on November 11th, 2009 at 3:39 pm
Apple, in setting themselves up as the only way to get apps, has created the problem themselves.
On the one hand, if Apple doesn’t accept an App, they’re evil prudish censors. On the other hand, if they accept the App, they’re contributing to the noise and reducing the signal.
Unfortunately, there is no really good correct answer to this problem. If you create a “ghetto” for these Apps, they’ll just change what the App does (“Play Tic-Tac-Toe with attractive partially clad women!”) and leave the ghetto.
I think Google has the right idea, personally. You have an App Store and you have a supported installer. This way, Apple can control the App Store and make sure you don’t end up with 100 tip calculators and 300 fart apps. But if I, as a developer, devote time and effort to building something that Apple doesn’t want to sell on their store, I can still try to sell it myself.
Peter, on November 11th, 2009 at 3:41 pm
@Peter
“I think Google has the right idea, personally. You have an App Store and you have a supported installer. This way, Apple can control the App Store and make sure you don’t end up with 100 tip calculators and 300 fart apps”
You lost me here – how is anyone able to control anything when there is a free for all.
Wish you the best of luck in everything you do.
AdamC, on November 12th, 2009 at 12:35 am
yeah if they are gonna allow softcore porn apps all over the app store at least make a seperate adult restricted area which can then house the likes of mobile porn sites like mobilebabes.com or mini pussy without cluttering up the entertainment sections.
rob rees, on November 12th, 2009 at 8:52 pm