Total Boob: Adult 'Tubes!' app sees downloads surge

It was pitched as an attempt by Apple to clean up the App Store before the iPad appeared on the scene, but it would appear 'BoobGate' - the removal of a number of adult apps at the end of last month - had a silver lining for some studios.

Namely, the makers of Tubes!. TechCrunch is reporting that the 'boob based application' managed to slip through the net, remaining on the App Store whilst all of its bawdy brethren disappeared.

As a result, the app saw its downloads swell, publisher Mobile Simplicity apparently raking in $1,600 a day - up from just $30 a day before Apple's assault on all things adult came into effect.

How, exactly, did Tubes! manage to go under the radar, then? Its success apparently hinged upon the fact that it wasn't available for sale in the US.

Mobile Simplicity developed the app in response to a request from a client, but only on the condition that it didn't go on sale in its homeland - the company was apparently keen not to sully the name of its more 'respectable' releases.

It's Mobile Simplicity CEO Tony Lombardo's belief that the app only garnered the attention of Apple once it inevitably started climbing the charts around the globe. In essence, its success lead to its downfall, Apple having recently removed the app from sale.

Lombardo has called on Apple to allow such adult apps to return to the App Store, albeit hidden away in a 'sexy' sub-category. It's a request with some credence, given that efforts from the likes of Playboy and Sports Illustrated were immune from Apple's crackdown on all things come-hither.

However, even if Lombardo's request falls on deaf ears, Tubes! can always say it enjoyed one hell of a ride during Apple's adult bust-up.