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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

#161

Post by nkorth »

physcab wrote: post #54
potatolicious wrote: post #44

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This isn't quite the same thing. Facebook is letting people advertise apps on news feeds, they're not forcing downloads via a game mechanism. What GP is talking about is the much sketchier model of blocking (or greatly slowing down) access to an app unless the user goes and downloads an affiliated app. This is artificial download inflation by bending the user over a barrel, not advertising.

I don't think Apple will approve an app that blocks a user or slows them down unless they install a 3rd party app. What usually happens is an advert pops up during normal app usage, the user has to exit or let the ad go away, then they can continue using. It's a normal advertisement. Its not unlike when the NYTimes does a full site takeover for some Buick commercial and you have to minimize the ad before you can cont…

I've seen many games that let you "earn" ingame currency by downloading apps or completing surveys. A few of these games _indirectly_ require you to download the incentivized apps by providing very few coins in the actual game, or making the ads the only way to get coins (other than with real money). Apparently that's sneaky enough for Apple.

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

#162

Post by DigitalSea »

duncan_bayne wrote: post #143
DigitalSea wrote: post #132

This whole situation highlights another problem, you should never base a business around a third party API or service. Remember when Twitter changed their guidelines and API usage rules basically destroying companies that had built a product based around Twitter only for it to be deemed in violation of the new rules? This situation should be a warning to others thinking of putting their eggs in one basket, because if…

Never? There are many cases of highly successful businesses being based upon a 3rd party API. E.g.: every successful software company that sold CP/M, DOS, Windows or UNIX software. Perhaps a better statement would be: understand that there are risks inherent to building for any given API, study those risks, and mitigate them. CP/M seems to be dying off? Hope you've started your DOS port already :)

You make a valid point, but I was referring more specifically to web based services and more tightly controlled micro-commerce platforms and operating systems. Considering the high market share of Android I can't fathom ever not building both an Android and iOS version of an app, regardless of cost you have one or the other to fallback on. If both fail however, then you have a mega problem.

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

#163

Post by jjellyy »

espadagroup wrote: post #29
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…

Pay for exposure already exists within the app store. Large companies pay around $10-$20K a day depending on the category on crap ad networks (won't name them) that incentivize the users to download the companies app in order to "get to the next level" or something like that. The downloads are incredibly cheap and you get thousands and thousands of them. The app store ranking is almost entirely based on download velo…

If this is happening those ad networks should be banned. Incentivizing a user to download an app is against app stores TOS.

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

#165

Post by jjellyy »

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…

+1 AppGratis is in violation of the TOS and are rightfully upset, but I think they were banned for good reasons.

I care more about the health of the app store ecosystem than one company. They claim to promote great free apps but in reality is spamming all their users with paid promotions to the highest bidder.

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

#166

Post by krichman »

idunno246 wrote: post #130
gojomo wrote: post #109

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Thanks for that pointer. I'm surprise that highlighting new versions or existing features is prohibited. I've received quite a few such messages from major apps -- Zynga, Facebook, other leading games. Are they all being kicked out of the App Store?

I was once tasked almost word-for-word in violation of this(at a small company). I argued and quoted and the executive response was 'everyone else is doing it so we'll do it until we get caught'

Yep, just like uploading the entire contacts list. Everyone did it until they got caught.

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

#167

Post by krichman »

eridius wrote: post #96
w1ntermute wrote: post #83

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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?

I don't know if breaking a contract or EULA is strictly illegal.

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

#168

Post by zevyoura »

nkorth wrote: post #161
physcab wrote: post #54

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I don't think Apple will approve an app that blocks a user or slows them down unless they install a 3rd party app. What usually happens is an advert pops up during normal app usage, the user has to exit or let the ad go away, then they can continue using. It's a normal advertisement. Its not unlike when the NYTimes does a full site takeover for some Buick commercial and you have to minimize the ad before you can cont…

I've seen many games that let you "earn" ingame currency by downloading apps or completing surveys. A few of these games _indirectly_ require you to download the incentivized apps by providing very few coins in the actual game, or making the ads the only way to get coins (other than with real money). Apparently that's sneaky enough for Apple.

How does this work? My understanding is that apps cannot see what other apps are installed on iOS unless the device has been jailbroken.

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

#169

Post by zevyoura »

mikeash wrote: post #137
mdmarra wrote: post #97

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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…

EULAs are crap, as they attempt to tell me what I'm allowed to do with an entity that I own. Once the transaction is complete, we're done, and the creator doesn't get to control what I do, beyond the restrictions laid out in copyright law. If I violate a EULA, the creator has no recourse but to sue, and they'll be suing me for taking legal actions with my own property. A ToS, on the other hand, lays out terms for the…

> There's nothing wrong with breaking a EULA, and their legal enforceability is worrying.

Luckily they're not legally enforceable (at least in the U.S.) under many circumstances, though you may not want to take it to court since you could get unlucky: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/End-user_license_agreement#Enfo...

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

#170

Post by beedogs »

rimantas wrote: post #69
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…

> are aimed directly at people who don't know how to use > computers What does it even mean? iPhone and OS X are aimed at people who want to use their computers, instead of getting CS degree. I've heard that majority of cars in US are with automatic transmissions and few people know how to drive "stick". Are there voices suggesting that auto manufacturers are aiming their products at people who don't know how to driv…

Way to take his statement out of context to set up a piss-weak strawman argument.

His original statement (and what you excised, in italics):

> 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.

That's basically a truism. What's been happening over the past three releases of OS X is testament to that.

There will come a day when users like me can no longer install and run whatever they'd like on their Apple computers; all application downloads will be funneled through the App Store, and you'll have to "jailbreak" your laptop just to do anything useful with it. I may have already purchased my last Mac.

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