Apple's Gatekeeper Role Draws Scrutiny

By YUKARI IWATANI KANE

Outrage over Apple Inc.'s approval of an iPhone application that simulates the shaking of a baby shows the risks for the company in the way it vets those products.

The Cupertino, Calif., company's App Store, which lets users access more than 35,000 software applications such as games for downloading to their iPod Touch or iPhone, has become one of the most compelling reasons to buy an iPod or iPhone. Since the store's launch nearly a year ago, users have downloaded one billion applications.

Earlier this week, however, Apple was hit by a complaint for allowing the sale of a game developed by a company called Sikalosoft. The game, in which players try to silence a crying baby by shaking the phone, was available for a couple days for 99 cents before it was removed on Wednesday by Apple following protests by child welfare groups.

Apple apologized Thursday, saying the application "should not have been approved for distribution." In a statement, the company said, "We sincerely apologize for this mistake."

Sikalosoft did not respond to an email request for comment.

The scrutiny shows the complex implications of Apple's decision to vet App Store applications. While Apple doesn't create the software that is offered through the store, it actively vets submissions that are made by third-party developers, in an approval process that has been criticized by some as being arbitrary and opaque.

"Because they put themselves in the gatekeeper role, they've got to take their lumps," said Adam Engst, publisher of TidBITS, an online newsletter following Apple.

Apple has rejected applications for reasons such as containing inappropriate content or offering a service that could compete with Apple. Developers say some submissions have languished in the process without any reason given.

A countdown application of President Bush's last days in office last year called Freedom Time was rejected because Apple Chief Executive Steve Jobs thought it would be "offensive to roughly half our customers," according to an email received by the developer, Alec Vance.

This is unlikely to be the last time Apple will face controversy around a program found in its online store. "It shows how gray and awkward the line is going to be going forward," said Mr. Engst.

Write to Yukari Iwatani Kane at yukari.iwatani@wsj.com