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Apple has removed us from the App Store

blog.rescuetime.com

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Re: Apple has removed us from the App Store

#51

Post by CodeSheikh »

"using the persistent location API also allows us to use an acknowledged acceptable way to capture when our users have active screen time." I am confused, how is screen time correlated with user location? If you want to check if a user is on the go and not using screen then there are other iOS SDK API that you can use to determine that. Are you trying to determine if a user is spending certain time on hhis/her phone during transit? Well, what if my phone is on a holder while I am backing and it is showing me the route? What if I am listening to Youtube videos while I am transiting with my eyes closed.

I am sorry, but location data has become a really hot topic to come in digital privacy related debates. And your usage is not justified. I would love to use your app but with "Always" flag off.

Re: Apple has removed us from the App Store

#52

Post by akmiller »

lostmsu wrote: post #24
whalesalad wrote: post #9

Earlier quoted context omitted.

How could it be illegal? If you sold bread in a grocery store and the grocery store decided they preferred their own brand and didn't wanna sell yours anymore... would that be illegal?

It should be if there are 3 grocery stores in the country, and your bread can't be sold by other 2. This is a great case to be a precedent.

Really only 2 grocery stores in the world! The other stores are rare places that not many visit.

Re: Apple has removed us from the App Store

#53

Post by gnicholas »

Out of curiosity, how much does it drain the battery to use this API? I remember a period a few years ago where my battery was draining much faster than normal, and eventually I realized it was because I hadn't properly ended a workout on RunKeeper, which was tracking my location.

This was years ago, and probably on an older phone. Perhaps the newer phones handle this more efficiently? I ask because I'd love to use one of these apps but am wary of the battery impact.

Re: Apple has removed us from the App Store

#54

Post by laohu »

ThePhysicist wrote: post #48
laohu wrote: post #39

It is of note in this case that "misuse" is perfectly arbitrary. The RescueTime app did use location, only locally on the device, to enrich the information provided to users. It also happened to capture screen time, obviously important to the app. Be clear here: Apple has not said this aspect is misuse . Screen time recording is blessed by Apple. There are at least three other apps active in the app store that do the…

Did you do any other kind of data collection that Apple might have had issues with? Do they get a copy if your source code when reviewing the app? Also, can you explain a bit more why you need to capture location information for measuring the users screen time? The two things seem pretty unrelated to me (but I’m not an user of the app either).

No other data issue has been cited... There is no other data available on iOS to use for productivity tracking anyway. The app is best used as an out-of-band console / intervention / notification center, however getting a "total screen time across all devices" metric is a much desired feature for users.

As the APIs stand today, the only way the phone screen pick up event can be captured, is if the persistent location capability is in place. Of course, a users location is very informative for work goals and what a users hopes might be for screen time, so it also matters as a data point (think, office vs transit).

So a number of apps have used both together, for the purpose of tackling digital wellness. The decision as to which is "primary" has been applied without consistency by the reviewers.

Re: Apple has removed us from the App Store

#55

Post by gietema »

ancorevard wrote: post #22

Slightly related. Only a month ago I deleted my RescueTime account and the app from my Mac. With all the privacy issues lately, I finally realized how much data I'm sending RescueTime, and a made a decision. I don't have a reason to mistrust them, but I also don't have a reason to give them this much of my trust either. A breach of the RescueTime database would be insanely invasive.

I just did the same because of your comment. Thanks.

Re: Apple has removed us from the App Store

#56

Post by laohu »

gnicholas wrote: post #53

Out of curiosity, how much does it drain the battery to use this API? I remember a period a few years ago where my battery was draining much faster than normal, and eventually I realized it was because I hadn't properly ended a workout on RunKeeper, which was tracking my location. This was years ago, and probably on an older phone. Perhaps the newer phones handle this more efficiently? I ask because I'd love to use o…

It is not recommended to enable this capability on iPhone 6 generation and older. Devices after that have on chip acceleration that makes it a minimal drain... it was one of the big hardware advancements a few years back.

You can go download Moment from the App Store right now and find out :)

Re: Apple has removed us from the App Store

#57

Post by Avamander »

ancorevard wrote: post #22

Slightly related. Only a month ago I deleted my RescueTime account and the app from my Mac. With all the privacy issues lately, I finally realized how much data I'm sending RescueTime, and a made a decision. I don't have a reason to mistrust them, but I also don't have a reason to give them this much of my trust either. A breach of the RescueTime database would be insanely invasive.

Could someone please recommend a cross-platform self-hosted alternative to ResueTime?

Re: Apple has removed us from the App Store

#58

Post by gnicholas »

laohu wrote: post #56
gnicholas wrote: post #53

Out of curiosity, how much does it drain the battery to use this API? I remember a period a few years ago where my battery was draining much faster than normal, and eventually I realized it was because I hadn't properly ended a workout on RunKeeper, which was tracking my location. This was years ago, and probably on an older phone. Perhaps the newer phones handle this more efficiently? I ask because I'd love to use o…

It is not recommended to enable this capability on iPhone 6 generation and older. Devices after that have on chip acceleration that makes it a minimal drain... it was one of the big hardware advancements a few years back. You can go download Moment from the App Store right now and find out :)

Yeah I'm going on a downloading spree to get all the ones that haven't been yanked yet!

Related question: now that apps are not backed up when an iPhone is backed up to a computer, is it possible to keep a removed-from-App-Store app when upgrading from one iPhone to the next? Or will I lose all these apps (if they are removed) when I get my next iPhone?

Re: Apple has removed us from the App Store

#59

Post by laohu »

TimTheTinker wrote: post #18
CharlesW wrote: post #6

> Critically, using the persistent location API also allows us to use an acknowledged acceptable way to capture when our users have active screen time. They're admitting to using background location to infer screen time, which is clearly "misuse" according to section 2.5.4. Whether the decision is right or wrong, I find it hard to believe that the developer is actually confused by this.

It looks like they’re using the location API for both (1) screen time inference and (2) screen time and location correlation; and they’re using (2) to justify use of location while ignoring that (1) violates Apple’s TOS. I agree that users ought to be able to use the app without granting access to location data (opting out of #2). But unfortunately, if Apple provides no way of inferring screen time without use of loc…

#1 Does not violate TOS. At least the rep spoken to said it does not. It is permitted to apps to known when the screen is on / screen off, via the built-in notification it provides.

Re: Apple has removed us from the App Store

#60

Post by ThePhysicist »

laohu wrote: post #54
ThePhysicist wrote: post #48

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Did you do any other kind of data collection that Apple might have had issues with? Do they get a copy if your source code when reviewing the app? Also, can you explain a bit more why you need to capture location information for measuring the users screen time? The two things seem pretty unrelated to me (but I’m not an user of the app either).

No other data issue has been cited... There is no other data available on iOS to use for productivity tracking anyway. The app is best used as an out-of-band console / intervention / notification center, however getting a "total screen time across all devices" metric is a much desired feature for users. As the APIs stand today, the only way the phone screen pick up event can be captured, is if the persistent location…

So is Apple mostly worried about the extra battery consumption needed for this feature?
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