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Apple removes 500px app for displaying nude content

Apple has removed an app by popular photo-sharing service 500px because users can search for nude photo content.

Lexy Savvides Principal Video Producer
Lexy is an on-air presenter and award-winning producer who covers consumer tech, including the latest smartphones, wearables and emerging trends like assistive robotics. She's won two Gold Telly Awards for her video series Beta Test. Prior to her career at CNET, she was a magazine editor, radio announcer and DJ. Lexy is based in San Francisco.
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Lexy Savvides

Apple has removed an app by popular photo-sharing service 500px because users can search for nude photo content.

(Credit: 500px)

Like many other photography sites on the internet, 500px has a range of users who submit artistic nude photography as part of their portfolios. More importantly though, in its terms of service, 500px does not allow for any content that is pornographic in nature.

500px users can search for content that can be classified as NSFW (not safe for work), but 500px automatically lets you know that it's adult content before you click through on the web interface. (Screenshot by CBSi)

An updated version of the iOS 500px app had been submitted to Apple for approval. On Monday evening (US Eastern Time) 500px received a call from Apple saying that the update would not be approved and the company would have to work on a fix.

"We got a call a short time later informing us that the app would be pulled immediately," said Dustin Plett, vice president of Business Development at 500px. "We are not sure what lead to this decision being made now. We have been working with Apple today to ensure we are back in the App Store as soon as possible."

Searching for NSFW content on the mobile app is difficult, as users need to specifically state that they want to see adult content when signed in to their account.

According to 500px, the app has been in the store for 16 months, and no search settings had changed in regards to displaying nude content.

The 500px app is currently available on the Google Play Store for Android devices.