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My App Is Dead in the Water

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Re: My App Is Dead in the Water

#111

Post by abalone »

rumori wrote: post #95

I've checked couple of popular apps on the App Store and here are my findings: - Twitter: uses SFSafariViewController - Reddit: uses custom in-app web view, shows page title and url on top, provides "open in Safari" option through share button - Instagram: uses custom in-app web view, shows page title and url on top, provides the built in share-sheet, interestingly disabling open in Safari, but enabling "Add to Readi…

That would make sense except the author said they have a “show in Safari” button for each article. Apple’s reply was very specific and said nothing about just adding titles and URLs or the safari view controller.

Re: My App Is Dead in the Water

#112

Post by jarfil »

dsjoerg wrote: post #39

Why not launch Safari when the user clicks on an article? And make it clear that you have permission from HN to use their API? Having used your app for exactly one minute, that seems like it would address their concerns and preserve usability.

It's kind of interesting that an app developer needs to prove they've got permission from the copyright holders to display a website, but Safari can display them all just like that.

Re: My App Is Dead in the Water

#113

Post by rumori »

abalone wrote: post #111
rumori wrote: post #95

I've checked couple of popular apps on the App Store and here are my findings: - Twitter: uses SFSafariViewController - Reddit: uses custom in-app web view, shows page title and url on top, provides "open in Safari" option through share button - Instagram: uses custom in-app web view, shows page title and url on top, provides the built in share-sheet, interestingly disabling open in Safari, but enabling "Add to Readi…

That would make sense except the author said they have a “show in Safari” button for each article. Apple’s reply was very specific and said nothing about just adding titles and URLs or the safari view controller.

In the current App Store version the share button embeds both the original and HN discussion link into a promotional message about the app.

Not providing attribution in the form of the address bar (title + url) might be the main problem here but I personally feel fixing sharing would help as well.

Re: My App Is Dead in the Water

#114

Post by fatbird »

avip wrote: post #103
pashabitz wrote: post #68

I think it's important to look at the broader issue: "App stores" are walled gardens, policed by corporations and are the opposite of freedom. The web is open and free. We made a deal with the devil when we collectively decided to write and use apps and not the web. This is just one symptom.

Alas, a walled garden is not the opposite of freedom. Indeed, in many places, living in a walled garden will make you factually freeer than your fellows outside.

This is an under-represented viewpoint. The freedom we constantly discuss in terms of app stores is freedom of possibility, but it comes at a cost in time and effort that reduces one's material freedom.

Re: My App Is Dead in the Water

#115

Post by elliekelly »

rumori wrote: post #95

I've checked couple of popular apps on the App Store and here are my findings: - Twitter: uses SFSafariViewController - Reddit: uses custom in-app web view, shows page title and url on top, provides "open in Safari" option through share button - Instagram: uses custom in-app web view, shows page title and url on top, provides the built in share-sheet, interestingly disabling open in Safari, but enabling "Add to Readi…

One key difference (from a legal perspective, rather than a developer perspective) is that all of the above apps first display user commentary and the user is then given the option to open the link to read the entire article. This is an important distinction under the fair use doctrine: https://www.nolo.com/legal-encyclopedia/fair-use-the-four-fa...

Re: My App Is Dead in the Water

#117

Post by Dotnaught »

avip wrote: post #103
pashabitz wrote: post #68

I think it's important to look at the broader issue: "App stores" are walled gardens, policed by corporations and are the opposite of freedom. The web is open and free. We made a deal with the devil when we collectively decided to write and use apps and not the web. This is just one symptom.

Alas, a walled garden is not the opposite of freedom. Indeed, in many places, living in a walled garden will make you factually freeer than your fellows outside.

Your argument misrepresents the metaphor. It's the wall that's the barrier to freedom, not what goes on within.

Re: My App Is Dead in the Water

#118

Post by gnicholas »

jobigoud wrote: post #80
bluetwo wrote: post #50

It seems to me by saying "Attach documentary evidence in the App Review Information section in App Store Connect granting you permission to use these sources" they are just asking for a paper trail of your rights to use that information. Why can't you include the agreement for the API as documentation of this? Seems really straight forward. They are trying to protect themselves, not get into a philosophical battle ov…

> Why can't you include the agreement for the API as documentation of this? If I understand correctly they are having a problem with the inclusion of third party pages. So he would have to provide permission from all the sources of articles, like WSJ, NPR, LA Times, any website linked, etc.

I'm not sure this is the case. Based on my experience, they take issue with the hard-coded sites, which the user has not "picked" via RSS or other setup process. So the issue here was just the HN domain, not all the other ones.

But I do wonder what suffices as "documentary evidence". An email from someone who works at the company? A letter from their legal department?

Re: My App Is Dead in the Water

#119

Post by acheron »

mjlee wrote: post #36
mscasts wrote: post #23

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What are you refering to? HN guidelines? I was just trying to be funny as well as point out the obvious reason why Apple won't care about him :)

I think it's a play on a fairly common meme from Reddit. Early example here: https://www.reddit.com/r/seduction/comments/3cdmps/rule_1_be...

It’s an SNL sketch from years before reddit existed.

Re: My App Is Dead in the Water

#120

Post by gnicholas »

elliekelly wrote: post #115
rumori wrote: post #95

I've checked couple of popular apps on the App Store and here are my findings: - Twitter: uses SFSafariViewController - Reddit: uses custom in-app web view, shows page title and url on top, provides "open in Safari" option through share button - Instagram: uses custom in-app web view, shows page title and url on top, provides the built in share-sheet, interestingly disabling open in Safari, but enabling "Add to Readi…

One key difference (from a legal perspective, rather than a developer perspective) is that all of the above apps first display user commentary and the user is then given the option to open the link to read the entire article. This is an important distinction under the fair use doctrine: https://www.nolo.com/legal-encyclopedia/fair-use-the-four-fa...

How does it make a difference from a legal perspective? I am a former lawyer and can't see how any of this matters. I have thought about this deeply in the past (dealing with the same issue for another app), and talked with IP lawyer friends, and we cannot determine what basis Apple has for singling out apps that are essentially specialized web browsers.

I'm happy to be enlightened on why this practice makes sense, but so far I've come up with nothing.

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