Looking for a pattern in Apple’s App Store rejections

By one estimate, there are now more than 20,000 applications available for download from Apple's App Store. Imagine how much larger that number would be if every app didn't have to win Apple's approval before appearing on the store.

Still that's the process Apple's had in place ever since the company first disclosed plans for the App Store nearly a year ago. And it's helped create an online store that Apple chief operating officer Tim Cook called "absolutely the envy of the industry" during this week's Apple shareholders meeting.

Nevertheless, it's safe to say that the process Apple uses to decide which apps are acceptable and which aren't is less than transparent--a fact that remains a sore spot for some iPhone developers. Apple didn't respond to a request to explain its process for this article.

However, given some of the high-profile App Store rejections in the seven-plus months since the store opened its virtual doors, a picture is beginning to emerge--albeit only part of one--on what kinds of iPhone apps run afoul of Apple's guidelines.

The few, the proud, the banned
Recently, South Park Studios announced that its iPhone app had been rejected. The creators of the TV series of the same name had announced an iPhone app last fall.

"After a couple of attempts to get the application approved, we are sad to say that our app has been rejected. According to Apple, the content was 'potentially offensive,'" reads the post on the South Park Studios Web site.

That potentially offensive content comes from the admittedly off-color South Park--which users can buy in another section of the iTunes Store for $2 an episode.

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