Apple’s New Stance On ‘Cookie Cutter’ Apps
techcrunch.com
techcrunch.com
On top of that, the inconsistency of the enforcement of App Store guidelines and the moving target set by Apple makes it seem like they are suffering from some growing pains. It doesn't look like they've really made up their mind about what impression they want people to get, other than some "slick" user experience.
Bottom line is that on top of dealing with the unpredictable market out there, developers also have to put up with a very fickle supply chain with no alternative channels. I'll pass.
It's one thing for Apple to set guidelines on what it's going to allow in the store. It's another thing entirely for it to not set guidelines, but instead force developers to figure out for themselves what is allowed based on which apps have already been accepted. Now Apple is changing the rules on the fly, so even apps that historically have been acceptable may not be allowed in.
If Apple wanted to keep these promotional spammy apps out, it should have started blocking them from the start, before people started building businesses around them.
Now I'm wondering how long it will be before Apple starts removing the many thousands of book applications on the App Store, now that it has its own official Books app.
@CoreDumpling: I agree that consistency would be better, but which real-world store would you say is consistent with what they'll have? And which will tell you what their qualifications are for allowing products in?
I'll concede your point that real-world stores can be just as difficult to work with, if not even more so, but this doesn't change the fact that having the App Store as the sole arbiter of what's allowed is introducing artificial barriers to restrict consumer choice. Even WalMart has to deal with competition from other distributors.
They're artificial barriers, certainly. And I'd love an open App Store, though I understand their reasons for keeping it locked down. The worst barrier they have right now, IMO, is the single-carrier barrier, which I really think is flat-out wrong. But the USA is rather backwards when it comes to cell phones.
As to the WalMart / other contrived analogy, which I admit my comment was rather lacking in content, lets try another comparison. The DS only plays DS games (especially with the DSi now, which loses the GBA slot). However, not only is that the same restriction, it's even worse because getting permission to sell your game is an absolute nightmare if you're not big, and the development tools are far more expensive.
To make the comparison stronger, and the App Store's position worse, the DS has sold three times as many units than the iPhone, though probably not as many cartridges as apps. But that's physical vs digital distribution for ya. How often do you hear about the DS and its far tighter distribution chain, as opposed to the iPhone? Granted, the App Store has been changing lately, but the criticism hasn't abated since day 1.
For WalMart in particular, I'd say it's closer to buying a DVD player from WalMart, and having it only play DVDs sold at WalMart. It'd certainly suck for people trying to sell things, but they carry 99.9% of what people buy anyway, so most of the buyers won't mind (and it may be worth avoiding the huge amounts of porn that might appear there otherwise). And there are other options, like Android phones, Blackberry / PalmOS based phones, etc, which match other retail options.
You give me the "other country" and I'll move there tomorrow. Even if it's cold there.
Or do we have to wait for the army of clones first?
Then they came for the trade unionists, and I did not speak out, because I was not a trade unionist
Then they came for the Jews, and I did not speak out, because I was not a Jew
Then they came for me, and there was no one left to speak out for me.
a) A developers biggest problem is his competitors. As the culling is a specific category of apps, it's unlikely to remove his competitors from the mix.
b) It adds uncertainty into the business model. You can spend time and building an awesome and popular app and there's no guarantee that Apple won't decide they're culling your specific class of app next.
c) The app store already has so many apps that simply culling a category doesn't bump the numerical odds up that much for an individual developer
And that, my friends, is the problem with the App Store.
First they came for the PhoneGap applications, and I did not speak out-
for my app was iPhone-only;
Then they came for the boobs, and I did not speak out-
for I was not a porn peddler;
Then they came for the shovelware, and I did not speak out-
for I was not an app spammer...However, there's a basic human tendency to look the other way when abuse happens. That's really what I was referring to. Apple has been swinging the ban-hammer on 'undesirable' apps for a while now, and the definition of 'undesirable' keeps expanding. That's an issue of some concern.
I like having my app on the App Store as much as the next iPhone dev. I disagree with the boob apps being pulled; better parental restrictions are the answer for that situation.
I don't disagree with the wifi apps being pulled; private API's are private API's. If you want an API to be made public, file a radar ticket. You will get a response from Apple - either the API being made public, or the reason why they won't make it public.
(There was a discussion a few weeks ago about the government trying to censor the Internet. I said I spoke out against this, and was told it was a waste of time because "just use Tor". Of course I use Tor. But Tor is going to be next on the chopping block, and then what? Better to stop it before it gets that far!)
So sure, who cares about porn apps and shovelware? But how long until Apple starts blocking apps that let you save money on your phone calls and lets you get transcripts of your voicemail? Oh wait, bad example...