Apple's new low: censoring a dictionary
By Joshua Topolsky 
posted Aug 5th 2009 1:03PM
posted Aug 5th 2009 1:03PM
Apple censored an English dictionary.But it's far worse than that.
A dictionary. A reference book. For words contained in all reasonable dictionaries. For words contained in dictionaries that are used every day in elementary school libraries and classrooms.
Gruber went a step further and spoke with one of the developers, Phil Crosby, who had this to say on Apple's approach to the software:
In essence, you would have to already know the word in order to be able to look it up in the app -- your mind would have had to be already poisoned with the sinful idea."We were rejected for objectionable content. They provided screenshots of the words 'shit' and 'fuck' showing up in our dictionary's search results. What's interesting is that we spent a good deal of time making it so that you must type vulgar words in their entirety, and only then will we show you suggestions in the search results. For instance, if you type 'fuc', you will not see 'fuck' as a suggestion. This is in contrast to all other dictionaries we're aware of on the App Store (including Dictionary.com's application), which will show you 'fuck' in the search results for 'fuc', 'motherfucker' for 'mother', etc."
After three rejections, the forced removal of a number of "illicit" words (many of which are common and innocuous -- "ass" for instance), and a mandatory 17+ rating, Ninjawords was finally admitted into the App Store... three months after it was first submitted.
Look, Apple, you don't seem to get it. You may have admitted 55,000 applications into the Store with little or no problem, no bumps in the road, but it's these kinds of decisions which are quickly defining your policies -- and those policies seem like garbage to us. Censoring content, keeping applications out of your store which "duplicate functionality" of bundled software, and rejecting submissions for things like unsavory search results isn't helping to protect end users: it's making the company that asked everyone to "Think Different" look like a company that can't think at all.
This app store thing is getting out of hand. It's a dictionary apple.
Palm Pre is also censored
paul. please. quit while you're ahead.
im tired of seeing the first page of comments full of your greyed out b.s replies and meaningless arguments.
thank you.
... yeah, but then he'd have to change his avatar. Too much trouble.
I agree. Apple is getting a little too ridiculous.
@Paul A. Chapel
Seriously? Apple censors a dictionary and you are going to slam the Pre?(which is mentioned no where in the comments or the article). Pull your head out of Steve Jobs ass and actually contribute to the conversation moron.
There is no excuse for this, Apple doesn't need to protect anyone from the word 'shit'.
Damn skyblaze your right. Look at Paul's comment history. All it is Apple fanboy rants.
I was willing to give you some slack, Paul A. Chapel, but you seriously are a douche. I rarely read comments on Apple products and the stuff I saw you post on other topics was idiotic, yet not this obstinately delusional.
They censored a DICTIONARY and forced a 17+ rating upon it ... and you're defending it?!?
What kind of nimrod are you?
@quix
If we consider the app store a market in itself (with ~65,000 apps it makes sense), the act of Apple banning or modifying products created by independents IS censorship. Imagine if your cable provider began censoring HBO all of a sudden...
I was willing to cut you some slack, Paul A. Chapel, but you seriously are a douche. I rarely read comments on Apple articles and the the few I saw of yours on other posts were idiotic, but not this obstinately delusional.
Apple censors a dictionary and forces a 17+ rating on it ... and you're defending it?!?
What kind of nimrod are you?
@skyblaze,
please....
no Paul no fun.
but,
no skyblaze and we still have the fun.
so u r insignificant.
Apple is the new Nintendo with their Goody Two-Shoes standards.
Don't even bother
That's not even the so-called "real" Paul Chapel.
@Colonel Kernel
Paul is right. u can just buy the device of your choice then. And Pre is just an example.
So all I can say is his statement is valid though. It isn't like you are being forced to buy an iPhone though.
Yep definitely not good stuff...
Apple needs to get a grip as this makes them look, well... stupid
To Quix
Have you ever read a dictionary? Please share with us why the government has to be involved before it can be considered censorship?
@thisisit
jeeebus, why all the hate? :\
Quix,
http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/censorship
http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/censor
Where does it mention the government anywhere? If your phone had a decent dictionary you would already know this.
If it doesn't fart is not allowed, simple!
Totally agree with the article. Com'on Apple get your act together!!
I have the Dictionary App on my phone and there are many expletives that come up when you type them in
HOW IRONIC! The drones in this old TV spot are the apple fanboys, excusing the dear leaders EXTREME control and every bad move! That girl should have an Android logo on her shirt. Just sayin...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OYecfV3ubP8
@Quix
I'm a HUGE Apple fanboy, and even I think that your being a jackass. THEY REJECTED A STANDARD DICTIONARY
which part of that is ok? If your gonna suck off Steve at least do it well.
and you thought China was on the side of the planet. lol...
What's funny is Engadget in a way censoring their post by only listing "ass" and none of the other words. Censorship is everywhere and while I don't agree with it I find it funny that a site that obviously censors some words out of it's own post, posting in this case being the Engadget platform, mocking someone else for doing so on their platform.
Ironic...
How can apple censor the word shit when they let so much of it into their app store??
@skyblaze
*YAWN*
@MarcC
Josh was referring to the the fact that "ass" is a relatively tame word that also got censored. He wasn't implying that it was one of the big ones.
Engadget, I suggest a policy whereby when a certain percentage of a person's comments are "low ranked" within a given period of time, they perhaps should be prevented from posting any more comments for a month, as it's obvious they are adding nothing to the discussions at hand, and are infact being distruptive to them.
Perhaps in this way it would help prevent the trolls and fanbois...from whatever side of the fence they come.
MONKEY, how is the Pre censored?
One of the emoticons is wtf
And if I mistook a Paul Chapel impersonator for the real thing, then my bad.
I think it is absolutely hilarious that in a discussion about censorship in a dictionary, we have to turn to the dictionary to clarify the word censorship! Hahaha! I don't care whether we define the action as censhorship or not (I was going to call it flurfmoggin), I don't like the idea of what Apple is doing.
In the words of Bender from Futurama, Apple can "Bite my shiny metal... " ... Oh crap! I can't finish that sentence! I can't remember how to spell it and I can't find it in the dictionary!
We're doomed!
Everytime an App is rejected, a Chinese worker commits suicide.
What would an Apple post be without an obstinate Quix coming to their rescue in an absurd fashion that only he (and perhaps Paul and Zak) can.
I'd really love to hear your counter-argument Quix, in light of the fact that other dictionaries on the iPhone offer access to these words, and that Apple's built-in dictionary for the Mac offers access to these words as well.
Duplicated functionality perhaps?
Well, we can toss that theory out the window considering that there are multiple dictionaries which exist for the platform already.
Draconian fascist policies on the other hand?
Just perhaps!
@Marc
Apparently you cannot read, if you bothered to read the story you would have seen this paragraph
"We were rejected for objectionable content. They provided screenshots of the words 'shit' and 'fuck' showing up in our dictionary's search results. What's interesting is that we spent a good deal of time making it so that you must type vulgar words in their entirety, and only then will we show you suggestions in the search results. For instance, if you type 'fuc', you will not see 'fuck' as a suggestion. This is in contrast to all other dictionaries we're aware of on the App Store (including Dictionary.com's application), which will show you 'fuck' in the search results for 'fuc', 'motherfucker' for 'mother', etc."
Next time pick up a book instead of playing games and watching tv all day
@MarcC
Apparently you cannot read, if you bothered to read the story you would have seen this paragraph
"We were rejected for objectionable content. They provided screenshots of the words 'shit' and 'fuck' showing up in our dictionary's search results. What's interesting is that we spent a good deal of time making it so that you must type vulgar words in their entirety, and only then will we show you suggestions in the search results. For instance, if you type 'fuc', you will not see 'fuck' as a suggestion. This is in contrast to all other dictionaries we're aware of on the App Store (including Dictionary.com's application), which will show you 'fuck' in the search results for 'fuc', 'motherfucker' for 'mother', etc."
Next time pick up a book instead of playing games and watching tv all day
Has anyone thought about " its their store... they do whatever they want????" if you don't like it then jailbreak....
@freakshow PR
go tell that to the people who claim Windows shouldn't come preinstalled with Internet Explorer
its their store .. they can sell what they want .. you dont like it .. go buy a pre and install all 10 apps they sell
they dont sell porn at walmart because they dont want to ... apple doesnt want to sell some specific applications, that is their option and your option to buy apples product .. sell your iphone if your that pissed or shut up and deal with corporate policy.
@Fuzzybunnyfeet
""Apple doesn't need to protect anyone from the word 'shit'. ""
they are not protecting you .. idiot .. they are choosing not to sell an application. if they are protecting anyone it would be themselves . you all realize that it is THEIR CHOICE to sell what they want on THEIR store? right ? doesnt sound like it!
Does Apple also block Safari from accessing content where swearing occurs?
i don't agree with his position at all, but amid his nonsense Quix does kind of have a point: historically, censorship typically does involve the state, church, or both in concert. the roman "censor" (origin of the term) was a state officer. whatever the dictionary says, you should look at a history book. this is some kind of post-modern self-censorship, but no less deplorable for that. apple is apparently afraid of being punished either by the newly aggressive FCC (which would certainly constitute censorship proper), or the marketplace (for example, a boycott by hypocritical, self-righteous parents who shouldn't be buying children cellphones in the first place).
LOL @ crap in the appstore.
So I can buy an App that makes sounds like someone doing a shit, I can look up pictures of shit on Safari, I can watch people taking a shit probably even on YouTube, I can read articles with the word shit in them, but I can't have an App that tells me what the word shit actually means!!!!
I thought it was education that liberated people and gave them the power of discretion.
Apple is pulling a total FAIL with the AppStore.
"think different" to every normal human being.
Can you imagine if Microsoft banned rival browsers and media players from Windows due to 'duplicate functionality'.
Apple are quietly praying their market share remains tiny but noisy and profitable.
Can I speak for the millions of users who dont care about this censoring.? The iphone is an excellent product, superior to other smartphones in SO many ways. I know a lot of iphone users, and NO BODY CARES about this. Complaining for the sake of complaining, get over it.
Green Wall anyone?
I think this is a good idea, If true. There's to much foul words being spouted out by kids and adults nowadays.
@Quix Too bad theyre censoring dictionaries, or you could look up the definition of censor, which just means to remove something you find objectionable. There is no requirement for it to be a government agency, so yes it is still censorship.
But you do succeed in making a point, only to fail to grasp the meaning. It is the free market. Which means we are free to discuss apple's stupid consumer relation decisions, and their growing control over their willing fanbase. And we have the right to chose to not want to purchase products that will mean future control over contant we want.
I just feel bad for all the unsuspecting iSlaves, who now may be realizing that their iSavior may be contrilling theri iContent, and unless they have a few hundred bucks to get a bb/pre/htc their iScrewed
Apple is just operating consistently with their useage policy, so in a lawsuit no one can point to that app as a reason to justify their own use of toilet language. I side with the fruit company on this one.
Besides, if 10-year-olds want to read that kind of thing just for giggles, there is no shortage of blogsites full of it.
Some people must have a lot of time on their hands to be spelling out curse words into their iphone dictionary.....what are you guys, 10 year olds?
Great Job Apple!! It is their system and they should be concerned about what goes on it. If you want a system with objectionable language and picture, develop it yourself. They have the write to make there product as wholesome as they want to.
Words fail me, and it's hard to find them in dictionaries too it seems, but I should check the levity, this is just disgusting and seriously sick.