• by Mark Walsh  @markfwal, May 5, 2009

With controversy growing over the opaque approval process for iPhone applications, Apple may begin easing up on policing content within apps when parental controls become available in the new iPhone operating system due out this summer.

In a recent rejection letter to Makayama Media in connection with a newspaper aggregation app submitted by the developer, Apple cited material found in the racy U.K.-based tabloid The Sun -- specifically, the paper's Page 3 section, known for featuring photos of topless models -- as violating App Store rules against obscene or pornographic material.

But in the same April 27 letter highlighted in a post on iLounge, Apple noted: "Parental Controls have been announced for iPhone OS 3.0. It would be appropriate to resubmit your application for review once this feature is available." (Amsterdam-based Makayama subsequently re-submitted the app, which packages 50 newspapers from around the world, without The Sun, and had it approved.)

But the notice about new parental features for screening content in the forthcoming iPhone OS 3.0 suggests that Apple may be preparing to permit more mature material in the App Store "under the assumption that parents concerned about content will finally have the tools to ban these apps from childrens' devices themselves," according to Apple Insider.

Apple previewed the latest version of the iPhone OS in March, touting more than 100 new features -- including tools giving parents the ability to restrict access to TV shows, movies and apps sold in the App Store. While the system has not been demonstrated fully, Apple Insider surmises it should keep younger children from seeing Page 3 or other adult-oriented content in the future.

A newspaper app featuring publications such as The New York Times, The Washington Post and Le Monde, however, isn't necessarily the place a parent would connect with images of frolicking topless women.