Why does Apple continue killing bitcoin apps?
blog.sfgate.com
blog.sfgate.com
This is how the app appeared to the reviewers — http://i.imgur.com/pMYRCPL.png
This is how it looked post review — http://i.imgur.com/EsoY4sU.png
The CoinJar app is still around anyway, so it's not exactly a "crackdown".
https://itunes.apple.com/au/app/coinjar-for-iphone/id7252098...
whistles
They should be here any minute, let's just give em a few.
In which case, that the approval process was gamed is largely irrelevant, because it's ridiculous to begin with.
However, I have to say that I think their little trick is quite cool. I wonder how many apps on the apps store do a similar thing but went unnoticed by the powers that be because of a lack of popularity.
I'm open to being corrected on this, as I know very little. It's just a bit ironic that Hacker News so gleefully condemns someone for, well, hacking the app review process (and not in the "cracker" sense.)
I'd guess the app was basically a Blockchain.info-only browser with some glue to scan QR codes and other system-integration stuff. If anything, people are even more justified in being pissed with Apple for what amounts to, "OMG, you changed a webpage that our customers use on their devices, without our consent! BAN!"
Again, I acknowledge I don't have all the facts, and that BCI did this with intent to deceive. But it doesn't seem to be actually against any rules; or if it is, they're draconian or nonsensical rules that people are right to be angry with Apple about. One can still be angry with Apple that deception was the only way to get an app a lot of people want, that has no legal reason it can't be in the App Store.
Many Bitcoiners are mad at Apple; a few here think BCI is at fault. I see blame on both sides, but am more upset with Apple. (I do understand Apple can legally do whatever they want with their own store.)
I would be interested to know if there is actually a rule about changes to a backend server after review, and how it is worded. Or any rule that describes exactly what Blockchain.info did wrong. I think such a rule would be written here[0], but I can't read it without an Apple Developer ID.
So, the question is why does Apple have problem with people sending/receiving bitcoins from an iDevice?
Don't mistake to maliciousness what can be attributed to naievity.
The reason Apple has issues with other payment methods on their App Store is that they can't control them. Meaning, they can't ensure the user experiance they would like to, and when things go wrong, they can't fix it.
Apple's userbase is so large and diverse now that users blame things on Apple that shouldnt (e.g. they loose money through bitcoin they used with an iPhone app, Apple gets blamed ). This is their way of minimising that.
I don't see this as Apple being sneaky or evil, I see it as Apple pursuing their existing business model, which has worked quite well.
For example, I often use my bank's app to move money to and from my roommate. I should note that this involves no transaction cost at all.
First of all. The Blockchain app uses their website with an internal browser. The only changes in the app were links to different parts of their website. Nothing fundamental in the app changed.
Second. Blockchain.info was NOT informed of the reason. If they had known the reason, we can be sure Blockchain would have complied with any extra requests.
Do I get a MBA now?
Edit: As far as baseless speculation goes, I suspect it has nothing to do with legal liability and Apple being in a better position to release a Square killer at the OS level.
- Jack Dorsey just sold back some of his own stock to employees
- Apple loves Jack Dorsey
- iOS platform can benefit from a mobile money processor
Square = card (actual transaction)
That sounds more like the "Apple should own everything" school of thought. More like what Google or (old) Microsoft does. It doesn't sound Apple-y.
[1] http://www.tuaw.com/2014/01/14/why-apple-didnt-buy-nest/ [2] http://www.thestreet.com/story/12099901/1/square-could-be-wo...
Anyway, why is it Apple's responsibility to ensure every app developer and user complies with the law?
Bitcoin is nowhere near popular enough to be a threat to any rumored Apple payments platform.
Let's be real.
If you are simply accepting BTC for services/products rendered, the regulations are relatively simple.
If you permit individuals to send BTC to one another, you've got a lot of stuff to deal with.
This makes good sense, but it also suggests that Google is more than willing to handle these headaches without profit incentives.
While I'm here, if anyone's interested, I'll answer questions live about our experience with Apple on this: https://gliph.me/ibo.
You may want to review this blog entry to see if your question is already answered: https://blog.gli.ph/2013/12/09/the-state-of-bitcoin-mobile-a...
Even the design looks like it was whipped together by developers.
On the other hand, the apple store is complete joke. IDK how anyone can use a store where such basic application like bitcoin wallet is missing.
I'm not an Android developer, but judging from what I've read about the experience Android developers have with the Play store, Google basically doesn't care about after-sales support for customers at all, and unloads about every kind of headache imaginable directly onto the developer (including payment problems, refunds, broken IAP, etc).
Any exchange app that transmits Bitcoins involves money transmission. Money transmission is regulated in the United States. No one is following the laws. Apple doesn't want another DOJ action. It's that simple.
Apple wants out so people will not be carrying around irreplaceable wallets in their phones, then blaming Apple when they get robbed.
Like it or not, Bitcoin - like Tor - (and this will continue to increase over time) is associated closely by the public with drugs, money laundering, gun running and so forth.
If I ask my mom or dad about bitcoin, they won't think "decentralized crypto currency", but "isn't that what they used on that silkroad site I heard about on Fox News a while back??"
Edit: The thing with Bitcoin is that it's impossible to know who steals your money. It could be Apple, NSA, russian hacker or your mom. Apple doesn't want to deal with that kind of uncertainty.
Still. I don't like this.
So you can understand why they'd be conservative about this sort of thing.</sarcasm>
Really as a matter of public policy we shouldn't allow them to have it both ways. If Apple wants to behave as some kind of common carrier and have no liability for the applications they chose to include or exclude they should be held to some kind of reasonable standard of fairness.
The solution? Stop sharecropping. Build on platforms that are open.
shoots self
What's that supposed to mean ? They don't have any monopoly, they are not even the dominant player in the smartphone market, and slipping in the tablet one.
I guess you mean they use heavy handed control on the apps they allow to run on their devices. But that's like its basic right. If you don't like the concept, don't develop stuff in somebody else ecosystem (i.e don't develop for facebook, google, evernote, dropbox, ...)
Ironically, if Apple was a monopoly, then the government could intervene on that basis. Outside that scenario though, I prefer to avoid shit companies on my own and not have the government regulating how the APIs to their service should look like. (disclaimer, I'm a bit sore on that point. Imagine calling Google Map api using EBMS and XBRL, that's the taste of Government Regulated APIs)
Now about "how they're a terrible company that doesn't really care at all about their users." That's a popular opinion those days, I'm only moaning about the monopolistic part of it (as its corollary, that somebody should tell them how to manage the plugins for their platform)
I stay far, far away from the Apple ecosystem because it seems like starting out with underpowered hardware, jacking up the price and crippling it with a ton of lockdowns would be shooting yourself in the foot in a competitive market -- and it would be, for any company that doesn't have Apple's marketing genius.
I personally don't care about marketing at all, so it doesn't work on me.
[1] IMHO, if you're working on any commercial project -- hardware, software, website, whatever -- you want to encourage user-generated innovation as much as possible. Convincing people to build on your product means there are people working to make your product better without you paying them. So it's in your interest to make life as easy as possible for innovators. Maybe this doesn't justify a huge engineering expenditure on features targeted to developers, but it certainly means you shouldn't go out of your way to make life difficult for developers, like Apple's app store approval with its bizarre restrictions and opaque decision process does.
[2] That people put up with Apple's crap and develop for their platform anyway is a testament to the hacker spirit. Or maybe to the number of gullible people in this world willing to pay top dollar for Apple phones that create a market. Or perhaps because the first iPhone was in the right place at the right time, disrupted a market that was ripe for disruption, and then network effects make its dominance stable (especially over the short-to-medium term).
Sideloading on Windows Phone is still very limited, for examle see:
http://allaboutwindowsphone.com/flow/item/18092_Microsoft_of...
/shocked
For instance, if you buy movies tickets through an app, Apple does not get a cut. If you buy a computer through Newegg's app, Apple does not get a cut. If you buy a lawn mower through Walmart's app, Apple does not get a cut. If you pay your electric bill through your bank's app, Apple does not get a cut.
However, there are notable major categories of apps that handle payments but do not incur the payment-cut issue. As others have noted, banking applications, which often include payment and money transfer functions, are ubiquitous. Payment facilitators are no strangers to the app store: PayPal[1], Square's line including Register[2], Cash[3] and Wallet[4]. Retail store apps also don't appear to be affected by the 30% cut: Amazon, B&H Photo, McMaster-Carr, etc. all have store apps.
Also, it seems that Apple has been forthcoming regarding reasoning in the past over disputes regarding in-app purchases, e.g. with Amazon over the Kindle app presenting the Kindle Store. In the BtC app cases, it's the stonewall "game over" response, with no ongoing communication as to how the app might regain compliance.
That suggests, in contrast to other cases, that Apple's current position is that these apps cannot become compliant. Even though the BtC-related apps otherwise resemble established payment-related products. That's an interesting distinction and points to either undisclosed legal concerns or otherwise different business concerns than were raised in earlier cases.
[1] https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/paypal/id283646709?mt=8
[2] https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/square-register/id335393788?...
[3] https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/square-cash/id711923939?mt=8
[4] https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/square-wallet/id455018546?mt...
With PayPal you can pay for goods, receive payments for goods, transfer to an individual, receive payments from an individual, do it all in different currencies and transfer in and out of bank accounts etc.
Aside from the fact that the model itself is rather different, I can't think of any practical uses that can be done with one but not the other?
Edit: for clarification, I mean in the context of the parent's scenario of Apple taking their 30% cut of a transaction. Obviously there are plenty of reasons to use BTC over other payment methods.
I agree that there are advantages to Bitcoin over other payment methods. No dispute there.
But your original contention was that Apple want to be able to take a 30% slice of transactions, and they can't do that with Bitcoin so they're banning wallet apps. My gut instinct says that's not the reason but I'm trying to find out more info before deciding.
Apple don't take a cut of any of the transactions done through the PayPal app etc. so I think it's safe to assume that they wouldn't want a cut of similar transactions done over Bitcoin.
So again, I'm probably missing something obvious, but I can't think of any: what are some examples of transactions that are only possible with Bitcoin where Apple would want to take a cut.
There are also a number of simple payment apps backed by banks for doing low value transfers (under 1500 GBP) like Barclays Pingit and so on.
... I don't think an immigrant worker using a $600+ smart phone to send home money via Bitcoin is a very common use case. Pushing such a message makes Cary and Blockchain come off as deceptive or naive or both.
[1] http://www.equities.com/editors-desk/currencies-forex/why-ap...
Apple have denied my app on the grounds that it's too simple. The whole point is it's simple. My counting app is simple, this is much more complicated that managing 1 number, but they won't allow it.
Interesting...