11–20 of 216 posts
A former colleague of mine had a series of "cheat" apps which included answers to popular games on the app store. He started to see his apps pulled on Sunday. It could be a coincidence, but he had upwards of a million active users and never had an issue before either. Maybe Apple decided it was time to crack down on some of the rules they hadn't been enforcing.
According to the AllThingsD article [1],
"But sources close to the company [Apple] say it was more than a little troubled that AppGratis was pushing a business model that appeared to favor developers with the financial means to pay for exposure. ... In other words, app-discovery platforms built on paid recommendations aren’t going to fly with Apple."
If this is their business model and this is really the issue, then it needs to be directly addressed by both sides.
[1]http://allthingsd.com/20130408/confirmed-apple-kicks-appgrat...
Is being listed in the App Store a contract? Does it matter that my app was good to go at one point but could be pulled at any time if they introduce a new guideline? How do they justify unilaterally affecting what has to be a billion dollar industry that relies (or what could amount to legal reliance for equitable reasons) on them?
I will save HN the time: "I can't believe that it's 2013 and people are still basing their entire company around the App Store with it's murky rules" "But there's a lot of money to be made there, it's worth it!" "Apple needs to change their procedures" They're all true. Basing a business around an app is both risky and potentially very profitable. Apple should change their practises but have little incentive to. So,…
Regarding the OP; I hope the blog post kicks up enough noise that they allow the app again. Having a large public outcry is the only way to get Apple to do anything other than sue Samsung in attempt to prevent them from innovating faster.
Here's a link to the AppStore Review guidelines: https://developer.apple.com/appstore/resources/approval/guid...
1. The WSJ report noted that Apple was concerned that " AppGratis was pushing a business model that appeared to favor developers with the financial means to pay for exposure." Simon hasn't addressed this point. Do they make paid recommendations ?
If they do make app-recommendations based on payments, it makes a lot of sense for Apple to ban them. As an iOS (and Android) developer, I personally think that paid-recommendations are bad for the ecosystem (though I'm sure that some giant shops paying for recommendations may disagree). At the least, I think users of AppGratis should be told if the recommendations are "paid for".
2. Simon's discussion of rule 5.6 doesn't really address the problem. Rule 5.6 says "Apps cannot use Push Notifications to send advertising, promotions, or direct marketing of any kind."
Simon counters by saying that they only send one notification per day and that users opt-in. However, neither claim refutes the fact that they''re violating rule 5.6. All iOS push-notifications are opt-in anyway. Rule 5.6 says 'no advertisement , no promotions,.... no direct marketing'. It doesn't make exceptions for apps that only send one notification per day. Now Simon could argue that Rule 5.6 is bad for the user and that push-notification-advertisements/promotions are good. That may be a debatable point. However, it is clear that his claims do nothing to counter the fact that AppGratis violates Rule 5.6 (as it is written)
I will save HN the time: "I can't believe that it's 2013 and people are still basing their entire company around the App Store with it's murky rules" "But there's a lot of money to be made there, it's worth it!" "Apple needs to change their procedures" They're all true. Basing a business around an app is both risky and potentially very profitable. Apple should change their practises but have little incentive to. So,…
The problem with the app market is that you literally can't be your own bitch. Your entire business lies in the hands of either Apple or Google. And until HTML5 (or non-native alternatives) gain traction and press Apple/Google into changing their ways a little bit, what is the solution?
I don't feel like the larger issue was addressed by the CEO in the post and Apple seems to be avoiding it as well. According to the AllThingsD article [1], "But sources close to the company [Apple] say it was more than a little troubled that AppGratis was pushing a business model that appeared to favor developers with the financial means to pay for exposure. ... In other words, app-discovery platforms built on paid r…
This is curation in action.
http://thenextweb.com/apple/2012/12/18/apple-removes-popular...
That was also a very useful app that provided real functionality that is missing from the Apple Store, like price history and price sale alerts. But Apple doesn't want to make it easier to figure out if you should wait to buy an app. Good for Apple, bad for users.