Baby Shaker application pulled from App Store
Apple apologies for approval oversight
Apple has been quick to apologise over its approval of an iPhone game involving shaking a baby to make it go back to sleep. In a statement, the iPhone manufacturer said:
“This application was deeply offensive and should not have been approved for distribution on the App Store. We sincerely apologise for this mistake and thank our customers for bringing this to our attention.”
Baby Shaker displayed a basic line drawing of a baby, and users were required to shake their handset until red X’s appeared over the baby’s eyes, suggesting it had gone back to sleep.
The gameplay sparked almost immediate outcries from children and parent groups along with brain injury campaigners - despite displaying a disclaimer upon loading reading “Never shake a baby”.
"I am disheartened that with this new application Apple is encouraging frustrated adults to shake infants, not only to end their crying, but to end their lives,” executive director of Massachusetts Citizens for Children Jetta Bernier told The Telegraph.
“There are many effective infant soothing strategies that adults can use to calm their fussy, crying babies. Shaking is not one of them."
