Only a little while ago, we published a story about Apple’s inconsistent review process for the App Store. In that case, the question was one of imagery, and focused on some icons that Apple seemed to be of two minds about. Well, inconsistency is one thing, but their latest gaffe represents an entirely different kind of failing. In a move that garnered worldwide attention, Apple yesterday approved and then later removed an app called “Baby Shaker.”

If you aren’t already aware of the details of the app, it basically allowed users to simulate shaking a baby to death on their iPhone or iPod touch. On screen, you saw a pencil-drawn animation of a baby that would progressively move less and less as you shook your phone, until big red X’s would appear over its eyes and it would stop moving altogether, at which point the baby is presumably dead. Even just describing what the app does is horrific, let alone actually playing it.

It’s surprising, then, that such an app would sneak by Apple’s generally very conservative App Store review process. The very same process which, until recently, wouldn’t allow fart noises or overtly sexually suggestive material within their hallowed walls. Infanticide, though? No problem.

The quick removal of the app seems to suggest that its approval in the first place was a mistake or an oversight, and that in general, Apple is definitely not in favor of depicting this sort of thing on their platform. Nonetheless, it was there, it was live, and at least some people downloaded it before its removal. Advocacy and awareness groups are up in arms, and they’re looking for an explanation from Apple for why this could be allowed to happen.

I’d like an explanation, too. How about we celebrate the billionth app downloaded (imagine if it actually was Baby Shaker?) with some transparency regarding your review process? Because as of right now, considering this screw-up, the Instapaper/Pocket God issue, and the Tweetie misunderstanding regarding foul language, it seems like there are 10 guys at the office who draw straws to see who’s in charge of policy for the day.

On a slow news day like yesterday, something like Baby Shaker can quickly obscure any other message you might be trying to get across, like how much money you’re raking in, for instance. Apple would be wise to put a cap on this sort of thing before it starts interfering with bigger, more important messages, like new product announcements, for instance. Establish a clear and straightforward review process, with redundancies and checks and balances, and let developers know what the pipleline looks like. Do it now, before it taints people’s anticipation of your 3.0 release.

Maybe Apple’s iPhone app review process is actually partially automated, because I can see no other good reason for having rejected the latest update of Tweetie (1.3) for objectionable content. The offending word (the F-bomb, in case you were wondering) would normally merit that kind of treatment, but considering the circumstances, it seems like a pretty ridiculous move on Apple’s part.

The word came up in a Twitter trends search, which, as those of us familiar with the popular micro-blogging service know, is well beyond the control of Tweetie’s developers. For those of you not familiar with Twitter or trends, when enough people mention the same thing, it shows up as a trending topic in Twitter’s search page, or in apps that use Twitter’s API. It would be a little like blaming Google for the contents of their search results.

By Apple’s logic, they should reject and remove every app that allows for Twitter searching or the viewing of Twitter trends. Which they haven’t. You can still get the existing version of Tweetie (1.2.1, App Store Link), which provides exactly the same feature, and no doubt showed exactly the same trending topics when the offensive word appeared.

This is exactly the kind of thing that worries me about Apple having as much power as it does in overseeing the App Store. Is the (brief) appearance of an offensive word in an open search really so much worse than tasteless fart and gun noise-making apps? Especially when the Tweetie update actually provides a large number of truly useful features and improvements, instead of just a single throwaway function that people will use only once and never again. Inject some intelligence into that approval process, Apple, before the App Store becomes as much of a joke as most of the apps it’s hawking.

It was the rejection heard ’round the world when Apple’s reviewers rejected the user-favorite Podcaster app, citing as the cause the fact that it duplicated functionality provided by Apple’s own software. That proved to be the case, but only after Apple released the 2.2 iPhone firmware update, which brought direct podcast downloading support to Apple’s handheld devices. Podcaster was a standalone third party app that allowed the same thing.

Now Apple’s singing a different tune, though it took some change from the Podcaster developers to make that happen. They recently approved the App, now available under the name “RSS Player” (App Store), and with some of the original functionality removed. RSS Player is Podcaster minus their podcast directory, which is apparently the bit Apple took particular offense to. So, while you may not be able to find feeds with the app, RSS Player will let you subscribe to any cast feed you like, and there’s no built-in 10MB download limit while using 3G, as there is with Apple’s app.

While the people behind RSS Player clearly made some concessions, Apple seems to have softened a bit as well. While it may be a product of the same kind of thinking that allowed fart simulation and bikini babe apps into the App Store, this latest reversal of fortune, along with the recent influx of browser apps, represents a relaxation of the rules that could actually provide real benefit to iPhone and iPod touch owners in the long run.

I’m curious about Apple’s motivations behind these changes of heart, for the simple reason that if we figure out what’s driving acceptances, we can use that information to make sure that other promising apps don’t get blackballed. At least part of the reason apps get belatedly approved appears to be public outcry, so it seems that the Apple community has been acting correctly in raising a stink whenever an undeserving app gets shot down.

There are other forces at work as well, including resistance to Apple’s constricting rules from developers from major players like Google, who defied Cupertino outright in developing their Google Mobile app for iPhone. Last but not least, a willingness to make changes on the part of developers seems to be appreciated, which is fine as long as those changes don’t undermine the original spirit of the app.

I think we should push further where Apple has shown lenience to really open up the App Store. They’ve shown they’re open about browsers, but they still require those apps to basically be Safari at heart. The next step is to get them to relax even further, paving the way for Firefox Mobile and more. Likewise with RSS Player. Any way to get more media on the iPhone beyond the purview of iTunes counts as a win in my book, but its just a start. Good job Apple, but don’t think we’re leaving it at that.