AppGratis rejection may point to wider App Store enforcement

By Ed Sutherland on Apr 10, 2013

Apple may be preparing to scrub its App Store of companies offering to promote other apps through paid partnerships with their developers.

The removal of the AppGratis curation software from the App Store earlier this week “was the first step” by Apple to enforce the recently-announced portions of the App Store Review Guidelines, according to one tech news outlet.

And while the AppGratis teams argues this is “far from finished,” looks like the legitimacy of the App Store’s ranking feature is at stake. On the surface, it seems Apple believes it is being threatened by third-party software for iDevices designed to recommend other apps, including promoting apps via social media.

Although developers debate the meaning of two clauses in Apple’s guidelines, the iPhone and iPad maker wants to head off any confusion by consumers, the Wednesday report suggests… Read More

 

6 months later, OnLive app is still waiting for approval

By Cody Lee on Jun 7, 2012

In late 2011, OnLive announced that it would be bringing its over-the-air console gaming platform to iOS. It promised that users, wielding its dedicated controller, would have access to a library of tens of thousands of popular games on their iOS devices.

But as cool as it sounded, the magic soon wore off as the app’s ETA went from “imminent” to “your guess is as good as ours.” It’s now been 6 months since the OnLive team submitted its iOS client to the App Store. And it’s still awaiting Apple’s approval… Read More

 

This iPhone App Has a Secret Tethering Feature [Updated]

By Sebastien Page on Feb 3, 2012

A few days ago, we told you about QuasiDisk, an app with a hidden tethering feature that sneaked into the App Store. The app was quickly pulled after being publicized on a gazillion blogs.

Today, we learned about yet another app that got through Apple’s strict approval process, hiding a tethering Easter egg. The app is called iRandomizer Numbers. It’s available in the App Store for $4.99… Read More

 

Another Tethering App Sneaks Into the App Store [Updated]

By Sebastien Page on Jan 30, 2012

This is not the first time a tethering app passes Apple approval process to make its way to the App Store.

A couple months ago we told you about iTether, an app that brought tethering to the iPhone without even bothering hiding its true feature. At the time, iTether was so obvious that we really wondered how this app had made it through the app approval process. It got pulled shortly after, but a few early buyers were able to get their hands on the app and tether their iPhones for free.

Today, a new app managed to fool Apple’s team of app reviewers by camouflaging the tethering feature under an app that looks completely legit… Read More

 

Need an Escort? There’s an App for That

By Cody Lee on May 13, 2011

SugarSugar.com “Where romance meets finance” has just announced that they have an iOS application set for a June launch date. Typically, a dating site launching its own application wouldn’t necessarily make headlines, but this isn’t your typical dating site.

If you haven’t guessed by now, SugarSugar is more of an escort service rather than folks actually trying to find true love. The description states that the website is for “generous men looking to spoil, and dynamic women looking for financial support…” Read More

 

App Denied from App Store Makes Its Way to Cydia

By Sebastien Page on Mar 24, 2011

The Tawkon app would have probably gone unnoticed in the App Store, but not being approved by Apple in the first place is probably the best thing that ever happened to it.

The developer of the app had been in contact with Apple executives who apparently loved the app. Everything looked fine until they got an email from Apple saying their app couldn’t be approved.

The dev emailed Steve Jobs about it, asking why the app wasn’t approved, to which Steve replied “No interest”. Clear enough! So the developer decided to bring his app to Cydia… Read More

 

Apple Pulls “Gay Cure” App From the App Store

By Sebastien Page on Mar 23, 2011

Five days and over 145,000 signatures later, Apple finally pulled the Exodus International app from the App Store. As harmless as it looked on the surface, the app dubbed as “Gay Cure” was terribly offensive, especially to the gay community.

A representative for Exodus International says “Our mission is to reach those with unwanted same-sex attractions and help them to reconcile their sexuality with their faith”…  Read More

 

New iPhone App Wants to Turn Gays into Heterosexuals. Wait, What?

By Sebastien Page on Mar 18, 2011

Are you gay and really wish you were heterosexual? Rejoice, because there is an app for that! Yes, you read that right. Exodus International is a new iPhone application by an organization of the same name whose goal is to “mobilize the body of Christ to minister grace and truth to a world impacted by homosexuality”.

Damn, how did that one got through Apple’s approval process? The app looks pretty harmless at first sight but it is clearly offensive, especially when you look at the background of the Exodus International group, an organization that seeks “freedom from homosexuality through the power of Jesus Christ”… Read More

 

Is Apple Starting to Censor the Word “Gay” in the App Store?

By Sebastien Page on Nov 1, 2010

We already knew that the app approval process could be somewhat random. Some apps that shouldn’t be approved in the first place manage to show up in the App Store, while others that shouldn’t have any problem are rejected, sometimes for false reasons. In the end, Apple is always right: their store, their rules, right?

But what if Apple decided to reject applications simply because they contain the word “gay”? It seems that’s what the developer of a gay networking app has discovered while submitting his application for review… Read More

 

Apple Approves a BitTorrent Application

By Guest Author on Oct 4, 2010

Apple has approved a BitTorrent‐based app for the App Store despite rejecting other BitTorrent apps in the past, citing piracy concerns.

The app was developed by Derek Kepner and is called IS Drive. Available now at the App Store for $4.99, it basically utilizes ImageShack Drive, which is a paid, torrent‐based service for downloading files. Users search for torrents on the app and can also download torrents from ISOHunt and Mininova… Read More

 

Google Voice for iPhone – Preview of GV Mobile+

By Sebastien Page on Sep 16, 2010

Some of you might remember the application called Google Voice Mobile, which was approved in the App Store last year. When the battle between Apple and Google started heating up though, the application was pulled from the App Store because it “replicated features that come with the iPhone”, namely the “phone” part. The app quickly went underground and made its way to the iPhone anyway via Cydia.

Since Apple loosened the app approval process last week, they invited Sean Kovacs, the developer of Google Voice Mobile, to resubmit his application to the App Store. Woohoo, great news indeed. MacRumors has had the chance to have a quick glance at the application, rebaptized GV Mobile+ for the occasion. It looks pretty good… Read More

 

A Deeper Look at Apple’s App Store Guidelines Revisions

By Guest Author on Sep 13, 2010

We were all dancing in the street while holding up our posters of the Apple hierarchy when the announcement that the rules and regulations had been altered to allow just about anything into the App Store, right? Certainly there is no reason to believe that apps from the past that were once denounced will likely be gracing the store soon. But is that all of it?

What did the regulation altering really say? Certainly a company the size of Apple would need to put specifics down to paper when changing something as influential as the App Store regulations. PC World shows us they certainly did write things down, in that evasive Apple tone that always leaves room for immediate alteration in policy. Read More

 

iMovie App Violates Apple’s Own Guidelines

By Sebastien Page on Sep 10, 2010

In the wake of an FTC investigation, Apple decided yesterday to loosen its restrictions on iOS app development and published full guidelines about applications submitted for review in the App Store.

These guidelines aim at helping developers understand how Apple reviews applications. To quote Apple, “we hope it will make us more transparent and help our developers create even more successful apps for the App Store.”

Well, speaking of transparency, can someone at Apple explain to me why Apple’s iMovie application for iPhone violates their own guidelines? Read More

 

Does Apple’s SDK for iOS Kill Creativity?

By Guest Author on Sep 9, 2010

I can’t imagine owning an iPhone or other Apple handheld without the addition of the App Store. I’ve said before that I believe it to be the greatest asset to the iOS platform. So what’s the problem?

Apple Investor outlines the possibility that a vague module and a totalitarian controlled acceptance process has caused developers to walk on egg shells thus stunting their creativity. Some say the terms of service are often inconsistent, but as with any report like this, there are two lines of thought to be heard… Read More

 

Should Apple Skip the App Approval Process?

By Sebastien Page on Nov 20, 2009

Since the birth of the App Store, there has been some very confusing app approvals. Apple approved applications that shouldn’t be approved (ie. Baby Shaker) but didn’t let other “non-threatening” apps make it through its walled garden.

This random app approval process can be very frustrating, especially for developers who might spend considerable amounts of time developing an application and risk to see it denied.

But what can a developer do against the almighty Apple dictator? Unfortunately, there is not much you can do. Apple clearly doesn’t care about independent developers who have actually made the App Store the success it is today.

The good news is that some well-known developers have started to raise their voices and say out loud what they think. That’s the case of Joe Hewitt, the lead developer of the Facebook application for iPhone. In a tweet sent out last week, Hewitt announced he quit developing for the iPhone. TechCrunch got him to tell more about his decision:

My decision to stop iPhone development has had everything to do with Apple’s policies. I respect their right to manage their platform however they want, however I am philosophically opposed to the existence of their review process. I am very concerned that they are setting a horrible precedent for other software platforms, and soon gatekeepers will start infesting the lives of every software developer.

Take that Apple! When the developer of the most popular application basically tells you how much you suck, it kinda hurts.

In an article on JAiB (which inspired this article of mine), my fellow iPhone blogger PatrickJ gives his opinion:

Apple could restrict their review process to solely looking at the “soundness of the code” [...] does the code risk crashing other apps / hanging up the OS? Does it compromise security? Not venturing into any of the grey areas beyond that.

I think Patrick is spot on. Yes Apple should check the apps and make sure they are properly working without compromising any of the iPhone features or security. Beyond that, Apple shouldn’t tell me what’s best or not for me.

Enough about what I think. What do you think? Do you think Apple should continue the same way? Should it scrap the app review process? I really look forward to read your thoughts.

 

Enough With Apple Dictatorship

By Sebastien Page on Jul 28, 2009

I am growing tired of Apple’s ridiculous app approval process. There is not one day going by without Apple making the headlines of tech blogs for their absurd abuse of power over developers. At first, I covered these nonsensical rejections, but there’s been so many that I stopped reporting them.

The latest grotesque rejection from the App Store is GV Mobile, a Google Voice application that was approved last April by Phil Schiller himself, Apple’s senior Vice President of Worldwide Product Marketing… Fast forward 3 months later and the app is rejected because it is “duplicating features that the iPhone comes with (Dialer, SMS, etc)”. What a nonsense!

Last month, Apple rejected iLaugh Lite for no reason at all, saying that it reserves the right, in its sole discretion, to reject an application for any reason. If this doesn’t sound like a pure dictatorship, I don’t know what it is…

What really annoys me is that people don’t seem to care much and just deal with it. If it was Microsoft doing the same thing, people would be ranting all over the web. But it’s Apple, the great innovative, customer oriented company so that makes it ok… To me it doesn’t!

Apple is taking the risk of seeing the most innovative developers jump over to Android or the Palm Pre, but does it really care? It seems to me Apple cares more about money coming in through fart applications than it cares about really pushing the limits of innovation in the App Store.

If you were looking for yet another reason the jailbreak your iPhone, then here you go. This is an opportunity for developers to flip their third finger to Apple and make their apps available on jailbroken iPhones. That’s exactly what the developer of GV Mobile is going to do has done as GV Mobile is now available for free on Cydia. I just wish more developers would follow the jailbreak way. No one, including Apple, should dictate what I can and cannot do with my iPhone.

What do you think of the app approval process? Do you think it’s ok for Apple to reject whatever it wants, or do you feel that you, the end user, should decide what’s good or not for you?

As a side note, you can see that my Photoshop skills are very limited… If any of you guys want to make a better image for this article, feel free to get in touch with me.

 

Apple Dictatorship Hits Again

By Sebastien Page on Jun 12, 2009

I try not to write too much about the app approval process because it seems to be a never ending discussion. However, some events piss me off so much sometimes that I have to vent out by writing a post about it. That’s the case about a new app rejection I first heard about on TUAW.

Usually, when Apple rejects an app, it gives somewhat of a reason like “violating the SDK” or “objectionable content”. This time though, the reason for rejecting an update to iLaugh Lite simply is that Apple can do whatever they want to do.

This to me is very similar to a dictatorship and it is absolutely scandalous. But what can you do? You can just shut up and hope things get better, just like the good obedient consumers we are.

 

Peekababe Finally Makes It To The App Store

By Sebastien Page on May 1, 2009

A couple of weeks ago, I reported about Peekababe being rejected from the App Store because it was too much of a sexy app. Well, even though the app doesn’t seem to have changed at all, Peekababe is now allowed in the App Store, proving one more time that the app approval process is just a giant joke.

According to TechCrunch:

So why did Apple approve the app this time? Well it may be because Sookie now includes a 12+ rating for it. “My rating was based on the guidelines that they have for the iTunes store. Better to be safe than sorry,” Bigio says. There is also a clear note saying that it does not contain any nude or pornographic pictures. 12+ is kind of funny though. Something tells me a lot of parents wouldn’t want their 12-year-old playing with this app.

I really like the irony that it’s not ok for kids under 12 to see ladies in sexy lingerie but it sure is ok for them to kill, rob, and sell drugs in the Mafia-like iPhone games…

You can download Peekababe on iTunes for $0.99.