Dozens of developers had a nasty surprise last week when they received a message from Apple stating that the company was ‘refining the guidelines’ under which the App Store operates and in the process is removing ‘overtly sexual’ content. The iPhone makers have so far removed around 5,000 apps during this process, all of which is content that it had “originally believed to be suitable for distribution” but which is now no longer deemed appropriate, following “numerous complaints from customers about this type of content”.

Any 'Passion of Saint Tibulus' apps out there may be in danger of being deleted.

The Telegraph chatted to Jon Atherton, the creator of Wobble iBoobs, about the move and he told them he had received a letter saying his app was being removed from the store. The letter, from Apple’s iPhone App Review team, apparently said that if Atherton made changes to the app so that it complied with the recent changes to Apple’s terms and conditions, he could resubmit iBoobs for review.

Apple has not confirmed whether it has made specific changes to its App Store rules. Instead, it said it reviews problems on a case-by-case basis. The almighty dollar of course may save a company’s spot on the App Store roster, as evidenced by the removal ‘Daisy Mae’s Alien Buffet’, a game for the iPhone and iPod touch from the store, allegedly because the cartoon heroine wears a bikini, while the official Playboy app, featuring pictures of scantily clad ‘playmates’, remains on sale.

The Telegraph notes that “dozens of other applications that could be considered to feature ‘overtly sexual’ content’ also remain on the App Store”.

According to AppShopper, which monitors App Store activity, the number of applications being removed each day grew sharply on Feb 17, with a higher-than-average number of removals taking place over the following days. “Industry insiders believe Apple is cleaning up the App Store ahead of the launch of its iPad tablet, which Apple is hoping to promote as a device for families and schools,” adds the Telegraph report.

In response to the removal of the apps, Apple has posted new guidelines to submitting apps which have more holes in them than the plot of a Keanu Reeves film and are as follows…

1. No images of women in bikinis;

2. No images of men in bikinis;

3. No skin;

4. No silhouettes

5. No sexual connotations or innuendo;

6. Nothing that can be sexually arousing;

7. No apps will be approved that in any way imply sexual content.