It's hard to believe ... until you visit the App store and see for yourself.

The Murdoch press is covering a story on the sale of Apps on the Apple online store that "encourage breast implants and give instructions on how to ogle the opposite sex are among programs recommended for 12-year-olds."

iAugment — a breast-implant simulator that allows users to take photos of their chest, publish the photos on Facebook to get others' opinions and find a recommended surgeon — is "one of many" applications that can be downloaded free from Apple's official store and has a maturity rating of 12+.

Others include iLust app, free-to-download app shows youths how to "sneak a peek at a hottie without getting caught" and includes an "ogle meter."

iweeducation — which has marijuana growing hints and recipes, iBeer — a virtual pint that empties as you tip your phone — and "countless gun building, virtual gambling and weight-loss apps" all have maturity ratings of 12+ or less.

Another app, Get Pregnant, allows users to log their menstrual cycles and determine fertile times. Despite the fact the app is useless to most [elementary school aged] girls, it has a maturity rating of only 9+.

News.com.au asks an Australian "women's advocate" and self-described "pro-life feminist," as saying about the iAugment app:

"We have a huge problem in this country with body image and anxiety and are seeing this being expressed in younger girls every day. A simulator like this plays into that by normalizing breast enhancement.

"This app is just priming and preparing girls for future surgeries. Rather than helping them accept their natural bodies, it makes them feel from an early age that there is something wrong with them."

The iLust app, she says, is "just teaching boys tips for sexual harassment. Apple is entrenching, embedding and spreading sexual harassment and this app shows how little corporate social responsibility there is."



The Australian Family Association has reportedly called for the apps to be blocked.

An Apple spokesman contacted over the article, said that the group did not comment on app age ratings, according to News.



