"Why can't adults opt in to seeing adult apps?"

Because Apple made the iPhone and they own the iOS store and they decided they could make more money with it this way.

"There are literally hundreds of millions of non-iDevice smartphone users who don't live with these restrictions and who are not being harmed at all. "

This is called assuming your conclusion. There are certainly standards at Google Play and Amazon's Android app store, not every Android user can sideload apps and the idea that no one has been harmed by uncurated stores is strictly false in general and in specific cases like this basically unknowable.

'Because Apple made the iPhone and they own the iOS store and they decided they could make more money with it this way.'

That's a statement of fact, but does not answer the question of why.

I think it does, they are saying that even an adult-only opt-in is flawed because thats the same as the child restrictions, it's often not set up.

The last point is probably why a lot of parents buy iPhones for their children.

As for the app in question, I find nothing objectionable about it, im sure the same information is available through Safari, but i suppose the same argument applies to adults wanting to see this content, stop whining about not having an app to do it and just look it up online.

Opt-in is quite obviously not the same as opt-out (via restrictions) so it's dubious to compare the two. The parent poster was asking for a way to allow iOS users a way to voluntarily and explicitly enable content that may be deemed objectionable by some. It's not the same as restrictions, because the device is passively not going to allow those types of applications.

It is effectively the same. Unless the parent sets up parental controls (which they aren't going to do) there's nothing stopping the kid from opting in.

You're making unfounded conclusions about a hypothetical feature Apple hasn't implemented.

I can think of at least one way to make it difficult for a kid to opt-in (I'm sure there are others): require the opt-in to be done online and require re-authorizing the credit card associated with the iTunes account. If it's good enough to get an email account out of a COPPA jail, it's good enough here.

The first point seems to cover it: Kids will just opt-in too.

Then ask for a password, credit card number, whatever.

I'm not sure how a password can validate a person's age and I had a credit card long before I was 18.

The whole issue is a complete red herring anyway. Safari is accessible by default, and gives children access to a universe of objectionable content that the App Store could only dream of.

If "parents don't bother enabling parental controls" was an actual excuse, they couldn't ship a web browser!

"I had a credit card long before I was 18"

And this is a different problem that also needs to solved.

Why? It was a great way to learn financial responsibility and start building a credit history. I have never gone a month without paying the balance off in full, so it seemed to serve me well.

People jumping into credit late in life as an adult without any teachings on how to properly manage their financials is the greater problem here.

Why? Because one needs to be 18 to legally sign a contract.

If you had a credit card before 18, that means you were added on your parents account as an authorized user and you were piggybacking off of their credit history.

The greater problem here is that credit cards exist in the first place.

How is it a problem that credit cards exist? Credit cards are incredibly useful for two reasons, IMHO.

1. It's like having a proxy between your actual accounts and your purchasing. A stolen credit card is annoying and easy to rectify. A stolen debit card is terrifying.

2. Sometimes in life, an expense arises that exceeds both income and savings. When this happens, we either pay with credit (of some kind), we don't meet our financial responsibilities, or we go without. Sometimes the best option is to go without. When that is not possible, the credit card is a good answer. Pay off your balance responsibly and as quickly as possible and either save more in the future or be prepared to pay interest again.

+1 for stolen debit card. Aside from fraud liability agreements, in the absence of them, it creates an upper bound on the damage that can be dealt.

Credit cards are a short-term loan which doesn't require approval for every stupid minutiae. Ever signed a loan? Takes a bit of setup. Imagine doing that while paying for fast food. Pain in the ass. Take it for what it was meant to be: a loan system. Saying "credit cards exist is a problem" is like saying the concept of loaning money is bad, which I will handily point you to for-profit startups and non-profits that all either make or use loans to bring about positive change.

> The greater problem here is that credit cards exist in the first place.

Perhaps in the recent age of debit cards, but credit cards filled a massive void in the usability of cash. And it is often still more convenient to manage your money transfers after the fact.

I just don't get the negativity. They're a great tool when used appropriately. You can't really fault the tool if people use it inappropriately.

Depends a lot on what you mean by credit card, stuff like Visa Electron is called a credit card by visa but it is actually a debit card that is impossible to overdraft.

Is it really Apples place to police that?

Probably not, but their views are their own to make.