The article now says "[UPDATE, SATURDAY 8 AUGUST: Consider this entire story retracted for now. Details forthcoming.]"
App Store Rejection of the Week: Dark Hours
231–240 of 243 posts
Re: App Store Rejection of the Week: Dark Hours
#232Earlier quoted context omitted.
I was not assuming bad faith, I was interpreting your meaning based on the words you said. I’m also an iOS developer and while there are a lot of things about the app review process that should be changed, I wouldn’t describe any of my reviewers as clueless. Maybe you’ve submitted more apps than me, though, and maybe you got a bad one. Like you said, app volumes are huge, so that’s probably a statistical inevitabilit…
> I was not assuming bad faith, I was interpreting your meaning based on the words you said. Where exactly does "to be a contrarian" or "to hate on Apple" come from my words? That was bad faith psychological speculation, not an interpretation of my words. You said that I purposefully misinterpreted the meaning of the quote. That is literally assuming bad faith. I'm not sure what you think assuming bad faith is, if no…
[deleted]
Re: App Store Rejection of the Week: Dark Hours
#233> But that’s not what happened at all. Godier proceeded through a series of escalations up to the App Review Board and the Review Board responded that they determined the original rejection was valid because, I shit you not, “We understand that the app includes a live tarot reading feature.” > It has no tarot function, no horoscopes, and nothing that I, or anyone else I’ve asked, would associate with astrology. I hav…
this often works even if you did in fact have “tarot function” and didnt remove it
Sounds like the self checkout at Kroger when it sees the wrong weight on the bagging carousel.
Just jiggle the carousel a bit and it lets you proceed.
Re: App Store Rejection of the Week: Dark Hours
#234Earlier quoted context omitted.
Those are very different scenarios because your "protection" is the threat of consequences. You can freely buy and use knives, you can drive your own car, but you can only use your phone to do what Apple approves of? Sure, banning knives, replacing cars with public transport, and locking down all computers should be safer in theory... but murderers will still murder and scammers will still scam. Social engineering is…
When did Apple hold a gun to your head and make you buy an iPhone?
They didn't, and I don't have one, but it's looking like Android phones are going to be locked down in the future too. Everything else will slowly lose compatibility with the apps you need.
Re: App Store Rejection of the Week: Dark Hours
#235Earlier quoted context omitted.
> If you give a toddler a butcher's knife to play with and they get hurt, you'll likely get in trouble for child endangerment. Right but granny is not a child, she is kind of the opposite of a child. You're essentially saying we should child proof the entire world, right. Appeal to the lowest common denominator and DO NOT offer back doors. But that's a plainly ridiculous notion and everyone knows it. This argument on…
> Right but granny is not a child, she is kind of the opposite of a child. The failure modes are often quite similar - cognitive/motor issues and lack of experience with the tools offered. > Appeal to the lowest common denominator and DO NOT offer back doors. Back doors accessible by scammers are bad for the same reasons back doors accessible by governments are. > This really is "no sale of knives" type stuff. That s…
> The failure modes are often quite similar - cognitive/motor issues and lack of experience with the tools offered.
Children are either not allowed to have devices, or they have them but locked down with parental controls (hopefully).
Apple could easily have a separate mode for this. Maybe there's some overlap with lockdown mode where it can be bundled together. There is no reason to force it on everyone except to benefit Apple.
Re: App Store Rejection of the Week: Dark Hours
#236The blog post has been retracted in full, for the very good reason that it apparently was in fact an astrology app complete with tarot readings and other (I quote) "occultist horseshit".
https://daringfireball.net/2026/08/retraction_app_store_reje...
Re: App Store Rejection of the Week: Dark Hours
#237It's a massive problem that mobile apps are most users favorite way to consume programs yet are one of the few forms of distribution being gatekept by two massive and opinionated companies. It feels like the slow creeping rot at the foundation of the premise (and promise) of technology and the internet. Which makes this a good time to remind everyone about the Keep Android Open movement: https://keepandroidopen.org/…
That might be backwards.
Like maybe people are so much more willing to even look at your mobile app because they got it from one of those two opinionated companies.
Whatever friction that causes for app publishers, it seems to generally work for users.
Re: App Store Rejection of the Week: Dark Hours
#238This article is retracted.
Read https://daringfireball.net/2026/08/retraction_app_store_reje...
Re: App Store Rejection of the Week: Dark Hours
#239Earlier quoted context omitted.
> Right but granny is not a child, she is kind of the opposite of a child. The failure modes are often quite similar - cognitive/motor issues and lack of experience with the tools offered. > Appeal to the lowest common denominator and DO NOT offer back doors. Back doors accessible by scammers are bad for the same reasons back doors accessible by governments are. > This really is "no sale of knives" type stuff. That s…
> The failure modes are often quite similar - cognitive/motor issues and lack of experience with the tools offered. Children are either not allowed to have devices, or they have them but locked down with parental controls (hopefully). Apple could easily have a separate mode for this. Maybe there's some overlap with lockdown mode where it can be bundled together. There is no reason to force it on everyone except to be…
> Children are either not allowed to have devices, or they have them but locked down with parental controls (hopefully).
How many children have you met lately?
Re: App Store Rejection of the Week: Dark Hours
#240Earlier quoted context omitted.
> The failure modes are often quite similar - cognitive/motor issues and lack of experience with the tools offered. Children are either not allowed to have devices, or they have them but locked down with parental controls (hopefully). Apple could easily have a separate mode for this. Maybe there's some overlap with lockdown mode where it can be bundled together. There is no reason to force it on everyone except to be…
> Children are either not allowed to have devices, or they have them but locked down with parental controls (hopefully). How many children have you met lately?
Who is at fault for allowing children unlimited access to their devices? Their caregivers or Apple?