Apple Bans the Word 'Android' From App Store
pcworld.com
pcworld.com
While your application has not been rejected, it would be appropriate to remove 'Finalist in Google's Android Developer's Challenge!' from the Application Description
I can understand why that would be appropriate. Most users would have no idea what Google's Android Developer's Challenge is: "How do I download the other finalist apps?" "I bought this application that says it's Android - how do I run it in my wife's Nexus One?".
Not to mention the courtesy of not promoting competitors products in one vendor's own turf.
This is a huge overreaction by the PCWorld editor to linkbait you all. Even the application author thought it was reasonable. I'm surprised no one had picked up on this yet.
I remember a time when it was widely believed that a large technology company being able to dictate what firms had access to its market was something akin to it being the bastard child of Ma Bell and Hitler.
It's weird, I thought that once I purchased a phone, the phone became my turf.
The way to make sure that mechanism doesn't result in evil policy is to allow an alternate means of installing software. Google does this. Apple does not.
I don't understand how you're using "security" in this sentence.
* http://mikandi.com/ [adult]
I don't like Apple at all, but your decision process seems incorrect.
The only thing missing is multi-touch because of Apple's patent, but I didn't saw much of a difference ... and apparently you can activate multi-touch support.
It's a pretty cool phone ... if iPhone wasn't the first to come out, the Nexus One would be an instant hit. Unfortunately being as good as the iPhone is not enough, but its real strength will be its openness ... for example you can install Flash on it :)
I was wondering this, too. Perhaps Apple has a policy of avoiding mentioning other platforms because it could confuse the end user. Remember that many people don't even know the difference between a browser and a search engine.
From Google themselves (http://www.google.com/permissions/guidelines.html):
"One of the conditions for all uses is that you can't mess around with our marks. Only we get to do that. Don’t remove, distort or alter any element of a Google Brand Feature. That includes modifying a Google trademark, for example, through hyphenation, combination or abbreviation, such as: Googliscious, Googlyoogly, GaGooglemania. Do not shorten, abbreviate, or create acronyms out of Google trademarks"
...
"Don’t incorporate Google Brand Features into your own product name, service names, trademarks, logos, or company names."
My money is on either Apple's lawyers or Google's lawyers coming up with this policy. I know it's en vogue to jump on Google as the knight in shining armour and Apple as the villain, but let's not jump to conclusions here.
Absurd. Do you really believe Apple's lawyers and appstore inspectors are there to protect the developers from potential trademark infringement lawsuits? It's not Apple that is violating any trademark here, it's the developer. This is just pettiness on the part of Apple. They certainly have a right to ban any mention of competitor products and thats exactly what they've done.
The funny thing is, even as a trademark thing this doesn't make sense, strategically. Let Google sue for something like this, and they look like the bad guys, not Apple.
Ah well... mysterious are the ways of Apple.
> During our review of your application, we found that your application contains inappropriate or irrelevant platform information in the Application Description and/or Release Notes sections
This seems to me more like a "Thou shalt not mention a competing platform" rule than a "We're covering our asses from lawsuits" rule. I mean the guy was only mentioning that he had been a finalist in Google's "Android Developer Challenge." Are you going to tell me that Google can sue someone for trademark infringement over that?
I could see if he was pimping another platform like, "Hey! This app is available for Android too!" Maybe in that case Apple wouldn't want him advertising another platform, but even that doesn't make sense. They only people that are viewing his App's description are people that have an iPhone, right? So why would they care about Android compatibility? It's not likely someone would drop their iPhone and rush out to buy an Android phone over a single App.
What if I tap 'Gmail' instead?
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The developer can always encourage people to visit their website, and provide more company/product history there.
then, why are you using an apple product? Part of the iphone value proposition is that they do that filtering.
Boo
Google vs Apple: Whoever wins, we lose.
But about android phones, it's more freer than iPhone anyway.