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App Store doesn't accept “too simple” apps

notes.alinpanaitiu.com

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

#111

Post by CharlesW »

DiggyJohnson wrote: post #92
CharlesW wrote: post #85

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> The real reason is that they don't want more apps. There are too many… Is your thought process here that 3.7 million apps is where Apple decided to draw a line in the sand?

I don’t see how that wouldn’t make sense… It’s not that they decided to set an arbitrary threshold of 3.7M apps, but that they have become more stringent on app approvals in light of the growth and quantity of apps in their store. I don’t think GP’s comment requires an incredulous snarky response, despite me not doing a great job making this point…

My comment was sincere. I'm interested in what the parent commenter believes triggered Apple to start specifically targeting small, independent developers.

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

#112

Post by MiddleEndian »

awinter-py wrote: post #98

US legislature has been flirting with 3rd party app stores for a while https://www.macobserver.com/news/open-app-markets-act/ As an alternative, would be interesting to offer third party review for the existing store. Offer pay-to-expedite, more transparency, preapproval before people start building, clearer guidelines on competition ('too many flashlight apps already').

Let's ditch the stores entirely.

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

#113

Post by Bud »

smoldesu wrote: post #26
trebbble wrote: post #8

They've done this since the early days of the app store. Mostly-content apps without really broad appeal have long carried a high risk of rejection. > Homescreen widgets: utterly useless, but can't get more iOS-y and less webapp-y than this, right? This especially, but really the whole post reads like the system working as intended. Granted (as the author notes) way too much shit gets through anyway, but that's not a…

I think Apple has every right to tighten up their first-party App Store, but they should also acknowledge the user's right to install what they want. Maybe some people do want a "too simple" app, and I don't think Apple has the right to tell the user what is-and-isn't appropriate. It's common sense. This would be a great time for them to add a Developer Mode a-la Android, and also start purging their own shopfronts.…

The user has no "right" to "install what they want". Words have meanings.

Apple absolutely has the right to control what apps are available on its store, and what apps are not. This isn't about what is "appropriate"; you just made that up.

This also has nothing to do with "common sense", or at least what you think is common sense.

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

#114

Post by jiggywiggy »

strongpigeon wrote: post #97
jiggywiggy wrote: post #77

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 v…

Seriously, what's up with App Store Connect crapping out so often. It's just generally so slow too. And the IAP thing you mention... Happened to me except they approved the app without the IAPs?! Users would just see these IAPs as unavailable until I had to resubmit a whole new build.

Yeah that also happened this week. It's one big mess. And they dare giving developers any form of criticism.

I submitted a bug issue once over the phone. She was nice. Took me two weeks to submit all kinds of request of screen recordings and browser details. All i got back was after 2 weeks is to update my safari and see if it keeps happening.

Once the giant is taken down, there will be few left rooting for them.

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

#115

Post by cercatrova »

I want app stores to be opened up, by law if necessary, but I also agree with Apple here that this app is too similar to a webpage to really be necessary. Users can simply visit a website that has all this data already, and so I believe Apple was correct in their rejection. However, you should have an alternate way of installing such an app, through sideloading or simply being able to be distributed on another app store, analogous to Android's F-Droid.

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

#116

Post by Bud »

smoldesu wrote: post #69
tptacek wrote: post #41

Earlier quoted context omitted.

There are other products people can buy if they want to install random apps. At this point, everybody knows what the iPhone ecosystem is about.

Well, the EU is starting to think the iPhone ecosystem is about anti competitive behavior and poor customer experience. The intentions of a multinational corporation are completely irrelevant when talking about the real-world impact on thousands of developers. The deal is the same as it ever was: Apple can continue selling their extremely safe applications with their extremely secure payment system and state-of-the-a…

Screw the impact on developers. As a user, I'm more concerned about the impact on users.

The EU is dead wrong. EU commissioners have absolutely zero clue about what makes for good "customer experience". There's one party that has proven, for 15 years now, to have the most clue about that. It's Apple.

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

#117

Post by trebbble »

BitwiseFool wrote: post #73
fzfaa wrote: post #31

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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…

There's competition of regulatory regimes—mandatory and strict (could be stricter, IMO) vs. optional and looser.

Absent government outlawing a bunch of the bad behavior Apple tries to curb, I like being free to have that choice to opt into their regime. When corporate dragnet spying and other hostile bullshit is outlawed and the laws are effectively enforced, sure, I'd want Apple to tear down the walls on their garden.

(please don't just post "but you wouldn't have to use alt stores!" in response—it's been done to death on here, and everywhere else, differences opinion are apparently irreconcilable and we're not likely to gain any ground here today, and Android's still kickin', so the option for that kind of environment does exist for those who want it)

Amusingly, advocacy of optional regulatory regimes enforced by corporations is usually a right-Libertarian position. Not that that's necessarily a point in its favor (see again: I'd much prefer this crap simply be illegal) but those folks do love free markets.

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

#118

Post by Apocryphon »

jaywalk wrote: post #102
skrtskrt wrote: post #91

Earlier quoted context omitted.

the first apps I remember on iOS were a beer glass that poured out beer when you tipped the phone, and a lightsaber app that made sheeewwwww sounds when you swung the phone around. We loved them It's ok to make stupid apps as long as you're not scamming. The oh-so-serious nature of the current online experience sucks

I have fond memories of the beer glass app. I showed it off numerous times after I got my first iPhone In my ideal world, Apple wouldn't have a walled-garden at all. But if they will, then there needs to be a certain bar for apps to meet to be included. And to be clear, there are plenty of existing apps that don't meet such a bar. But Tip 69 definitely doesn't.

Let the users decide.

Actually, there's an interesting notion that could exist on both the official App Store, or in a hypothetical non-Apple one: cull apps that have too low usage activity. But give them a fair shake by attracting attention to them, then seeing what users make of them. And when you do remove low-to-nil use apps, don't remove their listings, keep them as archived entries that users can try to vote back to life.

Obviously, a lot of these mechanisms would be exploited by bots and the like, because the internet just can't have fun experimental interactivity anymore. Doesn't scale.

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

#119

Post by [deleted] »

CharlesW wrote: post #111
DiggyJohnson wrote: post #92

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I don’t see how that wouldn’t make sense… It’s not that they decided to set an arbitrary threshold of 3.7M apps, but that they have become more stringent on app approvals in light of the growth and quantity of apps in their store. I don’t think GP’s comment requires an incredulous snarky response, despite me not doing a great job making this point…

My comment was sincere. I'm interested in what the parent commenter believes triggered Apple to start specifically targeting small, independent developers.

[deleted]

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

#120

Post by kyleee »

nate wrote: post #40
alin23 wrote: post #30

Earlier quoted context omitted.

(author here) Man that camera app sounds so good! I love gesture based apps, and I'm tired of going looking for buttons on the most used functions of a device.. The biggest problem I try to convey is that you have no way of knowing you'll get the rejection without putting the work in first. So you, like me, wasted probably days (if not weeks) to create a fully functional app, spent much of that time on user-facing fu…

Thanks! Yeah, exactly. Even put in the work and a little but of money to create a slightly fancy icon. Called it Somersault to convey how easy it was now to switch lenses, and the icon was a camera somersaulty conveying kind of thing. But alas, not published, and haven't touched iOS dev again.

Disgusting, I am sorry. I love gestures and it sounds like you came up with a very neat app
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