Okay, this is just beyond ridiculous and a bit horrifying. In Apple’s App Store right now is Baby Shaker, a new app which, displays a picture of a baby and plays crying sounds. To make it stop, you have to shake your iPhone really hard, after which the crying will stop and two X’s will be placed over the baby’s eyes — implying, of course, that the baby is dead. I’m not kidding.
Apple has approved a lot of questionable apps since the App Store launched last summer. A few I recall include the $1,000 app that did nothing (which Apple later pulled), the app that keeps track of multiple girlfriends’ menstrual cycles, a fart one that took things a step farther to actually show the anus, and now this, which is without question the least tasteful yet. If Apple had a completely open App Store, in which anyone could submit anything and have it approved, that would be one thing. But it obviously does not. Instead, apps featuring tiny elements like icons that somewhat resemble an iPhone get rejected. Yet somehow, this gets through.
A woman whose son was injured after being shaken by his father brought the app to CNET’s attention. And rightfully so.
I have the conversation at least once a week now: Apple need to revamp its App Store approval process, it simply isn’t working. And the problems will only get worse as it continues to grow in size. There are too many good apps that get rejected for seemingly no good reason at all. And too many ones that should be rejected, that get through.
I’ll save you the $0.99 cents and show you what exactly this app is in the video below.
Update: As a few commenters note below, it looks like the app has already been pulled. You can still search for it, but can’t download it.