Apple cheftain Steve Jobs had dismissed the idea of adult apps on the device since its launch, but enforcing that policy has brought mixed results for Apple.
This time, the company has rejected an app that can read eBooks because it might be used to download the "Kama Sutra," the ancient text on human sexuality. The app is called Eucalyptus.
Developer James Montgomerie commented on the rejection on his blog, using screenshots to illustrate what happened.
"I’m afraid I’ve currently decided to sell my soul, or at least rent it out for a while, and manually block the Kama Sutra from appearing in Eucalyptus," he said. "It may become accessible again in a later version of Eucalyptus when Parental Controls become available. If someone at Apple would like to contact me to let me know that this is unnecessary, and that Eucalyptus will now be treated the same way as other iPhone apps, I would be very happy to hear from them."
Apple's decision has drawn sharp criticism from the blogosphere, including leading tech blog TechCrunch.com.
Tech analyst MG Siegler noted that it's easy to download other explicit material to the iPhone using other apps, including an app called Stanza as well as Amazon's Kindle iPhone app.
Siegler also offered Apple a reminder that the Safari web browser, by definition, can access any number of adult and otherwise explicit websites.
"If you really expect the app to remove that one book from the entire project, you’re insane," Siegler wrote, addressing Apple directly. "Instead, you need to let this app pass, just as you have for the multiple other apps that can access this book in various ways and go about your day finding apps that are actually malicious in their intent."