CUPERTINO, Calif. — Apple has approved and then may have pulled a softcore porn application for iPhones.
“Hottest Girls” is, or was, the first App Store offering to feature naked pictures of girls (there are plenty of clothed or semi-clothed shots, too).
The app claims “2,200+ Topless, Sexy Babes and Nude Models,” with updates available for those with Internet connections (which is likely almost all iPhone users).
According to a report from TechCrunch, Apple got wise and pulled the Hottest Girls app from iTunes. But the developer claims to have pulled it himself for now, according to Wired, and posted on his own website he had “temporarily sold out” because of image server overload.
According to MacDailyNews, the application previously took it to the limit with lingerie shots, but not naked images. Users who download the app get a regular dose of fresh content, which now includes topless and completely nude girlie shots.
“We uploaded nude topless pics today. This is the first app to have nudity,” developer Allen Leung, aka AllenTheGeek, told Macenstein.
Leung’s other apps include “Hottest Guys” (no full-frontal yet) and an app to send virtual flowers and flower-filled wallpaper.
The previous photos offered by Hottest Girls were Asian-centric, and the content has been expanded.
The Apple “porn breakthrough” comes with the release of its 3.0 operating system for iPhone and iPod Touch devices, which include parental control options.
Under Apple's rating system, Hottest Girls is 17+, which means parents can block horny sons from trying to download the program and install it on their phone. Unless, of course, the teens know how to fiddle with the parental setting. And what are the chances of that?
On its iTunes page, the app listing says Hottest Girls is “rated 17+ for frequent/intense sexual content or nudity, frequent/intense mature/suggestive themes.”
“Save any of your favorite images into your photos library,” the listing says. “Then, you can set it as your wallpaper, send it to your friends, upload it to your computer or set it as a phone contact’s image.”
The app ranked No. 2 on the paid apps chart in the iTunes App Store's “Lifestyle” section and No. 60 on the overall paid apps listings.
The application news and review site App Safari gives Hottest Girls three out of five stars. Maybe they’re withholding higher ratings until actual hardcore porn clears Apple’s approval process. But even with talk of an adults-only apps section, such programs could be a long way off.
With Hottest Girls coming in the wake of the release of the vibrator app MyVibe, it did appear that Apple was loosening up restrictions. But PC World prognosticated that developer Leung’s trumpeting webwide about the nudity could cause Apple to pull the app.
An app reviewer on Wired wasn't too enthusiastic, noting that girls may be viewed in only four categories — Popular, Asian, Blonde, Brunette and Swimsuit — which offers far less specialization that one can find on any decent porn site.
In fact, the reviewer called the app “terrible” and suggested a Google search of nude images with an iPhone, using keywords such as “nipples,” could bring better results.
The reviewer also complained there was no striptease setting for the models, and picture viewing is limited to one at a time when enlarged, “which shows a lack of understanding as to how a porn app should work.”
