App Approval

CallKit issues reportedly force Apple to put some call-directory extensions reviews and approvals on hold

If you've tried any of the call blockers, or spam identifiers in iOS 10, you've surely been disappointed. I've tested out a number of them and they really haven't seemed to do anything at all. Most of the time not blocking, or even identifying calls. It appears we may now know why.

It looks to be an underlying issue with CallKit, Apple's new framework that powers these types of apps.

How did this movie streaming app get approved in the App Store? [update: it’s gone]

We've seen our fair share of oddities when it comes to approval of apps in the App Store, but this one probably takes the cake for the most obvious reason: it lets you stream  movies directly from your iPhone or iPad at no cost. We're not talking old movies that are in the public domain either. We're talking recent movies, some of them still being played in theaters.

Update: Apple pulled this app from the App Store. It would have been nice to have an explanation about why and how it was approved in the first place, but I guess we'll have to let our imagination run wild.

AppGratis rejection may point to wider App Store enforcement

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...

6 months later, OnLive app is still waiting for approval

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...

This iPhone App Has a Secret Tethering Feature [Updated]

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...

Another Tethering App Sneaks Into the App Store [Updated]

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...

App Denied from App Store Makes Its Way to Cydia

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...

Apple Pulls “Gay Cure” App From the App Store

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"... 

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

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...

Apple Approves a BitTorrent Application

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...

Google Voice for iPhone – Preview of GV Mobile+

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...

A Deeper Look at Apple’s App Store Guidelines Revisions

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.