CUPERTINO, Calif. — Some are calling it the first X-rated app approved by Apple, though that X-factor is surely in the mind of the user. Nonetheless, MyPleasure.com’s MyVibe vibrator application is getting noticed as a massage device ... or something more.
Gizmodo reports that sex researcher Dr. Debby Herbenick has given the free app a whirl and deems it “fun.”
According to Herbenick’s evaluation, the app offers a simple on/off button and up and down arrows to control vibrations, with settings that range from short, quick pulses using smaller numbers to longer, slower throbbing via higher numbers, up to 100.
“The intensity of the vibration MyPleasure could use for this app is obviously limited by the amount of vibration that the iPhone offers, so the orgasmic potential of the MyVibe app is similarly limited,” Herbenick wrote on her site, My Sex Professor.
“However, orgasms — while fun — aren’t everything,” she said. “Anticipation, teasing and seduction play a major role in many people’s sex lives. Why not turn on the app, hold the iPhone discreetly against your body while on the metro, in a cab or at work as you exchange sultry IMs or Twitter DMs with your real-life partner or dream partner? Having a little vibration can add excitement and tingles to your day (and your genitals).”
MyPleasure founder Dr. Sandor Gardos told Herbenick that customers have been asking for more “discreet” vibrators — something small for travel that also wouldn’t prompt kids to say “what’s that?”
Noting his company offers vibrators that look like lipstick, nail polish and even a USB drive, Gardos said creating an iPhone vibrator app seemed just the ticket. But Apple initially rejected it.
“Oddly, upon resubmission it was accepted, mostly unchanged,” Gardos said. “I think the real issue was that they didn’t like developers using the vibration function the way we did, not the sexual nature — after all, this is just a tension reliever, right?”
Interestingly, MyPleasure actually looked at creating a vibrator controlled by an iPod several years ago, but the technology wasn’t there yet.
“I am sure you will be seeing many folks releasing such devices,” Gardos said. “The trick will be to make one that truly takes advantage of the platform and isn’t just a gimmick.”
MyPleasure will keep the app as a free download with viral marketing through its website. No versions are planned for other Smartphone platforms, though the company is working on other sexual lifestyle apps, from games to educational offerings.
Gardos also backed the idea of Apple creating an adult section in its app store.
“Apple should not play the role of censor or only allowing apps that work to the lowest common denominator,” Sardos told Herbenick’s My Sex Professor. “By letting parents choose what they allow their children to download, it opens up the possibility of more mature apps coming to market.”
Check out MyVibe at MyPleasure.com or download it at the Apple Apps store.
Follow Herbenick on Twitter via @mysexprofessor.
