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Virtual weed farms and the sticky state of Apple's App Store restrictions
I was just about to tell you about Weed Firm, an insanely addictive app that tasks you with building a marijuana empire from your house in the suburbs, but I feel a little bad about gushing... because it's no longer available to download. Yes, it's been pulled from the App Store. (It's also been removed from Google Play, but for unrelated reasons.) As recently as yesterday, the free app held the number two position on the charts in Apple's store, and it's almost guaranteed that it disappeared due to concerns about illegal or otherwise "controversial" content. (Apple's famously mum about the reasons behind booting certain apps.)
Blockchain CEO calls Apple a 'gatekeeper on innovation' after Bitcoin wallet pulled from the App Store
Apple last week removed a Bitcoin wallet app called Blockchain from the App Store, prompting Blockchain CEO Nicholas Cary to lay out some harsh words for Apple. In a video interview with CNBC, Cary said Apple was a "gatekeeper on innovation" and that the company removed the app without providing any sort of viable explanation. What Apple ultimately told Cary via a succinct email was that the app was removed "due to an unresolved issue." Cary theorizes that the app was likely removed because Apple is planning to get into the mobile payments space and that they therefore view Blockchain as a competing service. Notably, Blockchain has been on the App Store since July of 2012, which only serves to add a layer of confusion as to the app's abrupt removal. "Apple has telegraphed they'll do something on top of the hundreds of millions of credit cards they have on their system," Cary told CNBC. "Bitcoin represents a major threat to any revenue model they may try to build. Anything they do with credit cards is not going to be innovative. Bitcoin is." In fact, Blockchain isn't the only Bitcoin-based app to have been shown the door in recent months. Bloomberg reports: Applications to monitor the price of Bitcoin or access related news are still available on the store. Coinbase Inc. and Gliph Inc., two San Francisco-based startups that let users transact, are also no longer on Apple's App Store. Fred Ehrsam, the CEO of Coinbase, said the app was removed in November. Rob Banagale, CEO of Gliph, said Apple allowed the the company's app on the store, provided it removed the ability to send and receive Bitcoins. While Bitcoin has a vocal group of proponents, keep in mind that the digital currency is not without its fair share of controversy and practical hurdles. To that end, Apple's wariness of apps that facilitate Bitcoin transactions is not completely surprising or unwarranted. Just this Friday, The Verge reported on a slew of Coinbase thefts that left some Bitcoin users up to $10,000 out of pocket. On a related note, Reddit CEO Yishan Wong, who formerly worked as an engineer at both PayPal and Facebook, eloquently describes two challenges facing Bitcoin in a great post on Quora that's a must-read for anyone with an interest in Bitcoin and its alleged potential to become a viable form of trade.
App-discovery service AppGratis pulled from Apple Store
AppGratis is an app that gives users a way to discover exciting new apps and get free apps every day. According to its developers, the app has over 10 million users worldwide. Sadly, AppGratis was pulled from the App Store for -- according to AllThingsD -- violating not only Apple's iOS developer guidelines Clause 2.25, but another guideline as well. Back in October, Apple added Clause 2.25 to the iOS developer guidelines stating that "Apps that display Apps other than your own for purchase or promotion in a manner similar to or confusing with the App Store will be rejected." In other words, the guidelines now prohibit exactly what AppGratis does. Developer Mahmoud Hafez, who runs the AppAdvice.com website and produces the similar Apps Gone Free app, told TUAW that he didn't think it was just Clause 2.25 that was the cause of AppGratis being pulled. Hafez explains that "Apple is not against these services and they do not inherently violate the developer agreement." Hafez provided some reasons why he thinks the removal was for reasons other than Clause 2.25: 1) App Gratis launched in the US after this clause existed. In fact, the iPad app debuted just last week. All these apps were approved, meaning Apple was okay with what they were doing even as of just a few days ago. The latest update that was submitted was their iPad app debut last week and it was approved. 2) Apple actually just added a new framework for developers to let users buy other people's apps from the App Store within the developers own app in iOS 6. Meaning they have a set way for others to promote apps other than their own. 3) There are many other apps that give users recommendations on other apps. In fact, Onavo recently discussed the entire industry of free app-finding apps and revealed several important players. Aside from App Gratis, all the other apps still remain in the App Store: http://www.insidemobileapps.com/2013/03/14/onavo-looks-at-the-market-share-for-app-discovery-apps/ AllThingsD reports that it was also Clause 5.6 that tripped up the app. That clause states that "Apps cannot use Push Notifications to send advertising, promotions or direct marketing of any kind." Apple is apparently looking at other apps like this to see if they violate the developer guidelines as well.
Shazam violates Developer Agreement, blames Jeff Rock
Jeff Rock happened to notice a push notification on his iPhone after installing Shazam. He checked it and it turned out to be an advertisement that had popped up. Since it didn't seem like expected behavior (push notification of an advert?), Jeff tweeted the Shazam folks to ask about it. Instead of a) Apologizing and trying to sort it out, b) Taking him seriously and helping troubleshoot, or c) Ignoring him entirely, they chose d) Tell Jeff it was clearly his fault. Not so fast there, Shazam...missing the point he was trying to make, they told him that he must have turned notification on himself and needed to turn them off. Let me just point out that his complaint was not that he received A notification, it was that he received an AD as a notification. Telling them so got him the reply that he had clearly opted-in to notification at some point. Jeff, trying to be more clear, quoted back chapter and verse from the iOS Program Standard Agreement that this particular "feature" was violating. This got a different response at least; now they say they'll "look into it". For Jeff in particular, I can see how this would be extra frustrating. He's a developer himself, co-founder of Mobelux who built the app that is now the official iOS Tumblr client. It seems the number of "Can you believe I got rejected for that!?" incidents is in decline, but with the number of apps that still get rejected for small reasons, it is odd this particular violation happened to make it through the approval process.
Apple pulls WikiLeaks app from the App Store
Apple has quickly pulled a WikiLeaks app (Google cache) it approved for sale on the App Store earlier this week. The unofficial app went live on the App Store on December 17. The WikiLeaks app gave "instant access to the world's most documented leakage of top secret memos and other confidential government documents," according to The iPhone Download Blog. The blog noted less than two days before the app was pulled that it was "actually surprising that Apple approved such an app, with all of the legal problems that Julian Assange and the WikiLeaks organization have been facing worldwide." TechCrunch has reached out to Apple and the developer for comment, but only the developer has responded so far, saying that Apple changed the official status of his app to "Removed From Sale." It's not too much of a shock that Apple pulled the app, as being seen as associating with or even facilitating funding to WikiLeaks is as about as controversial as you can get right now. The WikiLeaks app sold for US$1.99, but the developer, Igor Barinov, was donating half of his proceeds to WikiLeaks, which could be the ultimate reason why the app was pulled. There are sure to be many questions about why Apple approved then pulled the app in the days to come, but I would love to know what's more worrisome for Apple: the potential pressure/sanctions from various governments if they didn't pull the app, or the fact that the Cupertino company has now probably really, really irritated Anonymous.
Skyfire disappears from iTunes App Store due to technical difficulties (update: 'sold out')
Trying to get a copy of the Skyfire browser for your iOS device? You may not have much luck, as the pseudo-Flash-capable browser has just disappeared from iTunes App Stores around the globe, mere hours after its splashy debut. When we try to download it for ourselves in the United States we get the message immediately above, and RazorianFly readers are chiming in with reports that the app is no longer available in Greece, Sweden, Denmark, Germany, Australia, Canada, Switzerland, Norway, Spain and the UK. We just pinged Skyfire for comment and they say it's not Apple's fault; demand for a Flash video workaround is apparently so high that the company's having server issues and decided to pull the app rather than introduce new users to a sub-par experience. Skyfire assures us that it's adding servers as quickly as it can, but didn't provide an ETA on when we might see the app once more. Update: While we're not sure how an digital app can be "sold out," that's exactly what the company says happened to its $2.99 browser today -- after quickly becoming the top grossing app in the iTunes App Store, Skyfire is "temporarily not accepting new purchases" and says it will issue Facebook and Twitter status updates when the next batch of licenses is available. In other words, Skyfire's throttling the flow of purchases from now on. PR after the break. [Thanks to everyone who sent this in]
As Apple relaxes App Store rules, C64 emulator for iOS gets BASIC again
If you weren't already convinced that Apple is seriously easing back on some of its more annoying App Store restrictions with the appearance of titles like GV Voice (a Google Voice client), this news might help. After a wild ride of ping-pong approvals and pulls, Manomio's C64 emulator has reappeared in the Store with its BASIC interpreter fully intact, and available for your coding pleasure. We've tested the software and can confirm that you will indeed be able to revisit your youth (provided your youth took place in the early 80's) via the newest version of the software. Of course, it's not super fun to program using the tiny, virtual C64 keyboard provided onscreen, but couple this with a Bluetooth keyboard of your choosing, and you can pretty much go wild. The emulator is available right this moment for $4.99, and obviously it's a free upgrade for those who've already bought in.
Google Voice may finally be approved for the App Store
After a saga that's lasted more than a year, it looks like Google Voice-enabled app GV Mobile may finally be approved for the App Store. Following recent announcements that gave developers far more transparency into the actual rules of Apple's App Store approval process, Google Voice developer Sean Kovacs mused on Twitter, "Since GV Mobile complies with all 110+ guidelines newly posted by Apple, it should get approved." Kovacs tweeted a followup soon afterward: "Good news: I did get confirmation back from Apple that it will most likely get back in once I resubmit." Following GV Mobile's rejection from the App Store, Kovacs posted the app for sale on Cydia, the App Store alternative for jailbroken iPhones. Over a year later, it appears that Apple's reforms of the App Store approval process will finally allow the app to be sold to non-jailbroken handsets. Once approved, Kovacs says he will sell GV Mobile for either US$1.99 or $2.99 and may also offer the app for free on a single day as a promotional method to get more users. While not a VoIP service like Skype, Google Voice does allow US and Canadian users unlimited free calls and SMS, plus several more features that probably made carriers like AT&T unhappy the first time GV Mobile made its way onto the App Store. Now that GV Mobile seems to have finally jumped through the last hoop needed to get onto the App Store, iPhone users will have a powerful alternative to the carriers' "this many minutes and this many texts per month" plans -- and presumably, so will iPad 3G owners. [Via AppleInsider]
VLC coming to the iPad
VLC, the play-anything video player for the Mac, may soon be available as an iPad app. App maker Applidium has spent months porting the open source player into an iPad app and has submitted it to the App Store. Now they're just waiting for Apple to approve it; if approved, the app will be available next week, and like its big brother on the Mac, the app will be free. Having VLC available on the iPad would be hugely beneficial. VLC plays far more video formats than QuickTime or the iPad's built-in video support; on the Mac, I've often said that if VLC can't play it, it can't be played. We don't know yet if VLC on the iPad will allow you to move (for instance) AVI files straight into the VLC program via iTunes or if you'll be required to stream files from a Mac to view them on the iPad. In either case, VLC's ability to play almost any video codec out there would vastly expand the iPad's capabilities. That said, there are multiple reasons why Apple might reject this app. "Duplicating functionality" is one possible reason; the iPad already has a built-in video player, though one that's far more restrictive in the formats that it supports. There may be severe battery life issues to contend with as well. The iPad has the ability to decode H.264 video via its built-in hardware, but most other formats would have to be decoded via software, and depending on the format, it could tax the iPad's A4 processor pretty heavily. Finally, it's possible that media providers might squawk in protest at the iPad being able to easily and freely play video from any source -- let's just say that a lot of the AVI files and almost all of the VIDEO_TS folders out there aren't exactly condoned by the media conglomerates and leave it at that. I hope this app does get approved. I don't own an iPad, but being able to play back virtually any type of video file on the device via VLC would be a huge selling point for me, and probably for many others, too.
iPhone users may soon be putting on their Google Goggles
If iPhone owners are sometimes susceptible to a wee bit of Android envy, one reason might be Google Goggles. If you're not familiar with the Android app, Google Goggles uses pictures from your mobile phone to search the Web. Point your phone's camera at a Russian restaurant menu, and it is translated for you. Take aim at a landmark, and find out about the history of the place. Take a photo of a book cover, and you'll get a summary of the contents, bookstores that carry the title, and pricing. Or there's always the feature shown above -- the Nearby Places Overlay -- where you pan your phone's camera on a street and see labels describing every business. According to The Register, iPhone users won't have to wait very long to put on their Google Goggles. Google Staff Engineer David Petrou, speaking at the Hot Chips conference at Stanford University on Monday, mentioned in passing that the app could be released for iPhone by the end of 2010. That, of course, assumes that the app makes it through Apple's approval process -- that's never a sure thing, as the Google Voice team could share with their colleagues. [via CNET Web Crawler]
iWiz dev does good, becomes Apple App Store director
To be perfectly honest, we can't believe the above image is running on Engadget either. But with all the ongoing hoopla surrounding the App Store approval process, we'd be remiss if we didn't hep you to recently reported news that Phillip Shoemaker, director of applications technology at Apple, seems to have a healthy sideline developing iOS software with names like iWiz and, ahem, Animal Farts. We'll let you hit the store yourself if you want to learn more about these fine products (search for his company, Gray Noodle). For Apple's part, the company states that the apps were submitted and approved before Shoemaker got the job -- and that, indeed, he was hired in part because of his experience as a developer. Now, if we could only get that Pocket Pain Doctor guy a real job. He looks like he could use one! Update: We also thought we'd mention that, although Apple stated that the apps were submitted and approved before dude got the job, Shoemaker Tweeted that he had his new employee orientation on March 9, 2009 -- and that Gray Noodle was still publishing apps a month later. What does this mean, exactly? We're not sure (and we're not sure we care), but we figured we'd throw it out there nonetheless. [Thanks, Rohit]
Wi-Fi Sync: wirelessly sync the iPhone with iTunes... in your dreams (video)
Hey iPhone, welcome to 2007. Following Opera's script in building grassroots hysteria to goad Apple into approving a contentious app, developer Greg Hughes is teasing a video of his Wi-Fi Sync app to the peoples of planet internet. As the name implies, the app promises a complete sync of your iPhone or iPod touch with iTunes without having to tether and looks pretty straightforward (and occasionally useful) based on the video demonstration found after the break. Greg says he'll be submitting it to Apple for approval at the end of the week -- good luck with that Greg, we hope to be seeing you on Cydia at the very least.
First look: free WunderMap weather app for iPad
I've always been a bit of a sucker for the Weather Underground "Who Is Hot?" and Wunder Radio iPhone apps, as well as their website, so I was anxiously awaiting word of when they'd announce something for the iPad. I didn't have to wait long, as the company has announced that their free WunderMap has been approved by Apple and will be available soon. According to a company spokesman, they also submitted a version of WunderRadio for iPad that was rejected by Apple -- it ran on the iPad simulator, but not on the actual device. They've resubmitted, and we can only hope that that great radio app receives approval before Saturday. What is WunderMap? It's an amazing interactive weather map that uses Weather Underground's 16,000+ weather stations as well as radar and satellite layers to bring you weather information in a totally new way. You can start by looking at current conditions at any of the Weather Underground sites, with information including temperature, dew point, humidity, precipitation, wind speed, wind direction, and barometric pressure. Or course, most people want to know what the weather is going to be like in the future, so WunderMap provides 4-day forecasts for the center location in the current view of the map.
Opera Mini for iPhone submitted to Apple for approval (video)
Can you feel the tension? Opera is now in the throes of the App Store approval process. The wait is on to see if Apple will loosen its grip and approve the fast (very fast) Opera Mini browser for iPhone app that we checked out at MWC. Remember, Opera Mini relies on Opera's servers to render and compress pages before sending them back to the iPhone for display. As such, there's no code interpretation being done by the software -- a definite no no for approval. So the only thing that could cause Apple to reject the app would be a perceived duplication of core iPhone functionality even though it already approved several WebKit-based browsers. Whatever happens, this is going to be good. Update: Opera just threw up a counter tracking how long the approval process has taken. You know, 'cause everyone likes to be backed into a corner. Makes you wonder if Opera is serious about this or just doing it for the publicity -- one of several angles we mulled earlier.
Apple creating "explicit" category for App Store
After all of the kerfuffle earlier this week about Apple shutting down racy apps in the App Store, it appears that the company might be creating a special place for all of that suggestive and sexy content. We received a tip and a screenshot (seen above) from a developer who pointed out the new "Explicit" category in the tool used to submit apps into the store. While TUAW has not yet been able to confirm this, The new category could be the first sign that Apple may provide enhanced parental controls or even a separate "adult" App Store. This would not only maintain the revenue stream from these apps for both Apple and the developers, but would stifle comments that Apple is being too strict with providers of adult content. We will update this story as it develops. Update: The new category is corroborated by Cult of Mac and MacRumors as well. Update #2: Cult of Mac reports the category appears to have gone missing, although we've heard that when it was available earlier choosing the category wouldn't stick -- so perhaps we're seeing some iPhone OS 4 action here? Update #3: We have independently confirmed that the Explicit category isn't showing up in iTunes Connect any more, as has The Register.
Opera Mini on iPhone is fast, but why?
We came, we saw, and we're still scratching our heads over what Opera is up to with its Mobile World Congress demonstration of its Opera Mini browser running on the iPhone 3GS. But before we get into that, let's talk performance: it's fast. Opera Mini is very, very fast on the iPhone. Loading the New York Times, for example, was about 5x faster than loading the same page in the iPhone 3GS' stock browser. Pages loaded smoothly and were interactive just as quickly as the content began to load -- not unlike the Safari browsing experience. From a functionality standpoint, Opera Mini operates exactly as it does on other, less-contentious platforms. So while double-tap to zoom is supported, pinch-to-zoom is not. The iPhone version does, however, remember the state of the browser when you exit Opera Mini. As such, you'll find your tabs and recent pages right where they were when you last used the app. The impressive performance gain has to do with how Opera Mini works. First, it's not doing any rendering of the pages or code processing locally. Web pages are processed by Opera's servers before sending just the results to the iPhone. Not only does this speed up the local processing but it also limits the amount of data sent -- a potential big money saver for people browsing while data roaming (like us in Barcelona) or for those without unlimited data plans. Unfortunately, Opera refused to let us or anyone photograph the app or take any video of it in action. We couldn't even photograph the Opera icon in the launch bar or the wallpaper adorned with the Opera logo. Why? It looks just like Opera Mini beta on any other device so it's not like we're exposing any competitive intelligence. And it's not like Opera would be violating any Apple NDA related to the SDK or the app approval process. Unfortunately, Opera was unable to give us a valid reason other than, "you just can't." So why is Opera making such a fuss about this before it has even submitted to Apple for approval? We have three theories that we discussed with Igor Netto, Senior Product Manager within Opera's Mobile group. Click through if you like conspiracies.
Apple's New Year's resolution? Get apps through approval faster
One of the biggest gripes we heard from iPhone developers during 2009 was that it took forever for their apps to make it through the iTunes App Store approval process. Often apps would be disapproved for seemingly illogical reasons after a long wait in the approval queue, and TUAW heard from more than one developer that had just given up. iTunes Connect, the portal through which iPhone developers submit apps and check sales, was down between December 23 - 28, 2009. Since that time, TUAW has received a number of positive emails from iPhone devs that indicate that Apple has resolved to quit holding up apps in 2010. How fast are some apps making it through the process? Take developer Aaron Douglas's free Migraine Diary [iTunes Link]; he submitted it on December 28th at 9 PM CT and received notice of the approval a 4 PM CT on the 31st of December -- that's less than three days. But that's downright slow compared to what Yuri, a developer at Atomic Cactus, experienced: I'm a developer behind Atomic Cactus, we have 3 games currently in the app store, and they all took approximately 2-3 weeks to get approved. Today at 4:00 am I submitted for approval our latest app, which isn't exactly a "fart app" (it's a pretty polished puzzle game with OpenFeint). As of 1:30 pm today, the app is in the app store. That's nine and a half hours, folks! This is a small sampling of the many emails we've received from developers since just after Christmas. Whether this is due to a New Year's resolution, competition from the Android platform, or a new back-end system for processing apps, it's a welcome change for iPhone developers and users alike.
iPhones rejoice as Ustream Live Broadcaster hits App Store, other smartphones wonder what all the ruckus is
When it comes to streaming live video from a smartphone, there's an app for that and there has been for a long, long time -- unless you're an iPhoner. With Qik for the iPhone a delayed broadcast was possible, but it took months for the thing to break out of its WiFi-only shackles. Now you, like Bill O'Reilly, can do it live courtesy of the Ustream's Live Broadcaster, newly available in the App Store. It's not the first to stream live video from Apple's handset, an app called Knocking gets that distinction after getting the nod last week, but it is the first to allow live broadcasting, it works over 3G, and it's available for free right now for iPhone 3G and 3GS models running OS 3.1 and above. So go ahead, start those cameras rolling and tell all your friends how great it is -- just don't be heartbroken if they're not all that impressed. P.S. It's worth noting that Ustream also works in local record mode thus turning the iPhone 3G into a video camera like its newer 3GS sibling. Videos (stuck at 320 x 240 pixels) can then be easily viewed in the Broadcaster app or uploaded to Ustream, YouTube, Facebook, or Twitter.
Schiller defends App Store approval process
Well here we go. Up until now, we've heard a lot from developers about how much of a mess the App Store's approval process is, from people who've been rejected outright to people who've been forced to resubmit to people who've just given up completely. But we haven't heard much from Apple, and now Phil Schiller has spoken with Business Week about what it is about the App Store's approval process that has devs pulling their hair out. The verdict? Schiller says the process is in place for a reason. About 90% of the apps submitted merely have bugs or technical issues, and he says for the most part that devs are happy to get that feedback (though TechCrunch doesn't buy that for one second). But the other 10% of the apps Apple denies are simply what they deem "inappropriate," which could be anything from problematic coding (code that steals passwords or other private information), or app content that doesn't belong on the store, from porn to apps that help break the law or steal in some way. Apple is also vicious about trademark defense -- Schiller says that "if you don't defend your trademarks, in the end you end up not owning them." That all sounds fine and dandy (ok, well, the "inappropriate" label is a little unclear -- that's broad enough that Apple could fit almost anything under that umbrella, which is a bit troubling), but what about all of those angry devs? Unfortunately, Schiller doesn't address at all the idea that Apple might someday allow devs to release apps that haven't been through their approval process, on the App Store or anywhere else. As far as Apple is concerned, it seems like they're keeping their grip on what gets released, and anyone who doesn't like it is welcome to go elsewhere. [via TheAppleBlog]
Facebook app developer rejects App Store, irony ensues
We always said that if Apple's arbitrary, inconsistent, and quite frankly baffling approval process didn't get straightened out soon, the defections were going to pick up pace -- and what do we have here? Joe Hewitt, the developer of the well-loved and highly regarded Facebook iPhone app, has flipped the script and rejected the App Store. And, as you'd expect, our man is not mincing his words, stating that his "decision to stop iPhone development has had everything to do with Apple's policies," and that he's "philosophically opposed to the existence of their review process." While Hewitt can't comment on specific future projects (he's still at Facebook, but the app itself has been handed off to another developer) he has mentioned that he'll be devoting his time to web development for mobile devices. As you know, there is no approval process for the world wide web (which is apparent if you've spent any time on Geocities back in the day). Way to give 'em hell, Joe! [Via TUAW]
