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Apple rejected my dictation app for using the accessibility API

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Re: Apple rejected my dictation app for using the accessibility API

#131
post #130

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> I'd rather have restrictions as the default Then don't install apps and use the web, mobile sandboxing is much weaker compared to any modern browser.

Wrong answer...

How so? The accessibility API which is causing data exfiltration here doesn't even exist on the web.

Re: Apple rejected my dictation app for using the accessibility API

#132

Earlier quoted context omitted.

you are telling me that everyone in your life freely swaps between windows and mac without even noticing a difference? no problems? i call bullshit. i have worked in very big orgs. changing a single icon can cause a deluge of support tickets.

Congrats on your enormous org. The conversation was about families, indicating a non-enterprise environment. Try to keep up.

[deleted]

Re: Apple rejected my dictation app for using the accessibility API

#133

I actually had the almost same situation by building an offline voice dictation app for macOS and iOS, and in macOS I was confronted with the exact same situation. However, I would like to point out that Apple isn't totally wrong here because the accessibility API unfortunately is way too broadly scoped, and because of that you literally get access to everything on the computer like you you can screenshot listen and…

Thanks for sharing this. The "phase out the broadly-scoped Accessibility API and replace with narrower permissions" point is exactly the right structural fix. Right now developers have to declare a permission far broader than they actually need, and from the outside the criteria for what counts as legitimate use isn't clearly defined. Interesting that your iOS app got through but macOS didn't. WhisperPad is Mac-only and I haven't gone through the iOS path, so your experience there is useful data. The "demonstrable accessibility" criterion seems to be where everything bottlenecks.

Re: Apple rejected my dictation app for using the accessibility API

#134
post #99

SpaceGremlin (mac alternative to WinDirStat) has a similar thing, where some features only work in the independent "SpaceGremlinPro" version downloaded from their site. However, they do some cool stuff with licensing - you can point it to the app store paid/installed version, and it detects the license and unlocks. If you're worried about people not trusting payment to you, might be worth seeing if you could implemen…

Interesting idea. It would basically turn the App Store version into both a discoverability channel and a license anchor for the direct version

Offer a "trial" version on App Store, and ask them to download the "pro" version and buy the license directly from you. (Offer a "30%" discount and point out that's the "Apple Tax" savings they get for not paying through the App Store).

Re: Apple rejected my dictation app for using the accessibility API

#135
post #69

Earlier quoted context omitted.

No. Changing one's primary operating system takes time, dedication, and is a lifestyle change, similar to moving somewhere remote. Changing ones AC filter is none of those things. If you and your grandma only rely on the computer for its web browser, then good for you. You have flexibility that is not afforded to most people. But that's not how a person's phone works; phones dig a lot deeper into one's lifestyle, int…

Nobody in my life even notices when they change their 'primary operating system.' They buy a phone based on what looks cool at the time, sometimes it's android, sometimes it's iphone. They move freely between chromebooks, windows, and mac os, because everything is online anyway. It's only 'experts' who have trouble with this.

Partly agree. I once installed Firefox with uBlock Origin for someone who was Chrome user on an old PC and complained it was slow when browsing, and they told me that they didn't even know that there were different browsers available.

Re: Apple rejected my dictation app for using the accessibility API

#136

I actually had the almost same situation by building an offline voice dictation app for macOS and iOS, and in macOS I was confronted with the exact same situation. However, I would like to point out that Apple isn't totally wrong here because the accessibility API unfortunately is way too broadly scoped, and because of that you literally get access to everything on the computer like you you can screenshot listen and…

[deleted]

Re: Apple rejected my dictation app for using the accessibility API

#137

I actually had the almost same situation by building an offline voice dictation app for macOS and iOS, and in macOS I was confronted with the exact same situation. However, I would like to point out that Apple isn't totally wrong here because the accessibility API unfortunately is way too broadly scoped, and because of that you literally get access to everything on the computer like you you can screenshot listen and…

Gradually improve? How many more decades is reasonable to wait? They are what they are and hoping for change makes no sense to me.

Re: Apple rejected my dictation app for using the accessibility API

#138
post #136

I actually had the almost same situation by building an offline voice dictation app for macOS and iOS, and in macOS I was confronted with the exact same situation. However, I would like to point out that Apple isn't totally wrong here because the accessibility API unfortunately is way too broadly scoped, and because of that you literally get access to everything on the computer like you you can screenshot listen and…

[deleted]

[deleted]

Re: Apple rejected my dictation app for using the accessibility API

#139
post #91

I recently built a similar app, and so hit the same limitations – I wasn't too upset on Mac, happy to distribute without the App Store (though it's a shame). Where I was more frustrated was how much this limited the potential usability of the iPhone app. Because of app store restrictions it is a far worse app ... though like in your example, still useful to a degree. I can only hope they use the new CEO as an opportu…

I really do understand the desires people have for iOS to be a more open platform, but I'm just gonna say very clearly: I do not want third party apps being able to do what OP's app does. My iPhone is the one computing platform I have where I get the assurance that no third party app can be spying on anything else I do on the device.

Locking down your phone to block anything you don't want is doable at your own level. Opening up the ecosystem for those who care about better third party apps can only done by Apple.

Those two desires should both be fulfilled.

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