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Comment by danra | Hacker News Reader

> It's as if history is repeating itself:

> Apple rolls out new features/platform.

> Developer forges ahead in gray area (there's history here with apps that launch other apps).

> Apple "clarifies" their stance by rejecting said developer's app. (In Apple parlance, clarifying means issuing a firm opinion on their openly stated policy of "we'll know it when we see it".)

> Development community cries out.

> Apple remains singularly focused; stringently enforcing their policies (even if they are often unclear or inconsistent).

You missed the last step - one iOS version later, Apple copies the killer feature it originally rejected as a misuse of the platform, and makes it its own.

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Another missed step - Apple approved the "gray area" app in the first place.

That's the thing I don't like about this. If they approve an app in the first place they should only then remove it under extreme circumstances. This kind of nervous uncertainty among devs is bad for the platform.

>This kind of nervous uncertainty among devs is bad for the platform.

Is that really true? This has been going on since day one and yet the platform is thriving.

I wouldn't say the app market is thriving. It's been dominated by the same gimmicky IAP games for a long time, is full of hacky junk apps, and noticeably devoid of serious productivity apps. More and more prominent indies are throwing in the towel and taking jobs, which probably means less innovation.

And usage stats show user engagement for new apps at half of what it was a year ago.

Even a cheerleader like Marco Arment has expressed serious doubts about the health of the iOS app ecosystem lately.

>It's been dominated by the same gimmicky IAP games for a long time, is full of hacky junk apps, and noticeably devoid of serious productivity apps.

These things are a turn off for us, but that doesn't mean that the market is failing.

These two things can be true at the same time:

> This kind of nervous uncertainty among devs is bad for the platform.

> The platform is thriving.

It is difficult to argue that this kind of activity on Apple's part creates uncertainty. Apple weighs this as a trade-off. What is consistent about Apple is that they err on the side of the user; or at least what they perceive to be of benefit to the user.

That is what many of these disagreements come down to.

>bad for the platform

It's nothing Apple Damage Control can't handle.

Apple isn't a single infallible guy. I am sure that reviewer got reprimanded, and told to escalate anything that ground breaking in the future.

Is each app really reviewed by only one person?

If the terms are so easy to understand that this dev should have known better in creating a "gray area" app, shouldn't the reviewer(s) be expected have an even better understanding?

This has happened so extremely often that it's become a meme. This is now considered standard behavior for Apple. When I think of iPhone development, my very first thought is of the uncertain and fickle nature of their app approval process.

I don't know anything about the internal process, but I can't imaging that they have many people look at each app. Its actually impressive to me that they are paying an employee good money to test free apps.

You probably won't get an answer to that here from anyone who knows. The only Apple employee I knew at school was really weird about it. When I asked what she did I got "Apple employs sales, technical and engineering staff in the Boston area". Perhaps some of the folks in CA are a little more open/laid back.

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