Recently we were sent a PR email about an iPhone app called BdEmailer. No big deal, press releases about new iPhone applications show up in our box in large bundles every day -- but this one was different. According to the release, the program is the "the first wide email iPhone app that supports client SMTP." That means, in essence, that it duplicates an
exact function of Apple's Mail application on the iPhone and touch. That's kind of a huge deal, because up until this point we've been led to believe that this duplication of functionality is one of the company's red flags when it comes to approval. Now mind you, we're not complaining. The idea of having more apps to choose from for doing things like sending email is a great idea, but Apple... what the hell is going on? You refused MailWrangler and Podcaster
for similar reasons, yet BdEmailer passes through your review process, SMTP functionality intact? This means one of two things as far as we can tell -- either you've relaxed your policies on duplicate functionality, or you've gotten incredibly lazy when it comes to approving applications. We're inclined to believe it's the latter, as BdEmailer has a fair share of bugs that need working out, but really, people need some clarification here on what will and won't pass -- and moving the goalpost all the time isn't going to help.
posted Nov 22nd 2008 12:39AM
MMS Apps then!
Thats what I was thinking... this means there is hope for that third party MMS app then, yeah?
hawkman wow what an apple apologist you are!
i'm sure my friends with iphones wouldn't care WHAT an MMS app looked like!
Wheres the "Duplicates iPhone functionality..." rule gone now....
Never mind, Apple will realize about this in a few days and will remove it after that. Just like they f*cked with NetShare...
Getting the iPhone to send/receive MMS is easy. The hard part is getting AT&T to let them through. On a jailbroken iPhone just install Swirly from the Cydia app configure it and the phone is ready. If you have MMS service on your plan then it will work.
I can't stop believe that one day we will get one, I'm so full of hope that one day my iphone will have all the basic features, one day
Applications have to be pre-approved for the iphone?
Score one for Windows Mobile. No one tells me what to put on my own phone.
Yes, and the developer(s) of the app don't know if it will be accepted till after they submit the *completed* app for approval.
no, that's right. any yahoo can make some piece of junk for your mom to install on her phone, and then wonder why it crashes all the time.
Come on Jared, even you can admit that Apple's appstore policies are ridiculous.
Aw god, I gotta stop responding to imaginary internet people while drunk.
@jared
ok, what about the thousands of quality aps out there, that I willfully and happily install?
Like smms, for my HTC Mogul that did not have picture mail out of the box. A nice developer made a very functional MMS program, that I am sure Sprint would not have approved of, but guess what... it didn't matter.
Apple might take out the competition (literally) with their screening process, but I think that what really matters to the general public is that they don't have to worry about trojan apps killing their iPhone.
In addition, it stops obnoxious people like you from buying an iPhone, therefore saving us all immeasurable amounts of time trying to help you learn how to set up your email and sync your contacts (it's the big 'Sync' button that works the magic for future reference).
So why don't you just go ahead and score two for the iPhone: No trojan apps + none of you guys clogging up the iPhone support forums. On second though, why don't you just shove it up you @$$?
Yes score one for Windows Mobile. Now if only I could find that perfect email app to load onto my HTC Touch Diamond. I just switched from using POP3 access to IMAP access and love it. The email on my Desktop Outlook, Laptop Outlook, HTC Touch Diamond, HTC Touch, and my webmail are now always in sync. Why didn't I make the switch to IMAP years ago? But the Windows Mobile app I'm hoping for for would allow me to integrate with the IMAP servers even better. Don't get me wrong I love the current offering. I just want to be able to specify which folder to store my sent messages to after I send them. Am I asking for too much? I guess just having the best mobile OS out there has got me wanting even more.
wow @ 'who?'
You crazy ass fanboy, you!
Stop bringing in your amateur mobile OS to fight with the big boys, WinMo will destroy it in usability and something called freedom, which my ipod touch only gives me when i dont use itunes and jailbreak it and still doesnt hold a candle to my touch pro.
Yeah, I wish I had myriad ugly, crap apps to choose between, too. How I envy you.
A myriad crap apps to choose between? That's almost like the definition of the appstore!
@Dave,
This isn't a limit of IMAP, it's probably on your sever end.
But if you REALLY want your WindowsMobile mail app to do everything, point it at an Exchange Server. You can sign up for one online for like $5/mo if your company doesn't use one. That'll sync contacts, calendar, tasks, and email all at the same time. You'll wonder how you lived without it.
Apple's app store policy is ass.
BURN THEM AT THE STAKES! (or are we not allowed to do that now?)
Stories like this are just further proof that they have absolutely no system in place for deciding what makes the cut. Apps that should get rejected get through, others that are perfectly valid get rejected. It makes no sense.
The only possible explanation is the approval board is a room full of monkeys approving apps at random.
Hmmm. "Secutiry Note" doesn't inspire a lot of confidence no?
Yeah, I'm sort of hopeful now that Apple has let this through, but there's no way I'm giving this app my email login details, it looks sketchy as hell.
Maybe they let it through because it wasn't better than mail.app and hence, wasn't embarrassing.
Apple's policy is the same as it has always been:
We do whatever the hell we want, and you love it.
I'll reply to this instead of creating my own post, because you're right. People were stupid for taking the app approval policy literally. Apple reserves the right to not approve apps that duplicate their functionality. That doesn't mean they'll disallow every app under the sun. It might mean they disallow nothing. It might mean they allow it today but ban it tomorrow. It's all about control, sure, and you can think that's BS if you want. But don't pretend like it means there will be no "duplicate functionality" apps. It just means there will be no duplicate functionality apps that Apple perceives as a threat to their interests. If you can make a better XYZ app than Apple that sells more iPhones, why would they be opposed to it?
Yes, I do.
(looks around)
Oh, wait. No. No, I don't.
Boo, Apple.
Is it okay to just sit on the fence? Every Apple topic on this site is just filled with perverse hatred.
It's kinda weird to feel anger welling up inside of you because someone you don't know dislikes something you do. What strikes me even stranger though, is when people have perfectly decent reasons for their conclusion, but you can still detect a sense of superiority or prejudice in how they speak.
Just bad vibes, man.
Not just you, almost everyone.
I'm double posting like an idiot.
I just wanted to reassure you that my comment was not aimed at either of the previous posters that I replied to. I actually found the quip amusing.
Just getting tangenty, I suppose.
@Valicore:
So....Steve Jobs is a dictator?
Really? Are you sure about that??
No restrictions... uhh
Right :)
Mike
Ranked down for comment spam and feeding the troll that everyone knows is wrong.
Yeah, even Engadget recognizes he's a troll so now you can't reply to his posts, or something. Just ignore him, comments like that prove he really is just trolling.
I work at the Apple Store, and I've had people ask me about this. It's a bit of a shock to hear people who call their whole computer a "CPU" talking about the application development side of things. Nonetheless, due to the publicity the App Store policy has had, there is a lot of confusion. They seem to think the App Store is a place full of con-artists (I Am Rich to blame here), with apps appearing and disappearing every day, from the store and from your phone. Some think you can't sync podcasts (you always could, now OTA with 2.2), and some think Apple's spying on them (CoreLocation blacklist or just paranoia - I don't know)
Apple really need to sort out their policy. It's bad for developers, who spend their time developing an application that gets rejected, and it's bad for consumers, who get caught up in the confusion.
It's actually a really tough policy for developers. Work a long time on something just to have Emperor Jobs give it the thumbs down because he didn't have his 1:30pm nap.
They more than make up for this by providing a super easy to use development kit free of charge, and actually offering to host all of your apps (and advertise them for free on iTunes) for a lifetime price of $99 is a better deal than you'll find anywhere else. Not to mention all that money they doled out to prospective developers for nothing more than the promise of a future app or two.
All in all, I'd say that developing for Apple beats developing for WinMo or Linux in most areas, and is disappointing in only one. The process of of accepting apps into the store. Which is what everyone here is focusing on. Why could that be...?
Apple are getting the benefits of the App Store just as much as developers. The App Store is one of the key selling points of both the iPhone and IPT. It's advertised heavily online, on TV and in store.
You'd expect the SDK to be free (besides, people would just jailbreak it if it wasn't). Also, it's not a one-off $99 fee; it's also 30% of the sale price. Also, I think people focus on the rejection issue because (a) it's very important and (b) the rules are poorly defined and not applied consistently.
Apple do a lot of great stuff. I really admire some of the things they come out with. This issue, however, has been poorly dealt with and requires clarification. I know customers are already demanding it.
its not a cpu?
@who? : To develop iPhone apps, you need Mac OS X. To have Mac OS X, you need an Intel Mac. That's pretty costly if you don't already have a Mac. $99? Sheesh, I wouldn't necessarily call it advertising. It's not like iTunes Store advertises music does it? That's like saying people go on iTunes to look for advertisements. If you've been taking weeks to make an iPhone app, and Apple says "NO", then I'd feel pretty darn angry.
That's the beauty of WinMo. You can develop almost anything you want, with less hassles. I'm careful enough to determine if an application is safe or not, and I don't need a company to baby me through it. Also, a lot of things rejected on the Apps Store aren't dangerous. Do you really think Flash is going to kill you? I'll make the call myself. If you like being controlled, go with Apple's iPhone.
@Quikboy
Ever seen an iPhone commercial? That's advertising, and most of the new ones show multiple apps being used on the phone. As for flash- Apple is in talks to integrate a mobile version into Safari; it can't be implemented as an ordinary app for maximum performance.
WinMo is a shoddy OS that is nearly impossible to use and whose default browser crashes more often than I run into you Windows fanboys. Like you. Yeah. You. You suck. Shut it, freak.
@who: "They more than make up for this by providing a super easy to use development kit free of charge, and actually offering to host all of your apps (and advertise them for free on iTunes) for a lifetime price of $99 is a better deal than you'll find anywhere else"
Raheeeeally? The Android dev kit is also free and super easy since it's a plugin for eclipse(which can be used in Windows, Mac or Linux by the way) and hosts all apps for a lifetime price of $25 on the android marketplace so.... ya I'd say that's a better deal. Oh, and if you don't want to pay the $25? You can just host the app yourself on another website and people with the G1 can still download it.
@who?
Wow. That's the longest continual bash of a certain product that I have seen in a long time. Not only did you manage to hurt the reputation of a product, but the person you replied to will probably die lonely and never love again, living with the knowledge that he was called a "freak."
NOT.
YOU.
ASSHOLE.
one android...to rule them all...
Yeah, right. The problem is that all of the features on there have been offered by other devices first. It begs the question: If there was nobody sewing a suit for them to follow, would they be able to come up with any new, unique, and useful features in future models?
I doubt it.
No no its fit! The ruling ring came last, stealing all the knowledge from the others.
Anyway... Steve Job start to look a bit like gollum no? just put a turtle neck to gollum... see!?!
-1 for not knowing how to use the phrase "begs the question".
If they are allowing them now, then I would very much like the GMAIL application. Like the ones they have for Symbian and WM.
Oh and please allow OPERA to be in the AppStore! I'll pay 20$ for it if I have to just do it please.
If opera doesnt crash 1000x times a day like Safari does, I'd pay premium prices for it.
If safari is crashing for you, then you must use it for some pretty hard-core sh*t. I've only had it crash once, and that was because I was playing around on version 1.1 (or similar) and the .tiff file hack.
Developers will turn to android. Because its a robot.
@h0mi
I used to have Opera on my Nokia, and whereas the default browser used to crash (or not load pictures due to the lack of RAM), Opera worked liked a monster. No crashes what so ever and loaded everything (including pictures) quicker than the default browser.
jailbreak if you want mms. as for email i just forward all my other email addresses to gmail.
I've never met and email address that couldn't be set up to work with the iPhone/iPod Touch. Give me internet, five minutes, and a bottle of vitamin water and I'm your man! :-)
I could never give up 3D baseball in the palm of my hand for one of those crash-o-matics, and it's not as if I could play it on one of them- what if you broke a WinMo?
I DONT CARE
How emo.
Then why the hell did you post a comment?
"If you don't eat yer meat, you can't have any pudding. How can you have any pudding if you don't eat yer meat?"
We don't need no education
We dont need no app control
No dark sarcasm in the appstore
Apple leave them devs alone
Hey! Apple! Leave them devs alone!
All in all it's just another app in the wall.
All in all you're apps just another brick in the 2.3 IPSW build's wall.
+1 for Pink Floyd reference
@ who?
Why must you reply to every single comment in this news story? I must say I find it extremely odd that you must defend Apple in every single post on something that is near inexcusable. Secretive, unsubstantiated, inconsistent policies will do nothing good for the app store in the long run, it will only help to run developers off who wish to develop for the platform but are afraid their hard work and $99 may come to naught at the whim of Apple.
It's why I believe that app stores on Android, and the one that will inevitably come to WinMo will eventually win this race, because yes you will get a few bad applications that crash phones or cause problems but here's the thing about a development community, if they see something bad they generally shout it from the rooftops, and complain about the application in question and it defies logic to download an application with 50 comments on it saying 'This app crashed my phone!!!'. Of course the system is open to abuse but as recent news stories have shown so is Apples.
And in the end I'd rather have an app store loaded with 1000's of applications (I assure you the number of applications in the App store will soon be outnumbered by Android and has already been surpassed 10 times over with WinMo add ons) with deal with a few bad ones, by uninstalling them. Then be left with a crippled app store and lose out on 1000's of apps because of Apples 'policies'. Although their recent behaviour shows a distinct lack of any policy whatsoever.
1000's of apps huh? I guess Android really would be beating Apple to the cut then, huh? Well, at least Apple added the ability to turn lead into gold to the iPhone, that's something I guess...
/sarcasm
&
*snickers at your lack of knowledge*
There are over 4000 apps in the App Store right now, a number that has been steadily increasing by approximately 500 new apps every month. The fact that you tried to make a point FOR Android on this playing field is just sad. If Android ever does reach the point of having 'thousands of apps' they will just be following in the tracks of Microsoft and Apple, as per their usual routine (AKA Copy&Paste lol).
Too much for you to comprehend? Well then why don't you think of it like the Matrix- until the Androids start thinking for themselves, they aren't a threat.
@ Who?
So you attacked my entire argument based on figures?
Bravo on winning the 'missing the point entirely' award for today.
Apples policies or lack thereof regarding the app store will only stifle innovation in the long run. Which is where open source will eventually attain the lead, the market is about competition and that includes applications. Apple continually dismisses any apps that replicate it's own services (exception in news story noted) and you know why? Because they are afraid that a 3rd party app may out rival their own software, this is control down to the minute detail of not letting your user base outdo you for fear of it making you look bad (even though it would probably have the opposite affect and reflect well on you), and all it does is stifle creativity and competition, both of which are needed.
@who?
You call an app that makes your iphone look like a beer mug useful? I certainly wouldn't use that as one of the examples of how many apps there are for the iphone. And there are tons more just like it that solve no problem and are nothing more than low life entertainment.
Too bad Apple doesn't think about their things.
The App Store is a huge opportunity for developers to provide applications directly to the user, and for Apple it's a great way to earn money with every purchase. But their policies let walk away the developers and annoy the users. This means they're losing their money because of themself.
So devs, let's go away to Windows Mobile and make Steve Jobs say: "Developers, Developers, Developers, Developers, Developers, Developers, Developers, Developers" at WWDC 2009.
I would understand if Apple would reject bad software or anything that violates with the provider (VoIP, free SMS or Internet Sharing) but duplicating integrated functions doesn't hurt apple in any ways, as the customer has already bought them with their devices...
But I think the last apps that were rejected for duplicating features made them way better then Apple did.. so you can await those new features that made them better released by Apple in next versions :p
Wait wait wait. What's this? I thought that the whole point of everyone's complaining was that Apple's things were the only things they cared about, and that they were being insensitive to the dev's feelings to protect their own interests. Unless you are saying the devs are Apple's... then that's just creepy.
what?..
simple answer "no IMAP" means pretty useless for the 90% of us in this century.
Rant - Uh guys both Windows mobile and android Apps must be certified. Apple just Actually has standards.
Windows mobile apps are only of use to the three people that have WM phones. WM is barley a blip on the radar of smart phones. Apple, RIM, Palm and even Motorola Smart phones sell better. MS can Blow the smoke of its millions of licenses all it wants but the truth is most of those are for limited use devices like GPS, MP4 players and other integrated Appliance tasks.
You can claim all you want about WM having tons of apps, but seeing as Apple has already sold more apps the WM market as a whole. Once again its not useful if nobody uses it.
So much totally clueless statements in a single post. Bravo, sir!
@Tim Rosencrans
"WM is barley a blip on the radar of smart phones"
I guess thats why businesses are flocking to non-Windows Mobile smart phones like the iPhone. Oh wait...
I would have thought the reason for the inconsistency was quite obvious (at least in the case of Podcaster). Apple didn't want to be upstaged by having one of the main features of 2.2 (Podcast management) released beforehand by a 3rd party vendor. Doesn't make it fair behavior though. Maybe it stands a better chance at getting into the store now...
I wondered that. My angle was, it was unreleased functionality, so that users wouldn't be able to make an informed choice -- but either could work.
The obvious explanation for the inconsistency is that Apple have multiple reviewers who interpret the rules in different ways. I guess that logic doesn't allow Engadget to shout angry rhetorical questions into the internet, though.
Plus, this app does more off its own back than MailWrangler, which just presented a couple of Webkit views. I can see how that would be confusing to anyone outside its target audience; users are quite accustomed to a choice of full email clients, though.
Dude, have you even been reading about all these apps getting declined (Qik, Tom Tom, [thats all i can think of for a Satuday morning]), imagine if we all had Tom Tom nav in our phones, except i wouldn't of course because UK credit cards don't work on iTunes if the billing address is in Canada and the gift cards only work for music **rolls eyes**
Heres what Android needs to beat the app store...
Synaptics Package Manager, with a nice GUI optimised for phones and google to setup a repository, but still leaving it with the ability to add more. I know this will mean adding debian package ability to android but it would be just awesome.
I was reading this at engadgetmobile.com and wanted to see more comments, so I came to engadget.com. Shouldn't the comments be the same on both?
I think being able to use my own SMTP server is a big plus.
Jess
http://www.uatools.net.tc
That could be sarcasm but then again, it's definitely just idiocy.
P.S., whoever does the dev work for Engadget, there are like 10 functions BUILT IN to PHP for escaping strings. Maybe it's time you used them.
SMPT...isn't that a band?
The rule was never "duplicates function". The rule is "duplicates function without difference", meaning a carbon (pardon) copy of the app it's mimicking. BdEmailer does a number of things that Apple's mail program for the iphone does not---and will not do.
There's no issue here, except with Engadgets propensity for hiring writers who don't have the first damn clue what they're talking about. 70% of the articles here are now filled with bad information, and this one is no exception. No wonder everyone at Apple of any consequence stopped talking to you.
Maybe you could take the time to contact me and get the real story instead of just guessing why BdEmailer got approved, what ever happened to investigative journalism. You make it sound like the app is buggy when it is not, do you do diligence and set up a conference call with me, Alan
@yttrstein
Then how do you explain them not allowing Opera/FF? Sure they are similar but even Apple knows there are huge differences between the three browsers, which would meet the rule you speak of.
BTW I'll wait on buying this app until I hear the reviews and see whether Apple allows it to stay.
OH EM GEE
THE GREAT ALMIGHTY STEVE JOBS HAS CONDESCENDED TO BEND THE RULES FOR EACH AND EVERY IPHONE?
Let us all go groveling in the street at the great man who makes each and every individual iPhone/iPod/iMac/MacBook/MacBook/Mac Pro by hand from the souls of kittehz.
/end sarcasm.
Well, it's nice to see Apple think differently.
Since Apple violated its own policies, how about approving StyleTap's Palm OS emulation app for the iPhone & Touch? I could finally put my nearly 3-year-old Tungsten E2 and its declining battery to rest.
what a BS combo. Shiat service from the worst carrier with a device the self neuters itself. Call me when both get their shiat together.
Am I the only one who instantly noticed the misspelling in the screenshot? Maybe Apple should start checking spelling, too...
I do believe Apple needs a better system. It's becoming more apparent that the approval process is dependent on the person(s) who's checking the application. I read a story the other day how a developer had his application rejected two times and after a third submission it got accepted without changing a single line of code.
However, up until iPhone OS 2.0 there weren't any iPhone developers. Saying Apple is killing off development efforts and innovation is a bit absurd, especially since it was Apple that decided to open the iPhone to 3rd party developers. While it may not seem right or fair to some, Apple does have the final decision and rightly so, after all, it is their platform and product and if they want to protect their efforts (Safari, Mail, iTunes, podcasting, whatever), they should be able to.
I personally believe it would be much better if they just used the approval process to keep malicious applications from entering the store and let EVERYTHING else through. I think that someday this will happen, a little at a time, as the platform matures and Apple exposes more of the "internal" APIs. Currently though, the App Store seems to be a massive hit and there's no reason for Apple to worry. I'm sure for every developer that says "No" to the iPhone, there's a dozen others saying "Yes."
I don't understand all the fuss... the app has been pulled from the App Store anyway.
Lets not beat around the bush, there is only one reason that apple does not give us these BASIC features which are now non-features almost, and that is because they are greedy bastards. Has nobody realised that apple is much much more controlling then Microsoft or any of the other companies who get slated.
I am supprised that apple don't have a controlled app store for iMac's telling you what programs you can run on it. Don't get me wrong, they make great products and I am not a apple hater, (own iphone, imac) but it really gets on my tits how much people are blind to what they are doing in todays market.
Every single thing they don't include or take away is for profit, do you seriously think there is any other arguement valid for not doing these things that everyone else does?
The sad fact is, YES apple could add a 5/6/7 Megapixel camera to the iphone, yes they could add proper bluetooth, yes they could allow you to send tunes to friends and use them as ring tones ETC ETC, but they know that even if they don't we will buy the products anyways.
Then when they do decide to release these basic features they can coin it as re-inventing the wheel and say its GENERATION 2, so that all of us suckers (me included) will buy the product that we should have gotten the first time round again.