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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

#161
post #59

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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.

>It is permitted to apps to known when the screen is on / screen off, via the built-in notification it provides.

[citation needed]

Re: Apple has removed us from the App Store

#162
post #37

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That is like saying Hacker News has a monopoly because it is 100% of the Hacker News market.

No, it is like saying news.ycombinator.com has a monopoly because it is 100% of the Hacker News market. PS: We really need a community-backed hackernews.org

Go make one.

Re: Apple has removed us from the App Store

#163
post #76

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Apple's ToS goes beyond asking the user for consent for a privacy or power-impacting feature; the review process is meant to also verify that the access is for an appropriate reason. This similar to how they ban apps that do cryptocurrency mining in the background. With the exception of a few specific Apple apps (Mail is actually the only one I know of now, and I believe it is more that the Mail app is a renderer of…

My understanding is that RescueTime actually has a feature to show you where did you use apps.

Of course it does; if it didn’t, it would have no claim to the location API whatsoever.

Re: Apple has removed us from the App Store

#164

Earlier quoted context omitted.

In this case, the allegation is that the OS itself had private APIs which Office used, while other apps had less access to because they were not documented. (Let’s not forget, private API can still be discovered and called, especially on Windows 95 and NT).

But not for App Store apps, unless you’d like your binary to be rejected.

Yes, of course. I meant at the time of Windows 95 and NT. It's much worse now on Apple's App Store.

Re: Apple has removed us from the App Store

#165

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Why should Apple be allowed to decide what runs on phones owned by other people? That's like letting appliance makers decide what food people can store or cook, or letting phone makers decide who people can call. I understand this is the status quo, we can also discuss whether it's right, even if it's currently technically possible and legally permitted.

Actually you can run anything you want, just can’t distribute it via the AppStore. Anyone with a Mac can compile any app themselves and install it via Xcode. And it’s not like iPhones are being forced onto people. People go out of their way to buy iPhones... Maybe there is some merit to these Draconian rules? Just look at the sorry state of the Google Play Store with all the low-effort adware or outright maliscious c…

Being able to put any food you cook yourself in a refrigerator isn't the same as being able to put any food you want in it. Nor is being able to run any code you write yourself the same as being able to run anything you want.

Re: Apple has removed us from the App Store

#166

Earlier quoted context omitted.

No, it is like saying news.ycombinator.com has a monopoly because it is 100% of the Hacker News market. PS: We really need a community-backed hackernews.org

Go make one.

Sorry, not enough time nor money. You have enough time to be a moderator of a new HN instance, though.

Re: Apple has removed us from the App Store

#167

Earlier quoted context omitted.

They control the entire market for Iphone apps. Android apps are completely useless for Iphone users.

So people can’t choose a smart phone platform based on thier platform? If people care about the apps that are not available on iPhone they can buy an Android device just as easily S someone who doesn’t like the games that are available on Nintendo’s platform can buy a PlayStation or XBox.

If an Iphone user wants to use an Android app, they can just buy a second phone? Great solution.

Android apps and Iphone simply aren't substitutable goods, so they are different markets.

Re: Apple has removed us from the App Store

#168

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Time for laws on platform economies.

The only reason it is a "platform" is because of lock-down. Imagine if Jobs' original vision of HTML5+JS runtime as the iOS app runtime engine had come true.

Nobody would use Iphones because all it runs are shitty webapps?

Re: Apple has removed us from the App Store

#169

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Actually you can run anything you want, just can’t distribute it via the AppStore. Anyone with a Mac can compile any app themselves and install it via Xcode. And it’s not like iPhones are being forced onto people. People go out of their way to buy iPhones... Maybe there is some merit to these Draconian rules? Just look at the sorry state of the Google Play Store with all the low-effort adware or outright maliscious c…

Being able to put any food you cook yourself in a refrigerator isn't the same as being able to put any food you want in it. Nor is being able to run any code you write yourself the same as being able to run anything you want.

You can run pre-built binaries via Xcode. You just need to re-sign it with your developer certificate and voila, you can deploy whatever you want on your phone.

Re: Apple has removed us from the App Store

#170

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> With the exception of a few specific Apple apps (Mail is actually the only one I know of now, and I believe it is more that the Mail app is a renderer of the system mail process) and apps which use particular API (such as VOIP and navigation-related location), you cannot have your app run persistently in the background to preserve power and resources. Apple has dozens of daemons that run continuously that handle ev…

the point of these daemons is so that their activity is not duplicated by each app.

The daemons exist so that they can do their job in a continuous way in the background in a way that is not afforded to apps distributed through the App Store.
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