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Apple has threatened to remove Amphetamine from the App Store

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Re: Apple has threatened to remove Amphetamine from the App Store

#371

Post by sbarre »

smnrchrds wrote: post #327
ufmace wrote: post #278

Earlier quoted context omitted.

No. Certain internet communities have a culture of dunking on them, but they do not represent any kind of real majority. The housing market continues to show a preference towards communities with HOAs.

> The housing market continues to show a preference towards communities with HOAs. Is it the housing market as homeowners who favours HOAs, or is it the builders who favour them? Are HOAs opted in by homeowners in existing communities because of their benefits, or do builders create them force them upon new communities because it benefits them somehow? I am asking because while I do not have any knowledge of HOAs, I…

This feels like a case where the market will dictate what works and what doesn't.

It sounds shitty/shady to you (or at least that's how you're framing it here - apologies if I misunderstood) but if people are still buying those homes, then they must think it's an acceptable contract to enter into.

Re: Apple has threatened to remove Amphetamine from the App Store

#373

Post by Daho0n »

joseph_grobbles wrote: post #215
silentsea90 wrote: post #37

The name was approved by Apple years ago. The developer built the brand on that name. What changed? Apple's policies (on their whims). If Apple has to come down hard, they should bear the cost of the re-branding at least to measurably communicating widely regarding the rename. It is sad that Apple exercises so much power callously.

"The name was approved by Apple years ago" This isn't going to be popular, however getting away with something for a period of time is not the same as being approved/sanctioned/etc. In the petition the author claimed that the app "spontaneously began violating" one of the guidelines, when clearly it has violated it all along. Yet that disingenuous angle is used constantly when people get away with something for a whi…

This is not "getting away with it":

>"When you leave your Mac idle, it smartly goes to sleep to conserve power and reduce wear and tear. But this can also stop a big download short or prevent a lengthy compile or render from finishing. Instead of having to periodically wiggle the pointer to keep your Mac awake, launch Amphetamine and rest assured your Mac won’t sleep until you want it to. Amphetamine sits unobtrusively in the menu bar until you Control-click it (or press Command-I) to kick it into gear. That’s it. Your Mac will stay awake until you end the session."

https://apps.apple.com/us/story/id1470456860

Re: Apple has threatened to remove Amphetamine from the App Store

#374

Post by KingMachiavelli »

This is pure censorship and nothing but a ridiculous, culturally damaging move from Apple. Forcing developers to pick from particular, puritan subset of the human language and banning apps relating to whole segments of the human experience will do nothing but hamper creativity and expression.

It is also extremely hypocritical, Apple distributes and profits from existing works of art that depict and describe drug use, among other topics, through Apple TV, iTunes, and Apple Music. Apple has no concerns with profiting from art after someone else approved it whether some other movie producer or record label. As long as some other large institution vouches for it then Apple will look the other way. But if every institution operated like Apple, most of the best works of literature, music, and film would never have been approved.

Honestly, I can not fathom why so much open source and free content is produced for Apple's ecosystem. Everything from the desktop MacOS operating system to Apple's app store policies is counterproductive for developers and anyone who disagrees with Apple's rules. The opportunity of the App store makes sense for commercial and profit driven apps but there is no reason to give charity to the most valued company on the planet.

Finally, I really doubt there is any legal ramification for Apple here. Apple can ban any app they want for any reason which is fine. I just think anyone starting to get into developing should consider anything but app development for this reason. If the product has to be an 'app' then try to make it a web app. Anything besides putting your life in Apple's hands.

Re: Apple has threatened to remove Amphetamine from the App Store

#375

Post by panta »

webmobdev wrote: post #266
mmaunder wrote: post #23

You’re angry. I’ve felt this in a trademark lawsuit. You think the world should get behind you and change the corrupt system. My advice is to immediately rebrand as gracefully and effectively as possible and use all that activist energy to effect the transition. They kind of have a point which doesn’t make them right, but they hold all the cards and you will lose this one and regret the wasted bandwidth.

> My advice is to immediately rebrand as gracefully and effectively as possible and use all that activist energy to effect the transition. Apple will definitely appreciate it if all of us would just shut up and let them screw us. While I appreciate your well-meaning advise to the author - pick your battles in life carefully - I'd like to add that using your anger constructively at some injustice is a positive move to…

Apple doesn’t give a scheise about developers anymore. IMHO this is going to devalue the platform in the long term, but they seem to think differently.

Re: Apple has threatened to remove Amphetamine from the App Store

#376

Post by zepto »

crististm wrote: post #352
zepto wrote: post #233

Earlier quoted context omitted.

There is a technical definition and there are lay understandings. This has always been true. Wouldn’t you say?

True. The end result is that the merge of the two ends up in the dictionary. Perhaps it's time to update the definitions but I doubt that 'amphetamine' will be defined as slang for 'meth' when in fact 'meth' is slang or short for 'methamphetamine'.

Yeah - I’m not expecting it to end up as slang.

Just that as a lay term people think of meth as amphetamine in the way that people think of champagne as wine.

Re: Apple has threatened to remove Amphetamine from the App Store

#377

Post by solidsnack9000 »

It is bad for them to apply such a policy so inconsistently, to the point that it's subjectivity.

It's also bad to name apps after drugs that are widely abused. It's just too extra. Call it something positive and pro-social like "matcha" or "oolong" or maybe "dark roast" or "espresso" or something.

Re: Apple has threatened to remove Amphetamine from the App Store

#378

Post by Yetanfou »

Hnrobert42 wrote: post #264
Yetanfou wrote: post #212

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You do this by leaving the platform. There are plenty of alternatives for Apple's products so those who get tired of the ever-increasing censorship inside the walled garden are better off outside of its walls. Eventually the Apple world will become something akin to Disneyland, nothing but "wholesome" infotainment without anything that could give offence.

Do you really believe the app developers should close their doors and stop making the app rather than change their name, all as part of an ideological fight? I just want to make sure that is really your good faith argument.

Yes, I really do believe there is no fighting a $2 billion (and counting) behemoth, other than by shunning it. If enough developers and users - in any order - leave their platform they will reconsider their stance. That is, after all, what it means to have (at least the semblance of) a free market where people make choices based on things like this. The same goes for the other digital empires, whether those be Facebook, Twitter, Google or any of the others. Absent regulation - and is regulation really where we want to go? - I do not see any other way than to "choose with (my) wallet".

This is also why I do not use any of these platforms, instead having spent the time to rig up my own alternatives: Google-free AOSP-derived Android on mobiles and tablets, Linux on laptops and servers, Searx for search, Nextcloud for "cloudy things", NC Talk and Jitsi Meet for videoconferencing, Exim and Dovecot for mail, Peertube for video, Airsonic and MPD for media streaming, etc. I've been doing this since the late 90's of the last century (minus the mobile stuff since that simply did not exist back then...) so I can state with certainty that this is not just hollow rhetoric, it is a viable alternative to submitting to the whims of companies like Apple (et al).

Re: Apple has threatened to remove Amphetamine from the App Store

#379

Post by Daho0n »

joseph_grobbles wrote: post #361
silentsea90 wrote: post #256

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Apple approved of the app. Hence the name was approved. Not sure what we mean by "getting away" here

I drove by a cop over the speed limit yesterday. He didn't pull me over. Therefore I can always drive over the speed limit and it is "approved". This is childish, nonsensical argumentation. The app has always been in contravention of the rules of the app store.

Apple wrote a story about the App. They approved it and approved of it.

Re: Apple has threatened to remove Amphetamine from the App Store

#380

Post by solidsnack9000 »

aardvarkr wrote: post #241
blatherard wrote: post #142

I thought I should look at the App Store and see what this app is doing in comparison to similar apps. The logo is basically a big pill and the tagline "Powerful keep-awake utility" which is clearly alluding to the drug. https://imgur.com/a/RJXHaBa This was consistent with the feedback the author received: "[the] app appears to promote inappropriate use of controlled substances. Specifically, your app name and icon i…

"1.4.3 Apps that encourage consumption of tobacco and vape products, illegal drugs, or excessive amounts of alcohol are not permitted on the App Store. Apps that encourage minors to consume any of these substances will be rejected. Facilitating the sale of marijuana, tobacco, or controlled substances (except for licensed pharmacies) isn’t allowed." Taking this literally, is an amphetamine an illegal drug? It’s a clas…

It's a "controlled substance", which means it is illegal under many circumstances. Most illegal drugs are actually illegal in that way.
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