Microsoft tightens app policy on WP Marketplace

Microsoft is tightening up its policy regarding apps which feature adult or “racy” content on the Windows Phone Marketplace.

Taking a leaf out of Apple’s book, a firm which employs a heavy hand when it comes to adult material entering its app ecosystem, Microsoft has decided it needs to take a more stringent approach to censorship.

The firm’s existing app policy is that it doesn’t allow “sexually suggestive or provocative” material, but does permit imagery along the lines of swimsuit shots.

Microsoft wrote in a blog post that it will be paying more attention to the titles and content of these sort of apps, expecting them to be more “subtle and modest” in both imagery and terms used.

Microsoft noted: “Apps that don’t fit our standard will need to be updated to remain in the store. This is about presenting the right content to the right customer and ensuring that apps meet our standards.”

The firm further noted that it was intending to monitor customer reaction to apps, and that any which were deemed offensive could potentially be removed by Microsoft.

Microsoft argues that the change isn’t likely to impact many developers, and won’t require much work to get around in cases where it does. The company gives the example of showing male or female models in silhouette, rather than full pictures.

It certainly sounds like the Windows Phone Marketplace is set to get substantially more Apple-like, going forward. Now if Microsoft can replicate the number of apps in the Cupertino firm’s massive library, its mobile OS will really be getting somewhere…