Earlier today we learned that Apple had decided to allow a new genre of apps into the app store with the release of Pull My Finger, a humorous but simple application that emits predictably nasty sounds whenever users pull on a virtual finger. The application was intitally rejected by Apple, sparking debate over the seemingly arbitrary standards it was using in its approval process. Today’s policy shift sets the stage for imitators looking to build on the irreverent success of Pull My Finger, and we’ve already got our next contender in the battle for flatulence supremacy. It’s called iFart, and while it’s an improvement over Pull My Finger, I seriously hope this isn’t the start of a new trend.
First, the apps themselves: while Pull My Finger has the basics down, it doesn’t do much beyond playing embarrassing noises when prompted to. iFart builds on this by adding a ’stealth’ feature, allowing users to set off their ticking timebombs after a set amount of time. They can also enable a “security” feature that plays one of the noises whenever the phone is moved.
Don’t get me wrong – both applications are funny, and I’ll probably use them to play a prank or two over the holidays. But I fear that developers will now flood the App Store with similar juvenile apps looking to make a quick buck, and we’ll see iFarts and Pull My Fingers overwhelm the Top App lists and overtake the genuinely useful apps like Shazam.
Left alone, the market might let most of these immature apps fade into obscurity within a few weeks (note that not a single ‘lighter’ app is present on the Top Apps list anymore, despite the fact that there are at least 15 of them available). Then again, iBeer is still ranked #5 after over five months. The general population has a seemingly insatiable appetite for dumb shit (remember what happened when Facebook Platform first launched?), and it would be a shame if the some of the App Store’s prized Top Spots were sacrificed for an endless rotation of dumb.
Apple made the right move by letting these onto the store – censorship is a slippery slope, and there’s a place for immature and adult content. But, as with the recently released NC-17 tags, Apple should consider making a tag for ‘Silly Apps’. Give them their own place on the store (perhaps even a Top 5 on the front page), or continue to tweak the store’s layout, but don’t let them overwhelm the apps that add real value to the iPhone.
Finally! I killer app for the iPhone!
apps that crack smiles create value.
JoePlumber.com
With a can of beans costing but 40 cents, I can think of a cheaper method of achieving the same results with the added benefit of having my own seat on the subway during rush-hour.
Jon
http://DreamClue.com …get the message!
A post on my website from awhile ago kind of ties in nicely with this them LOL.
http://www.adri...ny/rate-my-poo/
I wrote a post about something similar recently on my website, kind of funny and shocking at the same time…now I can have fun with fart sounds on the bus commute to and from work…
See this is why I like google gadgets. While they do have a process for censoring gadgets that go into their index, you can easily use it anyways without unlocking your phone.
upload a video of it in action please . pretty please
so funny that there is a NC17 message when you try to download it. hold on, I’m uploading the image now.
“The general population has a seemingly insatiable appetite for dumb shit (remember what happened when Facebook Platform first launched?), and it would be a shame if the some of the App Store’s prized Top Spots were sacrificed for an endless rotation of dumb.”
My first reaction to this was, “Amen, brother,” but then I realized that we’re just synonymizing short-term value with stupidity (in the sense of “dumb shit”). Not all short term value is “dumb.” If developers aren’t able to differentiate, market their products outside of the distribution channel, and provide long-term value, then there’s just as much fault on the their side. Blaming the customer just isn’t the right way to go. And blaming Apple is just as fruitless (sorry).
Yea I saw that when I bought it earlier today. The app store rating is funny…
I want to create this very cool app called – “Kick Arrington’s Butt” whenever he writes something stupid.. Can anyone fund my Pizzas and Red bulls?
I’d buy it.
ifart is hilarious and creative…..great app.
I have never seen an app bring so much joy to so many people. Farts are funny… period.
good stuff mate … these fun things keeps us going even when the chips are down
While its possible (though difficult) to control app quality through a legislative process, its not possible to control app value (unless you are ready to have a totalitarian system) . Value (and hence rating) has to be left to the overall ecosystem to determine that.
That the “top apps” are comprised of only “dumb shit apps” speaks volumes about the troika of developer-user-platform vendor and how they interact. You want to see more “serious” apps? Get more serious usage models, and open the platform up for more complete access (data, voice, etc).
-avi
This is hilarious! I am blasting toots left and right.
Buy, use, get fired. Evolution in action.
All your critiques could be said of the Internet, Jason. Do you worry that the good stuff online won’t get found because of porn, dancing hamsters and rickrolling?
If Apple is going to insist on only one “Store” instead of a marketplace, then, perhaps, a “Silly App” section makes sense but if that is hidden/obscured, isn’t only marginally better than censorship?
Just let the market decide. Don’t get hung up on today’s Top 10 Lists. The good stuff will rise to the top over time.
What a gas!
/sic
Anyone here have a clue why FB Connect has my profile on TechCrunch linked to some funky dead link?
http://www.face...ople//507123945
Because you have all your privacy settings dialed down?
I think it’s hilarious!
Just leave it to the market: if these farting apps remain high in the charts, they are obviously adding value for some people. If not, they’ll disappear.
Exactly….people can pretend to say that these apps don’t have any value but the reality is that they appearently do. If Apple keeps rejecting apps that people obviously want then they risk jeopardizing the app store as a distribution channel as these apps would go elsewhere for distribution and propogate the endless jailbreaking and the use of places like cydia and installer.
And this is just one more reason that the iPhone will never overtake BlackBerry for business phones.
Talk about the possible embarassment if somehow you or someone else accidentally set off a “fart” right in the middle of a deal or an important meeting! A few may laugh, but most will frown.
Sure, it’s childish, but either the platform is open, or shut……no picking & choosing apps.
I remember back at Startup Weekend Columbus a group wanted to make an application called “iToot” that was a whoopie cushion… not sure if they ever went through with it.
Interesting
What a stupid post. Are there limited spaces on the app store so that if there are loads of imitators (iTrump, iGuff, iParp, etc) it will take the space of some business app or other? Or is the app store so precious that it shouldn’t be sullied by anything ‘not useful’?
Christ!
“Please Keep These Under Control, Apple”? Let me get this straight: you *want* Apple to decided what you can and can’t run on your iPhone?
Read the post.
I don’t understand it. On one hand, you don’t want Apple to decide who can and can’t be in the store, but on the other, you want them to censor apps you consider ‘immature’?
I agree, stupid apps suck, the same way that opening Facebook to apps also sucked. But face it… we’re tech snobs, and we are nowhere near the majority. If people out there can make money off of iFart, power to them. I’m not going to encourage them, but hey, demand from the kind of people who WOULD buy iFart is the reason Apple bothered to even make a product as good as the iPhone.
Yeah, it’s not a perfect solution – being tagged as ’silly’ (or whatever else they might call it) could be a kiss of death and nearly as bad as outright censorship.
(linkback) Funny or Foul? iFart And Pull My Finger – Two new iPhone apps [VOTE] – http://www.thri...rfail.com/96aed
If you don’t have an iPhone, there is a great website where you can make farts and send them to friends. Go to fartfactory.com.
Based on this trend, we should be seeing a bodily functions iPhone App division of Kleiner.
I say:
JUST FART-IT.
And let there be peace !
I’m so pissed, I was going to create an app similar to the ocarina and call it the iFart.
A user farts into the mic, and the app will rate and categorize the fart based on sound levels.
The viral element comes in when you look at the globe on the app, you can see and hear people farting in real-time all over the world… Yes, genius, I know
Can someone please build this!!! All I want is my 1% rev share
I think anyone who has developed Facebook Apps will tell you is that people enjoy playing stupid things on a massive scale. It is not surprising at all that the App Store is full of stupid apps after being online for a half year.
That being said, I think Apple has a long way to go before it perfects how apps are distributed and are spread. I think this entire issue would not be such a big deal if the entire App Store was not inside of iTunes (or if iTunes was inherently built with more social capabilities). If the App Store was a web interface and it had more social outlets (like better user accounts with reviews, top reviewers, more detailed reviews, more categories, better sorting, user-created top lists of apps), this entire problem would be moot. Think App Store in the Amazon environment. It would be great.
It is only because we have such a limited amount of real estate that being in the ‘Top Apps’ is such a big deal.
Plus for the social networking sites, most of the people find out about other apps from other users (via the profile pages or the feed). The iPhone marketplace does not have those outlets so it makes it all the more important.
The iPhone needs odorama to make these apps really add value.
I love the fact you are serving ringtone ads just below the post saying how shitty these types of things can be…
This is a great app
Crazy Idea that Just Might Work: censor nothing, allow community ratings, and let the market decide.
Oh wait, nm, this is Apple. A shame when Microsoft gets it (re: xbox community games) and Apple doesn’t.
Facebook Platform tried it and it didn’t work at all.
seriously? You’re saying that apps that are most popular with entire populations deserve to be segregated because you think they are stupid and don’t add value? Value is in the eye of the iFart holder.
I believe the marketplace should decide the value of apps, within reason. There should be *some* evaluation or monitoring of some kind, or all kinds of really bad/reprehensible apps could end up going on there that even people who think farts are funny wouldn’t appreciate.
People want to have fun with these type of games. Don’t make it a big deal. People need the escape time.
Bah iFart for $2.99? Are you serious?
Maybe I missed something but isn’t the Apps Store a “marketplace” that brings buyers and sellers together to transact? If that is in fact the case, let the ‘tards keep making farty apps – and if people want their phones to fart… great! If not, maybe it’s time they move on to iShitMyself apps.
hey guys fart anywhere but do not fart in my limo party bus
@dP, price is now $0.99 for iFart
Surprised I didnt think of a similiar app idea like that first. Farting is fun for most should be a very successful app
steve
grindvision.com
Flatulence FTW! I got this for .99 at the app store and love it.
My name is Bogie and I approve this message.
iFart just hit #1 in the Paid App Store this morning!
http://www.yout...iggleseeds.com/
it’s really crazy…. such a success with such an app
tons of farting apps are now in the store.
and even such things like iVomit
http://itunes.a...310046&mt=8