Apple is reportedly filtering the “Jailbreak” term from the iTunes items. All the categories are affected with this filter including Apps, songs, albums, podcast episodes, and iTunes U episodes. One of our readers told us that this filter is also blocking the term even in iBooks.
Few moments ago I myself searched the term “Jailbreak” in iTunes and found that over 95% jailbreak words were replaced with “j******k”. However, this filter is currently applied on the US iTunes store only. The other stores in other countries are still showing the complete word.
Here is the screenshot from the US iTunes store:
And here is the screenshot of iTunes store in South Africa:
It was the planetbeing, popular iOS hacker, who first noticed this filtering.
It is still unclear whether Apple did it intentionally, or the filter is applied by mistake. We will let you know more about it when we get reliable information from inside the Apple.
Update: The filtration process has been stopped now in all the App Stores. We don’t have any official word whether the filter was applied by mistake or there was any purpose behind it.
Why does it matter if they filter that word? Just wondering. I’m not a hacker so I don’t see the big dilemma.
“It is still unclear whether Apple did it intentionally, or the filter is applied by mistake”
With the application of some common sense I think it’s pretty clear that this was by mistake.
“With the application of some common sense I think it’s pretty clear that this was by mistake.”
Filters don’t magically apply themselves. The only mistake here is that Apple wanted to censor just apps, and accidentally extended their filter to music and movies.