Phillip Shoemaker, Apple's App Store Director, Shilling Fart Apps

Apple famously adheres to a strict policy concerning the content in its App Store. The app censors frequently nix racy and suggestive apps and, sometimes too, offerings that appear completely innocuous. While cartoon breasts and hints of homosexuality seemingly compromise Apple's purity, the App Store houses hundreds of sophomoric -- yet apparently unoffensive -- selections that simulate bodily functions. Fart apps, in particular, number in the hundreds, with some titles even challenging one another to simulated flatulence supremacy.

According to Wired, several of these juvenile apps demand media attention. The issue at hand, specifically concerning titles 'Animal Farts' and 'iWiz,' derives from developer Gray Noodle, a company which reportedly employs Phillip Shoemaker. Shoemaker just so happens to serve as Apple's "director of applications technology" and as a decisive App Store policymaker. Since Wired ran its farting Shoemaker exposé, Apple's app zapper has reportedly embarked on a whitewash campaign, removing any reference to Gray Noodle from his various social networking accounts. The Wired folks, though, certainly know how to access archived webpages.

Apple has also attempted to quell the fiasco by claiming that Shoemaker created and submitted the apps prior to his employment with the company. The astute and unflinching Wired crew, though, provide contradicting proof by comparing Shoemaker's Twitter feed (which, at one point, still hosted a time-specific tweet about his Apple hiring) to the Gray Noodle apps' publication dates. In this round of fart tennis, the advantage clearly goes to Wired. Your serve, Apple. [From: Wired]

Tags: AnimalFarts, AppStore, AppStoreApproval, AppStoreApprovalProcess, FartApplications, FartApps, GrayNoodle, PhillipShoemaker, top