Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

Apple Rejects App That Tracks U.S. Drone Strikes

wired.com

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

41–50 of 229 posts

Re: Apple Rejects App That Tracks U.S. Drone Strikes

#41

Post by RobotCaleb »

eevilspock wrote: post #16
loceng wrote: post #9

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If you're in the U.S. or many other countries you aren't in an actual democracy anyway. 1 vote != 1 vote.

I voted up your comment, but can you give me an example of a country that is a democracy by your definition? What is your definition? [Jeez louis... why did this comment get downvoted? Shees!]

I read your comments where you mentioned Louis a couple of times before I realized you were probably saying (what I'd spell as) geez louise.

I kept clicking on the usernames of the people you replied to trying to find how you knew them as Louis. :)

Re: Apple Rejects App That Tracks U.S. Drone Strikes

#42

Post by rickmb »

As an Apple fanboy, I've been able to rationalize everything Apple has done concerning the app-store up to now, even if I personally would have like to have seen a way more open and liberal approach. And the overblown anti-Apple FUD, using misplaced terms like "censorship" and "monopoly" whenever an app was thwarted by Apples opaque policies has made it easy to ignore the objections of detractors.

But I find it impossible to justify what is quite obviously a politically motivated rejection.

I still believe this is Apple's store, and they can admit and reject what they like. But if politics comes into it, than that changes my personal perspective on buying Apple products.

Just imagine if the subject would be "places that legalize gay marriage" instead of drone strikes. The only "objectionable" part of the drone strike app is that it may have a political agenda. That should never be grounds for rejection.

Re: Apple Rejects App That Tracks U.S. Drone Strikes

#43

Post by lutusp »

scott_s wrote: post #40
lutusp wrote: post #36

This is a tempest in a teapot. Obviously the same content could be placed on a Web page containing an incarnation of Google Maps, with an updated overlay containing publicly available data about air strikes. Then iPod/iDevice owners could simply launch a browser and visit the site for the latest data. It's obvious from the article graphic that the app is using Google Maps to display its data, so hosting it in a Web p…

The creator stated push notifications as one of the main points of the application. Rather than being about getting raw information, this app is more about general awareness.

An issue easily solved by the user pressing "Refresh" on a Web page, or the provider designing a page that refreshes itself at 30-second intervals, and avoiding this entire brouhaha.

If the app was something other than an obvious and trivial Google Maps incarnation, this might be different, and I am in no way excusing Apple's paternalistic behavior, but it isn't as though the content is being suppressed by their decision.

It's better overall if this is a Web page -- it lifts the restriction of being an iOS app, it opens the source to anyone with a working browser. It's a more robust solution to what seems to be a non-problem.

Re: Apple Rejects App That Tracks U.S. Drone Strikes

#44

Post by fab1an »

DrJokepu wrote: post #13
mike-cardwell wrote: post #3

I can understand Apple wanting to keep its market place "clean", but at the very least, iDevice owners should be able to opt-in to seeing apps like this. Why can't it just be flagged "adult" or something, and you can then opt-in on your device to seeing apps flagged as such? Why does Apple think it is suitable to make these decisions on your behalf, iDevice users? Are you happy with this? Personally, I'll be sticking…

I believe the following parts of the iOS App Store Review Guidelines answer your question: * We have lots of kids downloading lots of apps, and parental controls don't work unless the parents set them up (many don't). So know that we're keeping an eye out for the kids. * We will reject Apps for any content or behavior that we believe is over the line. What line, you ask? Well, as a Supreme Court Justice once said, "I…

If parental control is truly the main issue, face detection algorithms that also assess your age could be a solution [1], but then again, it seems like Samsung is owning the patent for this [2]. Oops!

Sources: 1. http://www.sync-blog.com/sync/2012/04/how-old-do-you-look-fa...

2. http://www.google.com/patents/US8218080

Re: Apple Rejects App That Tracks U.S. Drone Strikes

#45

Post by woodsielord »

DrJokepu wrote: post #13
mike-cardwell wrote: post #3

I can understand Apple wanting to keep its market place "clean", but at the very least, iDevice owners should be able to opt-in to seeing apps like this. Why can't it just be flagged "adult" or something, and you can then opt-in on your device to seeing apps flagged as such? Why does Apple think it is suitable to make these decisions on your behalf, iDevice users? Are you happy with this? Personally, I'll be sticking…

I believe the following parts of the iOS App Store Review Guidelines answer your question: * We have lots of kids downloading lots of apps, and parental controls don't work unless the parents set them up (many don't). So know that we're keeping an eye out for the kids. * We will reject Apps for any content or behavior that we believe is over the line. What line, you ask? Well, as a Supreme Court Justice once said, "I…

BS argument through and through.

1st* You need an Apple ID with a credit card to use the App Store. Ergo, adult work. Ergo, parental controls can be integrated into the credit card screen by the simple checkbox "Is the user of this account an adult?"

2nd* Supreme Court Justice is given the authority by the state to decide on immense matters after years of honorable (which is their title, by the way) service. Nice attempt at equating that with an app review team, whose job, according to an Apple employee, is to look "at things that may or may not be dcks all day long."

3rd Blabla.

4th* More blabla with qualifiers to look like one of us.

Re: Apple Rejects App That Tracks U.S. Drone Strikes

#46

Post by mc32 »

lutusp wrote: post #36

This is a tempest in a teapot. Obviously the same content could be placed on a Web page containing an incarnation of Google Maps, with an updated overlay containing publicly available data about air strikes. Then iPod/iDevice owners could simply launch a browser and visit the site for the latest data. It's obvious from the article graphic that the app is using Google Maps to display its data, so hosting it in a Web p…

What's more, this incident likely created more interest than they would have ever had -had this not been rejected. Not saying rejection was their anticipated motive, but in retrospect, it did give the data visibility. So, in that sense, it is a likely positive outcome for their purpose.

Re: Apple Rejects App That Tracks U.S. Drone Strikes

#47

Post by dlikhten »

rickmb wrote: post #42

As an Apple fanboy, I've been able to rationalize everything Apple has done concerning the app-store up to now, even if I personally would have like to have seen a way more open and liberal approach. And the overblown anti-Apple FUD, using misplaced terms like "censorship" and "monopoly" whenever an app was thwarted by Apples opaque policies has made it easy to ignore the objections of detractors. But I find it impos…

Android FTW. I know this pops up constantly, but this is EXACTLY the reason I advocate for android. This sort of shit does not fly there. Apple has the ability to censor which even the government can't and worse is that it's fully legal.

I really wish people would take these stories as a sign that we need to focus on the android market.

FWIW: I am not advocating for the baby & bathwater argument. I think we must focus on android because it will put market pressure on apple to have a more fair/just approval process.

Re: Apple Rejects App That Tracks U.S. Drone Strikes

#48

Post by lukeschlather »

rickmb wrote: post #42

As an Apple fanboy, I've been able to rationalize everything Apple has done concerning the app-store up to now, even if I personally would have like to have seen a way more open and liberal approach. And the overblown anti-Apple FUD, using misplaced terms like "censorship" and "monopoly" whenever an app was thwarted by Apples opaque policies has made it easy to ignore the objections of detractors. But I find it impos…

This is not the first time that Apple has rejected an app on purely political grounds. This may be the first time they've removed something and offended liberal/libertarian sensibilities, but a couple clear examples from a while back:

http://mashable.com/2011/03/23/apple-removes-gay-cure/

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/11/24/apple-manhattan-dec...

Re: Apple Rejects App That Tracks U.S. Drone Strikes

#49

Post by scott_s »

lutusp wrote: post #43
scott_s wrote: post #40

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The creator stated push notifications as one of the main points of the application. Rather than being about getting raw information, this app is more about general awareness.

An issue easily solved by the user pressing "Refresh" on a Web page, or the provider designing a page that refreshes itself at 30-second intervals, and avoiding this entire brouhaha. If the app was something other than an obvious and trivial Google Maps incarnation, this might be different, and I am in no way excusing Apple's paternalistic behavior, but it isn't as though the content is being suppressed by their deci…

I still think you're missing the point. The point was someone would be going about their normal day, and intermittently receive notifications of a disturbing event from the phone in their pocket. A webpage breaks this, as users have to seek out the information.

Again, this app is more a creative endeavor than a tool. The author is thinking of ways to make people more aware of something, forcing them to think about it during their day, not trying to give them raw information. (Granted, one must still decide they want to be forced to think about this during their day, as they have to install the app and allow push notifications.)

I'm also not making any judgements on Apple or the app itself. I'm just trying to explain what I think the creators' intentions are, and why a webpage is not suited for those intentions.

Re: Apple Rejects App That Tracks U.S. Drone Strikes

#50

Post by grandalf »

I think it's important to be reasonable in cases like this and realize that companies willing to undertake censorship like this on behalf of government will surely (and happily) do things like install payloads on your device without permission. It's really a very small leap to expect this.
Post reply on HN