Apple is facing mutiny from its army of third-party iPhone app developers
Developers walk out on App Store
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14 Nov 2009, Phil Muncaster , V3
Just a day after the developer of the popular iPhone Facebook app turned his back on the project, another high profile developer has walked away after expressing dismay at the reviews process.
Rogue Amoeba, the firm that makes the popular Airfoil software for the iPhone, had its Airfoil Speakers Touch 1.0 software approved months ago by Apple, but then discovered a bug which they duly fixed by creating an update, version 1.0.1.
Paul Kafasis, chief executive of Rogue Amoeba, explained in a blog posting that, despite the new version being merely a bug fix and identical in functionality to the original, Apple took more than three and half months to approve it.
He added that a key reason for the delays was that the app used "Apple logo and Apple-owned graphic symbols", even though it used them according to Apple's own fair usage rules.
"Apple is acting as a gatekeeper, and preventing you from getting the software that developers such as ourselves are trying to provide you," wrote Kafasis.
"We wanted to ship a simple bug fix, and it took almost four months of slow replies, delays and dithering by Apple. All the while, our buggy, and supposedly infringing version, was still available. There's no other word for that but 'broken'."
Kafasis and his firm seem not to be alone in their frustration with Apple's App Store approvals process. Joe Hewitt, who developed the hugely popular and high profile Facebook app for the iPhone, quit the ecosystem, telling TechCrunch: "I am philosophically opposed to the existence of their review process."
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Do you agree?
Speaking as a developer
I think you'd have to be insane to spend months and God knows how much money on developing an iPhone app, then face the prospect that Apple will reject it. That happens one time and it's a company-killer for most software firms.
Posted by A. Lloyd Flanagan, 16 Nov 2009
I am developer
I completely agree with the review processs, apple doesn;t want to take the resposibily for the irresposible code written by there developers, aren;t they ashamed of blaming apple for the delay, this happens in any organisation small or big, a small change has to go through DRM, If apple starts giving wat these irresponsible developers wants then , iphone is just like a dead toy
Posted by Sameer, 14 Nov 2009
Apple Will Self Destruct
One of Apple's greatest strengths is also it's greatest weaknesses, they are too proprietary and corporate. They have been able to stay balanced for quite some time now, but with projects such as Google's Android and several new phones based on it, Apple is not the only player in town. Apple does show itself as a free and expressive entity, but programmers and users alike will see through them. A liar fears the person who tells the truth more than anything else. In this case, Apple should fear someone who is at least more truthful than they.
Posted by Jeremiah Bennet, 14 Nov 2009
Blame Game
Bottom Line is the code is buggy and doesn't work properly. Who's 'fault' is that? Apple is obviously paranoid about security on the iPhone/iTouch I think that's why the approval of new code takes so long.
Posted by Bryan, 14 Nov 2009
Comebacks?
What????? No terse and pithy comeback remarks by the "enlightened, progressive, hip, uber-sensitive" quasi-Mac brethren? I'm speechless (tongue firmly planted....)
Posted by Tony R., 14 Nov 2009
Apple unable to manage saturated iPhone App Store
4 Months (120 days) is a ridiculous response time! Apple is clearly under-staffed with under-educated employees responsible for managing and approving iPhone apps. Fortunately, there are other new great platforms like the Palm Pre and Android that developers can turn to for better app management and approval, most importantly profit!
4 months of lost revenue is not only frustrating for developers but disappointing. Unfortunately for Apple, developers control the tech support for their software products; if they choose, they could screw the iPhone app store by discontinuing app support while providing better app support for Palm Pre or Android versions of their apps.
Posted by ifown, 14 Nov 2009
Apple need to get their act together
The approval process is absolutely ridiculous, as it takes months and for a professional development company, this can halt any revenue. I can see an increase in the popularity of Jailbroken iPhones and iPod Touches as a result of this. Also, why haven't Apple included a flash plugin for the mobile Safari platform? Control freaks... :(
Posted by A very angry Apple fan, 20 Nov 2009
Blurring the lines
I think some people here are trying to blur the lines. It's Apple's fault that the review process take 4 months, plain and simple. You cannot blame a developer for that by stating they shouldn't have bugs. You can blame the developer for bugs in their software, but Apple is responsible for the delay.
Rapid pace a large part of technology & software. Punishing your developers for delivering fixes isn't very productive.
While I certainly do not have the inside info on their approval process, it is my opinion that the review process is much less about quality control, than it is about legal compliance. And as Apple has shown, in some cases it's all about what could be competition for Apple/AT&T. But that's capitalism, they aren't required to play fair, but they should play by anti-trust rules.
In my opinion, all Apple needs to do is make an "non/incomplete review" category, where users can download & install at their own risk. But that does kind of go against the core principles of Apple knowing what's better for you than you do.
Apple is great company, and makes some of the best products in the world. This is just a downside of their means to do it. Most Apple loyalists I talk to will vigorously defend the company policy no matter what, because they obvisouly feel the ends justify the means. But if you put that model into a product they could care less about, and they probably would change their tune.
As Seth Godin once said: "Steve Jobs is definitely an artist, but he's a lousy manager."
Posted by Ck, 03 Mar 2010