Cinemax on Sunday scored a huge victory when their Max Go iPad app was accepted into the Apple App Store. The company’s parent company HBO already has the HBO Go app available which allows subscribers to stream HBO shows to their iPad, iPhone and iPod devices, however, unlike the HBO app, Cinemax provides more “adult-oriented” content, the type of programming that has dubbed the network “Skinemax.” While the app has been accepted Apple has said time and time again that adult themed content will not be allowed in the App Store environment.
Apple has had a decidedly “no adult content” stance since the App Store became more heavily moderated and now some people are calling for the company to remove the app to stay in line with their own policies or add more adult themed content to stop the company’s contradicting attitude towards development standards.
Aware of the company’s policies Cinemax has given the Max Go app a 17+ App Store rating, allowing users to know what they can expect before they download the iPad application.
The approval isn’t the first time Apple has catered to a larger business while denying others, they allowed the Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Edition App and then banned similar apps with the same type of content that were submitted by smaller organizations.
According to Electronista at the time of the SI debate:
Senior VP Phil Schiller had justified it because SI had become a cultural norm, suggesting that it was willing to contradict its own policy when a large, mainstream corporation was the publisher.
On the flip side of the coin, Apple continues to allow extremely violent games into the mix, even in countries such as Europe where nudity is often not viewed as a big deal (nude content is often published in newspapers), yet violent games are still questioned in that region while those ultra-violent games are often swiftly approved by Apple app store moderators regardless of raised concerns.