There are plenty of questionable apps available on iTunes – from the plethora of fart clones to belly jam – but here are some that Apple approved then removed because they were offensive.

What Apple approves, keeps or pulls in iTunes was on my mind over the weekend as I watched the number of signers to the online petition to remove a “gay-cure” app from Christian group Exodus International boom.

When we first wrote about the app, there were 6,700 signatures – about as many that got the much milder Manhattan Declaration pulled – there are now nearly 90,000.



Apple still hasn’t responded, the group behind the petition Truth Wins Out, has said it will stage a protest at Cupertino headquarters. While we wait to see what Apple will say, here are some apps that were OK’d then pulled over protests.

Baby Shaker only lasted a few hours before outrage over this game – where you silenced the kid by shaking the iPhone — got it whisked out of the iTunes store. Apple never made any comment as to how it got approved in the first place.

Beauty Meter sounded innocuous enough: a user-generated beauty contest, where people rated the contestants. Too bad there were underaged girls on it and plenty of nudity.

iSlam Muhammad offered to let downloaders “Enjoy violent and hateful passages from The Qur’an that support and encourage Muslims to attack and behead anyone who does not agree with them. See how Allah directs his followers to treat men and women.” Who is approving this stuff?

Hottest Girls was another quasi-porn app that played peek-a-boo on iTunes – the naked women featured here were available for just a day.

What do you think Apple will do in the Exodus app case, given the precedents?