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By Chris Meadows

It’s been a while since our latest “Apple censorship” story, so here’s a mention of Apple rejecting a digital magazine from its app store because the magazine was solely about the Android operating system, a rival to Apple’s iOS for primacy in the smartphone and tablet world. The article points out that other magazines that are partly or mostly devoted to Android are still available in the store, but publisher Brian Dixen thinks that the fact his magazine was entirely about Android was the deciding factor for Apple’s rejection.

This isn’t Dixen’s first brush with app store “censorship”, either; he is also the publisher of Gear, a magazine whose habit of featuring partially-clothed models on the cover also ran afoul of Apple guidelines.

Dixen complains that Apple’s censorship — and the time it takes to get "controversial" issues approved or rejected — hurts the value of the publications. "We have to get not only our apps but every single copy of our magazines approved," he says. "I wonder what will happen if we choose to make the next issue of our magazine about mobile phones in general a theme issue about Android." He says that approvals can take up to two weeks, meaning information in the publication may be out-of-date by the time it appears.

Of course, even Dixen admits that he probably would not sell many magazines on Android through the Apple store even if it was permitted, so the whole thing smells a little like a publicity stunt—submitting an app he knew would be rejected just so he could complain loudly again. Nonetheless, it does again point out that Apple is the final arbiter of what electronic reading material can be sold directly through its store, and even after publishing more specific guidelines, sometimes the decisions it makes come across as a bit arbitrary and capricious.

 
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