Comments on: Apple’s Phil Schiller Responds to App Store Furore and Ninja Words Debacle

By: App Store Hits 100K in 481 Days

App Store Hits 100K in 481 Days — Wed, 04 Nov 2009 15:54:04 +0000

[...] press release was what, exactly, is being done to improve the flawed approval process. While Apple talks about addressing issues, there is no evidence of real, systemic change. As the App Store moves inevitably towards [...]

By: Dave Metzener's Weblog | AppStore Review Process Getting Worse Not Better

Dave Metzener's Weblog | AppStore Review Process Getting Worse Not Better — Sat, 29 Aug 2009 16:56:20 +0000

[...] dictionary application (Ninjawords) or be removed from the AppStore. This prompted Apple’s Phil Schiller to write to John Gruber at Daring Fireball to respond to the accusation that Apple was censoring the [...]

By: Phil Schiller Pens Another Missive

Phil Schiller Pens Another Missive — Wed, 12 Aug 2009 22:12:57 +0000

[...] than a week after sending a letter to Daring Fireball’s John Gruber concerning the application review process at the App Store, [...]

By: rdalem

rdalem — Fri, 07 Aug 2009 23:38:28 +0000

This does not even begin to touch on the subject of Apple’s policy of making the developer pay for refunds due to pulled apps. Full refunds, I might add! Apple gets to keep their commission even when they pull the app after approval and sales. Look into VoiceCentral app from Riverturn developers (http://riverturn.com/).

I have been using Apple products since the mid 1980′s when third party applications filled a void for Apple, allowing it to become the platform of choice for the thinking man.

By: James

James — Fri, 07 Aug 2009 22:05:23 +0000

You raise excellent points about snags in the approval process, but I’m not sure the best decision is to raise development fees. Doing this would just bring on a new wave of criticism and cries of disapproval from developers, except this time it would just be the less wealthy ones.

Instead, what about just hiring more people to review submitted apps? This way, you’re still speeding up the process. Apple can swallow the costs of just a few more employees (even in the current recession), and they don’t have to piss off a lot of smaller developers in the process of reducing approval times.

By: clarkgoble

clarkgoble — Fri, 07 Aug 2009 18:56:29 +0000

The best approach is to raise the development costs. That’ll decrease the number of “casual apps” freeing up more time for the solid developers. They should also sell a “support” package, maybe for $1000, which gives someone a “genius” at Apple and the guarantee of a bit more care in the approval process. Having to wait up to two months to find out there’s a minor problem and then resubmit is ridiculous. The other problem is that often they stop when they find a single error rather than listing all potential problems. That can make something that ought be resovled in a few days take many months.

By: James

James — Fri, 07 Aug 2009 14:59:32 +0000

You haven’t been paying attention if you think that Apple hasn’t taken a lot of hits in the news when it’s discovered there’s an app that is somewhat questionable. There have been numerous times where apps (like Baby Shaker or ones involving nudity) have made the INTERNATIONAL news when word got out. That’s embarrassing, and it’s understandable why Apple would want to nip it in the bud, even if I don’t entirely approve of the way they’ve applied their plan.

As for your question, “who would censor a dictionary?”, the answer is simple: every single dictionary publisher in history.

By: Henk Duivendrecht

Henk Duivendrecht — Fri, 07 Aug 2009 09:07:12 +0000

When the app store approval system was first introduced, I was under the impression that its goal was to check if an iPhone app doesn’t use the iPhone’s processor or memory in ways that can crash the phone, and that it doesn’t try to access or even hack the system in a way that could compromise the entire phone.

Instead, Apple is actually censoring content in a highly fickle way. I mean who would censor a dictionary? And to what purpose? Will angry mothers drive to Apple HQ complaining that their innocent kids found a swear word in a dictionary?

By: Veit

Veit — Thu, 06 Aug 2009 23:57:03 +0000

As I outlined in my post about structural issues with the AppStore, the only way out is the approach that Intel Inside took - publish a clear rulebook and execute as impartially as you can. Otherwise, the debate will not end. And we will not see the truly high-priced development items: Peripherals. Since they cost so much more to develop, devs will only commit money and resources if there is a clear path to approval for them. Once we see the peripherals in the AppStore, we know the problem is fixed!

By: Petri

Petri — Thu, 06 Aug 2009 20:08:28 +0000

The US is one of the countries where a lot of words are considered upsetting or not considered politically correct, you really have to go to a dictatorship country to find similar circumstances. The same goes for nudity and other issues, there are plenty of places around the world where topless people on the beaches are normal, strangers go naked to the sauna together, mild drugs can be used legally, prostitution is legal, etc.

If Apple wants to limit the AppStore, they should implement the restriction in the US store and give the rest of the world the freedom they already enjoy.

The same goes for their relationship with AT&T.