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Apple Rejects App That Tracks U.S. Drone Strikes

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

#81

Post by mcantelon »

jcromartie wrote: post #27
DrJokepu wrote: post #13

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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…

The review guidelines have a surprisingly human tone to them.

They certainly do: simultaneously arrogant, condescending and vague.

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

#82

Post by mcantelon »

klawed wrote: post #35
eevilspock wrote: post #7

I think iOS is better than Android. I support the idea of a walled garden in principle (as long as it isn't a monopoly, and in this case it isn't. People can choose Android or others). But the free flow of honest information is fundamental to democracy. This is stupid and gutless editorial censorship on Apple's part (unless there's some detail about this story that I'm missing). I hope someone higher up sees this, re…

Apple has never stated that the purpose of the appstore is to support democracy. And I think it would be hard to argue that the availability of apps (or lack thereof) in Apple's store, which is not even close to a monopoly, has any impact on democracy. I think what's really going on here is that Apple wants to avoid providing apps that might be politically divisive. EDIT: qualifying availability of apps as within App…

>I think what's really going on here is that Apple wants to avoid providing apps that might be politically divisive.

That's called "censorship".

Apple's store has an impact on democracy because Apple is very influential and other companies are likely to imitate their policies. Lots of young people are getting exposed to Apple's flavor of personal computer so, to them, censorship of software will seem normal.

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

#84

Post by xorbyte »

hnriot wrote: post #63
mike-cardwell wrote: post #22

Earlier quoted context omitted.

None of that answers my question. Why can't adults opt in to seeing adult apps? There are literally hundreds of millions of non-iDevice smartphone users who don't live with these restrictions and who are not being harmed at all. Is there something special about iDevice users that means they need extra protection? Of course not.

I think it does, they are saying that even an adult-only opt-in is flawed because thats the same as the child restrictions, it's often not set up. The last point is probably why a lot of parents buy iPhones for their children. As for the app in question, I find nothing objectionable about it, im sure the same information is available through Safari, but i suppose the same argument applies to adults wanting to see thi…

Opt-in is quite obviously not the same as opt-out (via restrictions) so it's dubious to compare the two. The parent poster was asking for a way to allow iOS users a way to voluntarily and explicitly enable content that may be deemed objectionable by some. It's not the same as restrictions, because the device is passively not going to allow those types of applications.

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

#85

Post by at-fates-hands »

dlikhten wrote: post #47
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 focu…

I actually would've thought the MS Windows Phone App Store would be even more fertile ground. Not sure how stringent their policies are, but a quick Google search only turned up a rejected Twitter content scraping app which was rejected.

Not to mention if anybody needs more apps, its the Windows Phone App store.

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

#86

Post by prodigal_erik »

Apple's dystopian system is working as designed. If you're going to take offense, let it be that they granted themselves the power to do this at all, not whether they got around to using it or for what. I just worry how many customers may not care what they opted into even if they knew.

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

#87

Post by kalininalex »

randomdata wrote: post #73
slig wrote: post #68

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Then ask for a password, credit card number, whatever.

I'm not sure how a password can validate a person's age and I had a credit card long before I was 18.

"I had a credit card long before I was 18"

And this is a different problem that also needs to solved.

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

#88

Post by randomdata »

kalininalex wrote: post #87
randomdata wrote: post #73

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm not sure how a password can validate a person's age and I had a credit card long before I was 18.

"I had a credit card long before I was 18" And this is a different problem that also needs to solved.

Why? It was a great way to learn financial responsibility and start building a credit history. I have never gone a month without paying the balance off in full, so it seemed to serve me well.

People jumping into credit late in life as an adult without any teachings on how to properly manage their financials is the greater problem here.

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