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AppGratis pulled from the App Store. Here’s the full story

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Re: AppGratis pulled from the App Store. Here’s the full story

#91

Post by jasonjei »

pgrote wrote: post #24
credo wrote: post #16

Detailed post, but it doesn't seem to address two things. 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 (an…

Does 5.6 apply to all apps? Is it a black and white issue? For instance, the Southwest Airline app, Ding, sends me push notifications when there are sales.

If the user consents to receiving special deals or time limited sale announcements, I don't see the harm. But Apple's TOS seems at best capricious and unevenly applied. I'd like to see them pull Southwest or another popular brand who offers announcements of sales. By that token, they might as well pull Twitter, Mail, and other apps, since they all have the potential for pushing advertisements of time limited sales.

Re: AppGratis pulled from the App Store. Here’s the full story

#92

Post by mdmarra »

brodney wrote: post #67
mdmarra wrote: post #55

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Which is a violation of the OS X EULA. install, use and run up to two (2) additional copies or instances of the Apple Software within virtual operating system environments on each Mac Computer you own or control that is already running the Apple Software, for purposes of: (a) software development; (b) testing during software development; (c) using OS X Server; or (d) personal, non-commercial use. http://www.apple.com…

The way that reads it seems valid to create a virtual instance of osx for development.

Only if you're running it on top of OS X using something like VMware Fusion.

Re: AppGratis pulled from the App Store. Here’s the full story

#93

Post by myko »

ricardobeat wrote: post #85
pi18n wrote: post #14

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I've been recommending Android for a while, and here is another concrete reason why. Every time one of these stories appears I write the following: I develop for iPhone and I used to love OS X. The iPhone in entirety and OS X lately are aimed directly at people who don't know how to use computers even if it comes at the expense of those who do. Everyone do yourself a favor and switch to Linux on your computing platfo…

You should be aware that a hefty percentage of software developers use OSX, I'd say 70% around here. They are easier to use for everyone, not just "people who don't know computers", and one of the best unix environments for development. They are certainly (specially iOS) not aimed at people who like to spend hours messing with a thousand settings screens, buttons and checkboxes - self-proclaimed "power users".

As a developer I use OS X only because I do iOS development. I wouldn't say OS X is easier for everyone, it's not easier for me than my Linux or Windows machines.

Re: AppGratis pulled from the App Store. Here’s the full story

#94

Post by myko »

mdmarra wrote: post #55
tvon wrote: post #43

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You can get OSX up and running in VirtualBox/Vagrant. Not that I'd want to do actual development that way, but we do it for iOS CI.

Which is a violation of the OS X EULA. install, use and run up to two (2) additional copies or instances of the Apple Software within virtual operating system environments on each Mac Computer you own or control that is already running the Apple Software, for purposes of: (a) software development; (b) testing during software development; (c) using OS X Server; or (d) personal, non-commercial use. http://www.apple.com…

Would this hold up in court? It seems laughable upon reading it.

Re: AppGratis pulled from the App Store. Here’s the full story

#95

Post by bentcorner »

kevingibbon wrote: post #56
od2m wrote: post #50

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The problem is low quality software and no trials. I can't tell you how many times I've seen an app, paid $2.99 for it and then found out it was garbage.

Exactly why a lot of devs are finding a freemium model with in-app purchases to be a winning strategy.

Devs that actually use a freemium model in this way (for games, at least) are very few and far between.

Any time I see a free game with IAP I always say to myself "ah, here's where they charge for gold/xp/coins/whatever".

Even more outrageous are the ones that provide a pay app, then transition to freemium+IAP. Nothing says "Hey, thanks for being an early adopter" better than that.

Re: AppGratis pulled from the App Store. Here’s the full story

#96

Post by eridius »

w1ntermute wrote: post #83
mdmarra wrote: post #55

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Which is a violation of the OS X EULA. install, use and run up to two (2) additional copies or instances of the Apple Software within virtual operating system environments on each Mac Computer you own or control that is already running the Apple Software, for purposes of: (a) software development; (b) testing during software development; (c) using OS X Server; or (d) personal, non-commercial use. http://www.apple.com…

When was the last time a developer got sued for violating the OS X EULA? Start worrying about real world problems for a change.

Oh, so just because you don't get sued for it means you should go ahead and do something illegal?

Re: AppGratis pulled from the App Store. Here’s the full story

#97

Post by mdmarra »

w1ntermute wrote: post #83
mdmarra wrote: post #55

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Which is a violation of the OS X EULA. install, use and run up to two (2) additional copies or instances of the Apple Software within virtual operating system environments on each Mac Computer you own or control that is already running the Apple Software, for purposes of: (a) software development; (b) testing during software development; (c) using OS X Server; or (d) personal, non-commercial use. http://www.apple.com…

When was the last time a developer got sued for violating the OS X EULA? Start worrying about real world problems for a change.

Just so I'm clear, where is the list of which ToS and EULAs are OK to break and which ones aren't? AppGratis seems to have gotten boned for violating one, yet you're advocating people break another in the same thread?

Sure, the odds of Apple coming after you are low. But that doesn't mean that it's any less of a violation of the license agreement that you agree to when installing the software. AppGratis also thought they were in the clear with their ToS issue.

Re: AppGratis pulled from the App Store. Here’s the full story

#98

Post by MBCook »

TestingYourShit wrote: post #84
kevingibbon wrote: post #38

I hate the idea of AppGratis and I'm glad its been removed. Who really benefits? The cheap user who will not normally pay for a high quality app? The app developer who spends $$ to get featured in AppGratis to then artificially climb the app store ranking? Dls are one of the worst vanity metrics out there. Devs should focus on building high quality products, monetize, then acquire quality users in a sustainable manne…

They are just playing the game as Apple built it to be played. They were just playing it a little bit to well. Apple doesn't want to see high quality apps with sustainable growth, they don't not want to see that either, but what they really want to see impulse-buy shovelware that keeps lots of money flowing in every day from kids pockets who have the most disposable income and interact with iOS the most. If AppGratis…

> Apple doesn't want to see high quality apps with sustainable growth, they don't not want to see that either, but what they really want to see impulse-buy shovelware that keeps lots of money flowing in every day from kids pockets who have the most disposable income and interact with iOS the most.

That's a pretty big charge.

Re: AppGratis pulled from the App Store. Here’s the full story

#99

Post by idunno246 »

gojomo wrote: post #31
credo wrote: post #16

Detailed post, but it doesn't seem to address two things. 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 (an…

Re (1): Well-disclosed paid-promotion should be fine: Apple does it (iAds), Google does it (AdWords). If that's the issue it should be fixable. Re (2) If a notification that "today's [no-additional-cost] deal has arrived!" counts as "advertising, promotion, or direct marketing", then it seems every other push that aims to improve app usage, by announcing new content or features, would also be verboten. Is that what A…

Yes. From the developer agreement(which is more explicit than the submission guidelines), pretty much every app violates this:

2.2 You may not use the APN or Local Notifications for the purposes of advertising, product promotion, or direct marketing of any kind (e.g., up-selling, cross-selling, etc.), including, but not limited to, sending any messages to promote the use of Your Application or advertise the availability of new features or versions.

Re: AppGratis pulled from the App Store. Here’s the full story

#100

Post by mdmarra »

myko wrote: post #94
mdmarra wrote: post #55

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Which is a violation of the OS X EULA. install, use and run up to two (2) additional copies or instances of the Apple Software within virtual operating system environments on each Mac Computer you own or control that is already running the Apple Software, for purposes of: (a) software development; (b) testing during software development; (c) using OS X Server; or (d) personal, non-commercial use. http://www.apple.com…

Would this hold up in court? It seems laughable upon reading it.

Depends on your locality. In some countries/states/cities, EULAs are utterly unenforceable. In others, they might have a legitimate case.
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