Apple purges Wi-Fi discovery apps from App Store (updated)

Two weeks (almost to the day) after Apple banned boobs, babes and bikinis from the App Store, it has begun removing another entire class of applications, only this time it's not quite as titillating.

According to Macworld Apple has quietly begun purging the app store of Wi-Fi scanner apps, also known as "stumblers."

The victims of the moment are apps with Wi-Fi stumbling features, such as Wifi-Where, yFy, and Sekai Camera. These are applications that can not only show the location of every nearby Wi-Fi hotspot based on information from an online directory, but also can dynamically add more listings based on what Wi-Fi access points the iPhone detects in the immediate vicinity.

Their removal won't be as hotly debated as a the boob-ban though because Apple is on a little stronger footing this time, noting that the apps use undocumented, private APIs.

Macworld notes that Apple's stumbler ban doesn't affect apps that only search from a directory like Wi-Fi Finder and Spots.

Update: Infomind, developer of yFy Network Finder (pictured) said on its Web site "A cydia version will be released VERY soon." 3 Jacks Software, developer of Wifi-Where, called its removal "very unfortunate" and pleaded with Apple to expose the API to developers in a future version of the SDK. Tonchidot's Sekai Camera, one of the most promising augmented reality apps, hasn't responded to the removal.