Apple’s WWDC14 opening video that never aired publicly has leaked online. It features actor, comedian and writer Larry David who plays Apple’s app approval specialist, along with Snapchat founder Evan Spiegel, an “Angry Birds” ripoff dubbed “Upset Pigeons” and more.
STORY HIGHLIGHTS:
- The leaked video was meant to open the WWDC 2014 keynote
- Actor, comedian and writer Larry David stars in the clip
- The video mentions “Upset Pigeons,” an “Angry Birds” ripoff
- Snapchat founder Evan Spiegel also appears in some scenes
Watch Apple’s unaired WWDC 2014 opening video
The Unofficial Apple Archive creator Sam Henri-Ghoul shared a few clips on Twitter.
The full ten-minute version was available on YouTube at the time of writing. The opening short for Apple’s Worldwide Developers Conference 2014 keynote shows a humorous take on a day in a life of an app approval specialist, played by “Curb Your Enthusiasm” author Larry David.
Watch the whole video embedded right ahead.
Snapchat founder Evan Spiegel also appears in the short.
This is definitely a video from a few years ago, back when the Apple Park headquarters were taking shape because Larry is filmed in Apple’s old Cupertino campus. In one of the scenes, Larry sits at his office desk with green and red stamps for approving or denying apps.
He then takes a call from the makers of the “Upset Pigeons” game, an “Angry Birds” ripoff.
clip pic.twitter.com/wL1Ie9dvUN
— Sam Henri-Gold (@samhenrigold) July 5, 2021
Why Apple was right to not air the WWDC14 opening intro?
All things considered, we’re glad Apple has decided against opening the WWDC14 keynote with this mini-film. The whole thing exaggerates just about everything that’s wrong with the App Store to the point of self-ridiculing Apple’s own approval process.
Also, the App Store is suffering from a major issue with many scam apps and ripoff apps slipping past Apple’s reviewers, and yet Apple had the guts to joke about it? Those problems are real, they’re nothing to sneeze at, so Apple made the right call to skip airing this video.
→ How to view your App Store download history
Considering that the App Store is now under siege from regulators in the US, UK and elsewhere, it’s easy to see with the benefit of hindsight that Apple likely realized back in 2014 that it would have some answering to do sooner or later in terms of its business practices.
If you were a developer with an app that was caught in the App Store approval limbo, how would you feel watching this unreleased Apple video?