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 November 22nd 2008 12:39AM
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.