As best as we can piece together, Apple changed its criteria for iPhone application acceptance sometime in early December. The first we heard of this change was from Sam Magdalein, creator of Pull My Finger. Earlier this month, he received a call from an Apple representative indicating that a whole new genre of apps would be approved, including Magdalein's own app which was initially rejected back in September. His rejection letter indicated that Apple found his app to be of limited utility.

Limited utility, yes, but certainly not limited in terms of popularity! Right now, iFart Mobile - Fart Machine for all ages holds the top paid apps spot on the App Store. iFart's creator, Joel Comm, even posted his download numbers, a rare act. On December 22nd, iFart generated 13,274 downloads as the #1 paid app. As a point of reference, Brian Greenstone of Pangea Software indicated a 9-12k download range for the #1 paid position during a conference panel I moderated in October. Perhaps this is indicative of overall platform growth since that time (but I digress). Magdalein's Pull My Finger is currently #28 on the paid apps list after having reached the #2 spot this month. In fact, if we look at the fart genre (if there is such a thing) on the App Store, a search for 'fart' results in over 20 app listings. Yes, my friends, there are in fact more fart apps on the App Store at this time than Sudoku apps. Who would have ever imagined this to be possible?!

A cursory look at the top paid and free apps lists seems to indicate an overall increase in gag apps. While I am not someone to spend $0.99 to generate fart sounds from my iPhone, I'm glad to see all 20+ fart apps and the other gag apps available for download in the App Store. There are valid reasons to reject apps, but limited utility shouldn't be one of those criteria.

Apple's March 6th Event video, which included the iPhone SDK announcement, listed six criteria for app rejection - porn, malicious apps, apps that invade your privacy, illegal content, unforeseen issues, and bandwidth hogs. You can jump ahead to this mention at 1:07:46 on the video if you're interested.

One of the biggest critiques I hear from developers who have passed on the opportunity to develop for the platform concerns app acceptance. I understand the concern intellectually, but in truth it's overblown, considering that only a handful of apps have been rejected out of more than ten thousand submitted (at least based on the information made public). Yet, it's one of those issues that some developers raise, especially in terms of iPhone vs. Android.

As a number of new and promising smartphone operating systems enter the market and as established mobile players launch competing offerings, Apple does not want to be perceived as limiting developer opportunity. The App Store is the best way to deliver mobile applications and Apple's head start over competing mobile platforms is great news for iPhone developers. Apple has done a good thing here in accepting gag apps. Apple is not going to blow this opportunity, and it has shown on a number of occasions since the launch of iPhone that it is open to change in its approach, such as carrier deals, native applications, non-disclosure, and application acceptance.