Apple Rejects Drone +, The App That Tracks Drone Strikes

Earlier this month British newspaper The Guardian ran an interactive map of American drone strikes. The map pinpointed locations in Pakistan where missiles from the unmanned aerial vehicle, the drone, struck suspected terrorists. The map was based on the data obtained from the Bureau of Investigative Journalism, was available through The Guardian app for the iPhone.

Now a graduate student from the New York University, Josh Begley, made use of the same data to develop an iPhone app of his own creation that featured an interactive map. The app developed by Begley, called Drone + was dedicated exclusively to the drone strikes.

Image From: Reuters

However, tech giant Apple rejected Begley’s software from its App store as it ran afoul of Apple standards on objectionable content within apps. In an email from Apple it was said: "We found that your app contains content that many audiences would find objectionable, which is not in compliance with the App Store guidelines."

For his part, Begley also complied with Apple’s decision. "I totally understand it from Apple's perspective," he said.

"They don't want to have anything that could be considered controversial by anyone. I get that, and I understand that."

He further said that he started the app ‘out of genuine curiosity’. Begley appears to be the latest developer to fall down the rabbit hole of Apple policies that determines what can or cannot be distributed through the App store for iPhones and iPads.

Apple caused a stir in 2010 over its decision to reject an app featuring a satirical political cartoon because of its policy against ridiculing public figures.