Why you should think twice before developing apps for the iPhone.

[Commie Pinko Dirtbag]

Ruling on a whim, in the best style of the absolutist Kings of pre-Enlightenment Europe. L'Ordinateur c'est Moi!

http://shiftyjelly.wordpress.com/2010/06/01/sentence-first-verdict-afterwards

A month ago I wrote a blog post about how Apple were not actually evil, because I was getting sick of all the media hype and bashing that was going on. Little did I know that a month later that blog post would come back and smack me in the face. Just yesterday the company that I work for (Groundhog Software) got a phone call from Apple, telling us that our photo frame application for the iPad My Frame was to be removed from the Apple App Store. They refused to be pinned down to an exact reason, simply stating that they were doing a cull of any applications that presented widgets to the user. All the guy on the phone would say is how much he liked our application, and how sorry he was, but there was nothing he could do. All we got out of him was that Apple no longer liked ‘widgets’ and wanted all widget apps removed. They refused to say what (if anything) we could remove from our application, or even who we could discuss this with. Allow me to quote something I said a month ago:

I don’t think there’s that much that is ‘murky’ about their approval process, every time our apps have been rejected it has been for a reason that is documented in either an interface guidelines document, or some other part of their documentation. In my experience (and that’s all I can comment on) it’s extremely well documented as to what you can and can’t do.

Well now my experience is different. Our application is being removed for a very murky reason, one which is nowhere to be found in any documentation that Apple give us developers, even worse one which Apple themselves refuse to explain, or put in writing. Reminds me a little of Alice in Wonderland:

I think I should understand that better, if I had it written down: but I can’t quite follow it as you say it.

I really do get the impression that the guy we were talking to on the phone was being as evasive as he could, even though he didn’t want to be, because he was terrified of giving us any more information than he had to. It’s fair to say I was angry at that point. Why wouldn’t I be: I had convinced my company to take a gamble and make some apps for Apple’s Store. Tennis Stats had been a great success and we wanted to get on the iPad train with My Frame. Things were going well, new features were being planned money, real money was being invested. Then Apple pulled the pin, so I emailed Steve Jobs himself: (more at link)

[MineralMan]

1. I'd never develop anything that could only be sold on a single

site owned by the product manufacturer. That just doesn't make sense. If you can't market it yourself, it's not really your product, and your business is in the hands of a third party. Too much loss of control.

If I wanted to develop apps, I'd do it for platforms other than Apple.

[Commie Pinko Dirtbag]

2. Unless it's software for plain old Macs.

Those still behave like normal computers. Still.

[MineralMan]

4. Well, more or less like normal computers.

:rofl:

[Tesha]

11. Even if you could sell a million units?

(By reaching, what, 2% of the installed base?)

Tesha

[alfredo]

12. On the flip side, a Windows mobile software title has been found to be

making phone calls to Antarctica and other high price areas. Such things are why Jobs wants tight controls on software. (How open are the game consoles?)


http://www.gamepron.com/news/2010/05/31/mobile-game-trojan-calls-the-south-pole/

What percentage of users want a worry free device that works well and doesn't turn on them like the example above? Sure I'd like a more open platform, but I understand why they want the same control over content that you see on the XBox, Wii, and PlayStation.

If I got an iPad it will be for watching/reading media, light surfing, and gaming. If I want to write some bash scripts, my Mac Mini is in my man cave.

[KansasVoter]

20. I said the same thing, until my iPhone apps paid for my minivan!

[tridim]

3. Now his company is probably going to get sued for posting this rebuttal.

[AnArmyVeteran]

5. This probably has nothing to do with your situation but...

Is there another app out there that is similar to the one you describe that is still being offered in the Apple store? What is considered a 'widget' to Apple?

Okay, here's the part that probably has nothing to do with your situation: Sometimes I wonder if there are under-the-table deals made with certain companies who offer money under-the-table to wipe out competition in exchange for the surviving company giving a bigger cut to a corporation (Apple, Microsoft, or any corporation). I'm more than a bit cynical about how businesses are really ran. It seems like it takes more than just a great idea, great product or hard work to be monetarily successful. In some countries bribery is a traditional way of doing business, but in the US the same thing is done, but it is 'prettied up' to make it look like it's okay. And if a corporation is big enough they can just purchase enough members of government to write loopholes in the law that greatly benefits them. Oh well, just a few random thoughts.

Good luck getting your App back in the store. They should at least give you something in writing to explain how you can change your App to make it acceptable or within their standards...

[Commie Pinko Dirtbag]

6. I'm not the developer.

The day I develop for the iPxxx is the day you'll see me emigrating to Alabama and joining the Republican Party. And the NRA. But I repeat myself.

[AnArmyVeteran]

9. Sorry, I must have mistaken you, PLEASE don't become a NRA luvin', tea baggin' Alabamian!

[Commie Pinko Dirtbag]

10. Heh!

Fat chance on THAT.

[jayfish]

7. This Is Yet Another Example Of The...

"it must be ok because it's never happened to me" syndrome prevalent in the US today. From phone records being turned over to the government to oil spills. From web privacy to developing software for a closed system. It's pervasive and it makes me sick. There are also signs of "corporations are my freinditis" in that post. I hope his company goes out of business.


FSH

[Commie Pinko Dirtbag]

8. That particular person may be en route to seeing the error of his ways. -nt

[alfredo]

13. Would you refuse to develop for the Wii?

[Commie Pinko Dirtbag]

14. I don't know, does Nintendo have a history of arbitrary and whimsical enforcement of unwritten rules

like Apple does?

If so, yes.

[alfredo]

15. Do game consoles control the content for their devices? Do we hear sour grapes

from developers whose titles aren't up to snuff and rejected? How many rejected Apps for the iPhone were rejected because there were already several titles that do the same thing, or that the code was sloppy, or there was objectionable content? I'm sure a game developer that got rejected by the Xbox could see the rules as arbitrary, and whimsical and not clearly spelled out.

People don't take rejection very well, and tend not to see themselves to blame for the rejection.

[Commie Pinko Dirtbag]

16. You didn't answer the question. -nt

[alfredo]

17. I don't know their policy, but I do know the game consoles control content

on their platforms.

Google "Nintendo rejected games" Do the same for XboX and PlayStation. I'm sure there are some disappointed and angry developers because of the rejection.

[Commie Pinko Dirtbag]

18. The real king of assholery in that regard isn't Nintendo -- it's Sony.

It's not about "controlling", it's about taking back rights they previously gave, for no valid reason. See:

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=389&topic_id=8336961

[alfredo]

19. One reason I'd want a PS3 would be to play games and maybe run Linux.

All platforms have rules concerning. Apple has always been very strict about the user interface. They are also pushing hard to be family friendly, and that has some developers miffed because their adult themed software didn't pass muster.

[PeaceNikki]

21. Steve Jobs crusade of "Freedom from Porn"

Heh... don't tell him his products include a browser.

I hope he and Apple continue to be total control freaks. It's what keeps many people from buying their overpriced crap.

[Lucian]

23. +1000

[Commie Pinko Dirtbag]

26. NIKKI!!!!!!!!

:loveya: :loveya: :loveya: :loveya: :loveya: :loveya:

I wanna make like JESUS again!!! Ala$, there are ob$tacles. :cry:

[PeaceNikki]

27. Hey, my brother is in São Paulo right now.

Made me think of you.

:loveya: x6, back. :)

[alfredo]

28. Overpriced or not, their market cap is over Microsoft with 1/3 the employees.

They are doing something right.

The porn industry doesn't need "an app for that." Jobs knows that and can put on a show for the family values crowd. Remember, he's the top single share holder at Disney. It was strictly business.

[jayfish]

31. Sony Pulled The Ability To Install Other Operating Systems...

from the PS3 with its last firmware update.

FSH

[alfredo]

32. And people are pissed.

[Commie Pinko Dirtbag]

33. Rightly so. Even the USAF was bamboozled, as you'll see at the link I posted. -nt

[alfredo]

34. If you are in the electronics business, it isn't too smart to piss off

a customer with real deep pockets.

[jayfish]

35. Wait till they hear that Sony is going to start charging for...

the PlayStation Network. Many Sony execs will know what it is to be roasted in the depths of the user base that day, I can tell you!

FSH

[jayfish]

30. Yes, But Not Because Of Its Closed Ecosystem.

Nintendo pioneered the whole "certification" process with the NES.

FSH

[Lucian]

22. Another reason why Apple sucks.

That's why that company would be better off developing for Android. They aren't Nazis when it comes to app development.

[PeaceNikki]

24. I love my Droid

:)

[Lucian]

25. I also love my Droid.

:)

[alfredo]

29. Steve Jobs interview at D8 - part 1

http://www.macrumors.com/2010/06/01/steve-jobs-in-opening-interview-session-at-d8-conference/


>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
On the Adobe Flash controversy: "Apple doesn't have the resources others have, and we have to choose which horses to ride. We try to ride those that are on the way up. If you choose wisely, you save yourself an enormous amount of work."
>>>>>>>>>>
On control of the App Store ecosystem: "We have two platforms we support. One is completely open and uncontrolled and that is HTML 5. We support HTML 5. We have the best support for HTML 5 of anyone in the world. Then there's the curated App Store platform. We've got a few rules (function as advertised, can't crash, can't use undocumented APIs), but we approve 95% of apps within a week...thousands per week."

Regarding rejected political cartoon content, Jobs notes, "We had a rule that said you can't defame people. By definition, they defame people. We didn't think of that. That was an unintended consequence. We had actually changed the rule several months earlier, but made a mistake. We're doing the best we can and fixing mistakes as fast as we can. But sometimes people lie and run to the press. We take it on the chin and don't call them out."