Microsoft has announced a clean-up of its phone-app store to tackle software containing "racy" or "sexual" content.

The firm's Windows Phone Marketplace guidelines already ban "content that a reasonable person would consider to be adult or borderline adult content".

However, the firm said that it had decided to enforce a more stringent interpretation of the rules.

Analysts said the move should reassure parents who let their children play with their phones.

"Specifically, we will be paying more attention to the icons, titles, and content of these apps and expect them to be more subtle and modest in the imagery and terms used," wrote Microsoft's senior director for Windows Marketplace, Todd Brix, on the company's blog.

"This is about presenting the right content to the right customer and ensuring that apps meet our standards."

BBC News