Apple Censors Dictionary App, Forces 17+ Rating, Claims Dominion over English Language

iPhone dictionary application, Ninjawords, has had one hell of a ride getting into the iTunes App Store, and demonstrates even further the ridiculousness Apple’s review process.  In short, Ninjawords is a cheap dictionary app that pulls on Wiktionary for the latest definitions, links to synonyms, and offers views for favourite, recent and random lookups. Sounds cool, right? Well, what do you know, the dictionary has naughty words in it! And because Ninjawords could potentially enable a few prepubescents to get an idiotic laugh which they would otherwise have to visit their junior high school’s library to get, the folks at Matchstick Software had to run the app through the hoops four times (once because of a minor glitch), paring down words like ass, snatch, pussy, cock, and screw (which all have their non-vulgar definitions), and earning the app a 17+ age rating regardless.

Not to beat the dead Google Voice horse some more, but these kind of high-level decisions are exactly the reason I’ve never found Apple products, however shiny or functional, remotely attractive. If you need a dictionary app and want to help out a developer who has been through a lot of shit poop, you can grab Ninjawords from the iTunes App Store for $1.99.

[Daring Fireball via @saschasegan]