CUPERTINO, CA — The Greeks may have had a word for it, but if it’s English, was listed in Ninjawords, and had anything to do with sex, iPhone users won’t be finding it any time soon.Named after ninjas because they are “smart, accurate, and really fast,” Ninjawords is a dictionary app for the iPhone that has managed to be rejected three times in two months. Apparently a little knowledge is definitely a dangerous thing to Apple, which is dedicated to keeping the iPhone an expensive but relentlessly family-friendly gadget, because in its estimation, some words are more unequal than others.
At issue is the dictionary’s inclusion of supposedly “objectionable” words that can be discovered by using the app’s search function.
According to Phil Crosby, one of Matchstick software’s app Ninjawords developers, the program was initially submitted on May 13th, but rejected because it managed to crash when running on the iPhone 3.0 OS beta.
Once the code was properly adjusted, the app was re-submitted. This time Apple sent it back because it contained language “found objectionable byiPhone or iPod Touch users.”
The fact no iPhone or iPod Touch user would ever find the words unless they specifically go looking for them is apparently of little interest to the image-conscious Apple crew.
Undaunted, if annoyed, the codesmiths at Matchstick reworked their dictionary yet again, removing as many potentially offensive words as they could, then submitted the app yet again.
The hard working app evaluators at Apple, apparently possess and extensive vocabulary of inappropriate words, however, and were able to find yet more that they didn’t want showing up on their shiny newish tech toys. Ninjawords was once again rejected.
Fortunately, sort of, the Ninjawords creators agreed to allow Apple itself to scrub its virtual mouth out with soap until it had nothing but clean words to share.
In an ironic move, the app was then accepted, but given a 17+ rating, meaning that it will not appear in any app search overseen by OS 3.0’s parental controls – and the adults who do find it won’t be able to find an impressive array of common American words.
