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Apple's App Store: An important marketplace for app operators
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Tumblr is obviously concerned about its future in the App Store - and is therefore noticeably restricting its iPhone app. As the company, which belongs to the WordPress parent company Automattic, announced at the turn of the year, from now on it will prevent users of the iPhone app from some “questionable content” that can still be accessed on other platforms as usual. We are talking about "certain differences in search terms and recommendations" that could contain "certain types of sensitive content".
In practice, this means, among other things: Anyone who types terms such as "Addiction" (in German: Sucht) into the search mask of the iOS app will no longer receive any results.
Instead, he or she comes across a banner with the text "This content has been hidden".
If, on the other hand, you search for "Addiction" in the browser or the Android app, for example, blogs and blog posts appropriate to the topic will be suggested.
There are now two Tumblr versions: the usual one and one with restricted content for iPhone users.
Tumblr puts the responsibility for this on Apple, which in 2021 also wrestled with the chat app Discord to deal with content intended for adults.
Tumblr refers to Apple's guidelines
Tumblr writes: "In order to comply with Apple's guidelines and continue to be available in the Apple App Store, we have to expand the definition of sensitive content and the way you access it." The service defines as possibly "questionable" on a help page, content "that does not necessarily violate our guidelines, but may violate the guidelines of the Apple App Store."
The service does not make transparent which search terms have recently led to nothing under iOS.
However, users of the platform have already compiled more than 400 words or phrases in a Google Doc that are apparently viewed as problematic.
This includes English terms on the subject of pornography, but also terms that are completely harmless in many contexts, including "Single Mom", "Girlfriend" and "Daddy".
Also, no search results will be displayed if you are in the app, which is advertised in the App Store with the slogan »Art, Culture, Chaos«
looks for terms like "murderer", "piercings" and "toilet".
In the meantime, search results for German words like "Freund" and "Toilette" were displayed on Tuesday lunchtime.
Commenting on its venture, Tumblr said it understood "that these changes could be very frustrating for some of you."
We therefore apologize and are now working on functions "that will enable a less restricted iOS app experience".
However, no more detailed information is given.
Tumblr and Apple had already clashed in the past: In 2018, the iOS app was no longer available in the App Store for a while after a routine check discovered content that showed child abuse.
Shortly afterwards, Tumblr announced that it would generally ban pornography and nudity on its platform.
Apple's guidelines for the App Store say, among other things: "Apps with user-generated content or services that are mainly used for pornographic content [...] do not belong in the App Store and can be removed without notice."
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