App Store doesn't accept “too simple” apps • Hacker News Board

Re: App Store doesn't accept “too simple” apps

#71

Post by dylan604 » Fri, Aug 19, 2022, 10:25 PM UTC

koheripbal wrote: post #34

nate wrote: post #15

Ran into the exact same problem with a very simple camera app I made. Camera app was completely gesture based. So you never had to find a button to quickly flip the camera to the other side of the phone or find the button to start/stop recording. It made using a camera a lot quicker to get multiple shots of a scene and your reaction shot. Also added in stabilization to the front lens, which was easy but wasn't enable…

The real reason is that they don't want more apps. There are too many, so any small independent dev has an uphill battle getting their app approved.

If only they'd go and cull the list of already accepted/approved apps that are nothing but clones. that would probably make the list so small that it would look bad.

Re: App Store doesn't accept “too simple” apps

#72

Post by SturgeonsLaw » Fri, Aug 19, 2022, 10:25 PM UTC

alin23 wrote: post #37

Jonovono wrote: post #9

Yep, I got this rejection when I made this tipping app ( https://apps.apple.com/us/app/tip-69/id1460610078 ). I went on to add OCR detection for receipts so you don't have to type in the amount, I added more tipping modes, I added split bill functionality, and eventually added an entire social network with the ability to share your receipt for the world to see, like or comment on. Must have spent months trying to get…

Yep, the social network function is also my next go-to for getting this app accepted. Glad to hear it at least worked for someone, gives me hope. I'm thinking of adding an IRC client so that people that go to the same festival can talk about it in the days before the event, but it's all anonymous and ephemeral so I don't get into GDPR and privacy territory.

> I'm thinking of adding an IRC client so that people that go to the same festival can talk about it in the days before the event, but it's all anonymous and ephemeral so I don't get into GDPR and privacy territory.

That's a really cool idea. One of the more unfortunate side effects of this curated feed filter bubble people find themselves isolated into, is the demise of the shared experience. Festivals (and other real life events) are the last bastion of shared experience, and you've found a good way to translate that to the digital realm.

Re: App Store doesn't accept “too simple” apps

#73

Post by BitwiseFool » Fri, Aug 19, 2022, 10:25 PM UTC

fzfaa wrote: post #31

akmarinov wrote: post #22

And that's why we should open up stores by law if necessary. Apple shouldn't be the one to tell me what kind of apps I can have on the device I've bought with my money.

You already knew what you were getting into when you bought it, and Apple is far from having a monopoly.

I feel like this is a counter productive non-solution. The free market, in this case, isn't as free and full of competition as we would like. Smartphone OS's are basically a duopoly, and Android has serious challenges of its own.

That being said, a choice has to be made because two different entities have mutually exclusive rights: Do you side with an individuals' right to install whatever they want on a device they purchased? Or, a large company's right to restrict devices however they see fit?

Re: App Store doesn't accept “too simple” apps

#74

Post by [deleted] » Fri, Aug 19, 2022, 10:25 PM UTC

dylan604 wrote: post #65

cowtools wrote: post #47

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>Ran into the exact same problem with a very simple camera app I made. >[...] >(Just by posting this, now I fear I broke some kind of TOS, and can never publish an iOS app again?) This is how your loyalty to Apple's racket is rewarded. This is your prize for buying hundreds of dollars of their equipment and paying hundreds to license their development kit and get your software reviewed for their locked-down phones.

> paying hundreds to license their development kit hundreds or hundred?

[deleted]

Re: App Store doesn't accept “too simple” apps

#75

Post by OJFord » Fri, Aug 19, 2022, 10:25 PM UTC

dylan604 wrote: post #65

cowtools wrote: post #47

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>Ran into the exact same problem with a very simple camera app I made. >[...] >(Just by posting this, now I fear I broke some kind of TOS, and can never publish an iOS app again?) This is how your loyalty to Apple's racket is rewarded. This is your prize for buying hundreds of dollars of their equipment and paying hundreds to license their development kit and get your software reviewed for their locked-down phones.

> paying hundreds to license their development kit hundreds or hundred?

Hundred per year isn't it? So 'hundreds' seems reasonable.

Re: App Store doesn't accept “too simple” apps

#76

Post by tomcam » Fri, Aug 19, 2022, 10:26 PM UTC

epgui wrote: post #44

I also don't think this app should have been rejected. However, if we assume that the rejection policy was correct (just for the sake of argument), I don't see how adding things like parallax, push notifications, or even a map, makes the application substantially different in the context of this rejection.

Did you read TFA? Apple didn't explain why the app was too simple, so OP had to complex it up blindly b/c they offered no guidance.

Re: App Store doesn't accept “too simple” apps

#77

Post by jiggywiggy » Fri, Aug 19, 2022, 10:26 PM UTC

App store submissions are a pain in the ass. And a mess.

The appstore connect website keeps giving timeouts and errors. One client took me 2 hours to create all products manually. Scripts wouldn't run.

I submit around 5-10 apps per month. Much more more automized updates, same codebase, sort of same content.

The process is pretty standardized.

50 procent is accepted no problem. 50 procent is rejected.

They refer to vague guidelines written by lawyers. And when asked for specification often refuse to give an answer.

IAP products are reviewed independently so if they are not in sync that causes an app reject without notifying you.

All of it sucks.

Apple makes it complicated on purpose and they don't care much for new small developers.

Re: App Store doesn't accept “too simple” apps

#78

Post by crobertsbmw » Fri, Aug 19, 2022, 10:26 PM UTC

dylan604 wrote: post #65

cowtools wrote: post #47

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>Ran into the exact same problem with a very simple camera app I made. >[...] >(Just by posting this, now I fear I broke some kind of TOS, and can never publish an iOS app again?) This is how your loyalty to Apple's racket is rewarded. This is your prize for buying hundreds of dollars of their equipment and paying hundreds to license their development kit and get your software reviewed for their locked-down phones.

> paying hundreds to license their development kit hundreds or hundred?

One hundred. Every year.

Re: App Store doesn't accept “too simple” apps

#79

Post by Victerius » Fri, Aug 19, 2022, 10:26 PM UTC

koheripbal wrote: post #34

nate wrote: post #15

Ran into the exact same problem with a very simple camera app I made. Camera app was completely gesture based. So you never had to find a button to quickly flip the camera to the other side of the phone or find the button to start/stop recording. It made using a camera a lot quicker to get multiple shots of a scene and your reaction shot. Also added in stabilization to the front lens, which was easy but wasn't enable…

The real reason is that they don't want more apps. There are too many, so any small independent dev has an uphill battle getting their app approved.

Now that would be a fascinating development. Apple blocking most new apps because there are already too many of them. I can imagine some scenarios.

"Candidates for this job are required to have released an app on the iOS store"

"Fortune 100 corporation is suing Apple because it won't accept its app"

"Only 1 in 154 app applications is accepted by Apple"

"College admission consultants are starting to recommend high school students seeking admission to top colleges to release an app on the Apple store"

"Study shows college applicants who have release an app on the iOS store are twice as likely to gain admission to an Ivy League school"

"82% of Harvard's class of 2028 released an app on the Apple store prior to admission"

"Study shows that releasing an app on the Apple store and advertising that fact in your online dating profile triples your odds of a match"

Re: App Store doesn't accept “too simple” apps

#80

Post by _aavaa_ » Fri, Aug 19, 2022, 10:27 PM UTC

fevangelou wrote: post #53

Out of curiosity, since iOS seems to have a ~20% share in Romania, why not launch on Android first (which makes business sense at ~80% market share)? And if Apple keeps dicking around, at least make it easy for the mobile site to be installed as a web app to iOS homescreens. @Apple Seriously?

Three big and important reasons:

1. What the dev themselves use. I don't want to use an app that the dev doesn't use daily.

2. What the development experience is like (tooling and API)

3. If you wish to monetize your app at all, iOS users spend disproportionately more. It's not about % of devices so much as it is about % paying users. (Same idea for the % of the target market, how many music festival goers use iOS?)