Apple might be talking a big game about how it's
revising the App Store approval process with an oversight board and
trotting out Phil Schiller to do damage control at
opportune moments, but the process itself is still generating inconsistent and maddening results -- like today's rejection of an app advocating for healthcare reform called iSinglePayer, which was rejected for being "politically charged." Yeah, that's insane, especially since the app just consists of healthcare spending information and a GPS-driven lookup tool for local Congress members and how much money they've received in health-sector donations. Say what you want about the political motivations of the app, but that's a fairly benign set of functions, and it's one that's been echoed by political apps on both sides of the aisle since the launch of the App Store. So why this rejection, and why now, when apps with names like "
Conservative Talking Points" have been approved? And honestly, how is it even possible anyone at Apple is dumb enough to reject this without anticipating the firestorm of controversy it would cause? Who knows anymore -- we have a feeling ol' Phil's about to earn his paycheck explaining this one.
P.S.- We're not here to debate politics, so keep it clean down there, mmkay?
[Via
Daring Fireball]
posted Sep 29th 2009 6:28PM
WHAT. THE. HELL.
Not saying I'd use it, but COME ON APPLE, THINK ABOUT IT!
My Robot Friend - Robot High School. Nail on the head.
Idiotic move apple. Have fun explaining this one after it runs throughout the internet.
Exactly, let people decide if they like it or not. if you have an iphone you're old enough to not let an app sway your political views. This is almost as worse as the people who didn't want Obama going to that high school, like he'd brainwash them.
So this gets denied yet the App for Legalizing marijuana (NORML office locations, congressmen contactcs, dispensary info) just slides on thru?
not that I have a problem with either app....
good thing i don't have to rely on the crAPP store as my sole method for installing apps (read: Cydia)
They have thought about it. Here's just how much they think about it: http://www.campaignmoney.com/apple_computer.asp
Thanks for the info. According to that link, Apple gives $500 more on average to Republicans.
@Pax Copia
read the rest of it. Apple gave more than double to democrats than republicans. Way to take things out of context.
Macintosh by Apple: One reason that 1984 won't be like 1984....
What has happened to you apple? The only valid reason I can think that would reject this app is that it looks like a crappy FB poll.
(My personal opinion is that the app presents a 2 dementional view of the issue, but that certainly not a reason to prohibit it, that is, of course, if they are not blocking all political apps. )
[censored] [censored] [censored] [censored]!
Dez, you need to understand the meaning of the phrases you toss about before you start tossing them about. What I posted was not, "out of context" it was a matter of fact. When Apple gives money to Republicans they give a lot more than when they give to Democrats. They do slightly obfuscate this by giving more to one party as a whole though.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OYecfV3ubP8
"Who knew 25 years later they would become what they despised the most"...
by
Frank Black
well since your vote no longer counts why not just choose not to upgrade your iphone? i myself am going back to soup cans an' a whole mess'a string...
apple people and fanboys must be republican, they hate any kind of different things
Really weird those contributions, I mean if you give money to get kerry in the white house and hillary as prez and obama, then why also give money to the bush campaign? Come on now, make a freaking choice or better yet stay out of that game altogether.
But I guess it's all purely based on 'does this make apple grow' and disregarding any other consideration whatsoever.
Businesses should stay out of politics.
lowest? really? i think it's funny, think about it!
Is it ironic that i wanna protest this?
Take action! Call your local app approval officer and demand an explanation!
Good. Obambi is a complete douche.
if you can let fart apps run rampant in the app store. why not this app? I agree with Alex, it's not like anyone would actually use it, but to put a smack down like that, seemed a bit unusual to me.
You forgot that Steve Jobs tells you what is useful and not.
Yeah Bill, but lets see how far iQueef gets through the app approval process?
That's because giving facts and information is politically charged. We can't have a populace that is educated on the subject. That is entirely unAmerican, sirs.
Thank you...
Good luck with your health care reform, hope the rational voices get heard.
- Canadian
So the conservatives?
Down rank me. Flame me. I expect it.
Because the government taking care of its citizens instead of stepping on them is an ENTIRELY ALIEN CONCEPT to conservatives.
Are you serious Engadget... You censored the comments?!?! That's nuts. How can you condemn Apple for rejecting this app in the same breath as you selectively delete comments you don't agree with.
@Cdub
Why would a Canadian go to the United state for health care? Specially since my moms lives in Georgia, but comes to Canada, to just get treated or to see a medical doctor. Cost less, a lot less. Your point?
@what a surprise, come to any of our overcrowded cities on the east coast and see that we already wait that long in the ER, and we pay for it.
Hey, now I look like I'm talking to myself.
@Jonathan K.: I down-ranked you for disagreeing with the original commenter without explaining why or on what grounds.
i do find it pretty gay that they deleted the anti-canadian healthcare comments made by canadians.
I live in the biggest city in the Northeast now, and I get better, faster health care here than I ever did in Canada.
I wouldn't call it gay, I would call it hypocritical.
@What a Surprise Because we're not having a political flamewar on our tech news site. It's no secret that we moderate comments here, and we won't touch anything that's on-topic and polite. Go somewhere else if you want to rant about healthcare, that's not what we're about.
It was a simple response to the poster above. If you don't like it, delete the entire thread, not just the comments you disagree with, or think are to right wing, or whatever you were thinking.
@what a surprise, not here in Philly!
@Nilay I can understand the point you make here, but the engadget comments are off-topic flame wars 99% of the time! i'm just saying...
Look, I am pro reform. You have to be, look at the numbers, I just get worked up when Canadians come into the discussion with their chests puffed up, and their heads held high, as if they had all the problems solved 30 years ago, we we haven't. That's all.
But the real story here is that Apple should just take away our rights to free speech, and Steve Jobs can start giving us all talking points at the beginning of each day.
@Nilay Patel.
"It's no secret that we moderate comments here"
I believe this comment should be removed for the biggest load of bull ever. Why don't you remove trolls like DR House or clak when he periodically shows his face. You only remove adverts posted because you get no money from them.
@Nilay: You know, people on the internet like off-topic flame wars ;]
Regardless, silly, silly Jobso.
I wrote my comment thinking it WOULDN'T be flame bait.
I would have been a great comment if you didn't put "-Canadian" at the end.
This is madness!
RE: Rob Conway "i do find it pretty gay that they deleted the anti-canadian healthcare comments made by canadians."
-=-=-=-
they're not Canadians, they're from Alberta...
Think again, I am from Victoria, British Columbia
@Nilay,
Sorry I can't read your comment because so many people have voted you down, which in itself should tell you somehting about what people think about the deletions.
Perhaps you could modify what happens to low ranked posts so we can still read them.
If everyone bought this app, would that make it $7291 spent per person?
its because obamanator appointed apples as APP CZAR
anything they do or say Goes, under their fruity empire...
Way to go Apple! I totally support your decision.
Apple and "Conservative Talking Points" do not even belong in the same sentence.
But I put them in the same sentence anyway ;).
While not conservative per se (he is against conservation) Limbaugh is a huge Apple nut____.
did you really just say Limbaugh is not a Conservative? what planet are you from?
He's from a planet where they still speak Latin.
Are any of the "politically charged" apps free?
and the Apple control noose tightens muhahahaha. I can't wait to hear why Conservative "please-shoot-census-workers" talking points is approved but not an app that helps you locate your congressman or woman.
Yes... This is tech news...
I would prefer that engadget didn't start supporting either party or providing fodder. Let's just review the app. Of course, the developer could just make it an interactive web-site visible in the iPhone safari browser... No reason not to approve it, but it IS their store... Perhaps you would rather be forced to do something you didn't want to do or support?
Is it such a big deal outside of the political arena or IN the tech field?
"Let's just review the app..."
I'm sure Engadget and others would like to review the app, if only Apple would APPROVE it.
This app IS politically charged, and has an agenda of its own, to promote a single-payer health care system in the United States.
But I think it's pretty pathetic that Apple rejected this app, since those who created the app, regardless of their ideology, worked hard and deserve recognition for their accomplishment. This will simply dissuade people from making more applications for the iphone, especially ones that educate people from either viewpoint on a particular debate or issue.
I recommend locking these comments.....now
Come on now people. Single payer would lead to socialism and you know what that means? Cheap crapple (oops, did I say that?) products for everyone! Not good for them, and certainly not good for you!
@Kamal
You are an idiot! Do you even know what socialism is? Just because the U.S. needs to follow (yes I said follow) the lead of every other significant country in the world by creating a national health care system does not mean that we would magically be a socialist country. It just means that we are preventing ourselves from continuing to be RAPED by the managed health care industry that only cares about extracting as much money out of your pocket as possible, and in return provide you as little care as possible. That is what's happening TODAY in our country. Health care premiums have gone up and up and up over the past two decades, including an average of almost 20% last year alone! How is it possible that we pay more than twice as much as the second highest paying country in the world for our health care but yet the service that we get ranks somewhere between 12th and 19th in the world (depending on which study you look at). These are FACTS! Why wouldn't we want to pay less per person, guarantee health care as a right (like every other advanced country), and let the doctors rather than the accountants decide what care we should be given. Anyone who doesn't agree to something so overwhelmingly obvious is either an idiot and has been brainwashed by the talking points of conservatives and the managed health care industry. Which one are you?
By the way, these are just a few of the overwhelming majority of first world countries which have a national health care system. Which ones are socialist? Oh that's right. NONE OF THEM!!! United Kingdom, Australia, Germany, Canada, Brazil, Italy, New Zealand, and on and on and on. Hell, even Mexico is instituting a national health care system. MEXICO!!! It's a sad day indeed when we are falling behind Mexico.
Finally, here is a map so you can see which countries have national health care: http://www.blogcdn.com/www.gadling.com/media/2007/07/healthcareworldbig.jpg or you can look on Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Universal_health_care
If we don't reform health care then it just goes to show that our country is filled with idiots who deserve our fate of watching the entire world pass us by.
Hi Tony. I am sorry I did not do a better job of expressing that I was being sarcastic. Your points are well made and I agree with you. Thank you for your reply since some (who take every written word for gospel, at least the ones they agree with) others will undoubtedly look at my comments as anti-health care reform.
Why this isn't released for Andy?
In before the shitstorm.
Too late. :P
I totally oppose the current proposals for health care reform, and the concept of single payer largess, but I also oppose censorship. In the end it is apple's decision, but I can't see how it is in their benefit to deny this.
I'm getting tired of hearing about App Store politics.
Amen to that. Why the f*ck this even rates as news at this point is beyond me. I dislike Apple as much as the next freedom loving S.O.B but enough with the damn app store rejection stories. It's old news!!
Continued bad publicity is necessary in order to get Apple's broken approval/rejection process fixed. Unfortunately it is not sufficient.
Can you imagine what an IPhone would cost if the government designed it and provided the service for it!???
At least one positive thing would come out of this: the app store would be subject to the First Amendment.
I reember everyone going nuts about Microsoft and Monopolizm (is that a word?), but Apple is making them look like cub scouts. How the hell does this company not spend 99% of it's time in court? The only thing political charged here, is Apple trying to hide FACTUAL NUMBERS about healthcare. You run a series of smear commercials, not promoting your product, but just trying to blast Microsoft and Windows. Seems like your closer to a Politician than the creater of this app is.
How do you knwo they are factual? you don't know the source of those figures.. They could be all sorts of hyperbole.
Like he said.
I've seen lots of data massaged to support one side or another's position.
Want a fact? Apple fans will look for any theory to deflect anything negative Apple does. Want FACTUAL PROOF --- look at the two idiots' responces above this one......
Maybe good old Phil Schiller is on that list with the senators of recieving health sector donations? I dunno.
'FREE SOUTH AFRICA YOU DUMB SOB!'
So Apple is saying that anything relating to, or dealing with the structure or affairs of government, politics, or the state is forbidden?
Interesting.
Maybe they'll revise their slogan from, "Apps for Everything" to "Apps only for the things that Apple tyrannically condones"
"Apps only for the things that Apple tyrannically condones" ... is it not their store? I know liberals think everything in the world should be a "neutral" govt agency that serves and loves all, but the company has to act in its own self-interest and do what they think is right. It's their money, their network, their app framework, their marketplace .... their choice. No tyranny. Tyranny would be the govt getting involved in this and regulating Apple saying that HAD to approve this or that app.
Apple is a Totalitarian artificial entity. Our Government is a Democratic Republic.
Android just keeps looking better all the time. It is time to bow down to our Google overlords.
Sounds like Apple has gotten too big for the britches.
@pax copia, that's because profits are more important than people!!!
As much as I disagree with Apple rejecting that application:
Apple owns their app store and can do whatever (almost) they want with it. Rejecting that application violates nothing. They would lose no profit by accepting that app, nor gain any by rejecting it. Therefor there should be no legal problems.
Whatever.
Port it to WinMobile where app store rejections are just a minor annoyance and not the end of the road.
Alright folks, it's officially time to lose the Jesus phone
Wow my comment was deleted and i didnt even have anything bad in it.
Or perhaps you haven't grasped the magnitude of the comment system.
It is politically charged. It's showing only one graph.
If an app was rejected for showing multiple sides of the debate and delivered raw data for each, it'd be up in arms.
I find it funny that on almost all the tech news sites that I read there are always two things that are a guaranteed when an iPhone App Store story goes up;
1. If it mentions that an app was rejected you get 100 posts flaming Apple for even having a review/rejection process in the first place.
2. If it mentions the App Store having 80,000 applications you get 100 posts flaming Apple for letting 79,750 useless applications into the app store and how there are 30 different applications for something that didn't need an app in the first place.
3. If it mentions the App Store having 2 billion downloads you get 100 posts flaming Apple for waisting everyone else's 3G bandwidth with 1.99999999 billion downloads of useless junk that was installed, launched, closed and uninstalled in 30 secs or less.
4. If it mentions absolutely nothing at all, just a blank story with the word Apple in the headline you get 100 posts flaming Apple for .....something....anything..... white space.
Don't own any Apple gear but I find it all really entertaining.
But I still say ol'Phil should just tell everyone "we rejected it because we felt like it and because we can do that in OUR store without explaining anything to anyone."
And yes I know I said two things are guaranteed then listed four things :/
"we rejected it because we felt like it and because we can do that in OUR store without explaining anything to anyone." - right on
This article highlights the dangers and loss of freedom that occur when a single organization takes and exercises unwanted control over the people it is supposed to serve.
And yes of course I mean both contexts.
I seem to recall the Obama campaign putting out their own iPhone app during the campaign. It was an "Obama for president" app, essentially. How is that okay, but this is not?!
yeah that's what I was thinking. That app was in the top 25 most downloaded for a while too, so it's not like it flew under the radar or something. And how could an app be more one-sided and "politically-charged" than fully endorsing one political party's candidate and not the other during a presidential election?
Is the app store and applications like this becoming the next platform for a freedom of speech debate or worst yet litigation? See Pruneyard Shopping Center v. Robins that changed the landscape for free speech on private property
Well, duh. This is the kind of thing that happens when you have a singleapprover app store/health care/anything.
No it's not.
Again Apple? Serioiusly? I'm pretty tired of reading stories like this... it's not that I think that engadget should stop publishing them... I just think that it's time for Apple to do something INNOVATIVE with their app store approval process. Every story like this puts me one contract day closer to owning a Pre.