- November 11, 2009 7:09 pm
If there was ever a perfect example of hell freezing over, this is it. After months and months of harsh criticisms stemming from the god awful review process and absolute lack of any communication, it seems Apple is finally starting to listen to the very people that have catapulted the iPhone to what it is. Starting today, Apple is making steps towards a more transparent app approval process and communication with devs. I wouldn’t exactly call it transparent yet, more like opaque. Still, it’s better than the brick wall that existed but 24 hours ago. Under this new system, devs will be able to see between three states of change as their app moves through the crowded digital halls of Apple’s review HQ. The stages…
- Waiting for review
- In Review
- Ready for Sale
It’s nothing to get all slap happy about, but it is a start. I’m excited for devs as happy devs equal happy end users. For if they get to fed up, they’ll just up and leave and take their code weaving skills to some other platform. I just hope Apple doesn’t stop here. The “Waiting for Review” stage could use quite a bit more breakdown as simply staring at “Waiting for Review” or “In Review” for months still leaves devs wondering what the hell is going on. Some ideas I’ve already thought of:
- Display number of remaing apps in front of you: Give each app an ID number (I’m sure they already have them). Allow devs to see that number in the form of “Waiting for Review — there are “x number of apps in front of you”. That would be huge. Knowing that there are 4,000 apps in front of you is a tad more comforting than endlessly sitting for weeks not knowing.
- Daily updates for apps in review: To expand on “In Review”, Apple could and should give updates maybe once or twice a day as to what they reviewed, problems they had/have, and what is the immediate next step. I’m not saying give a small novel, just a few short sentences. You know…communicate!.
Would the above suggestions add to wait time? Ya, slightly. But I’m pretty sure devs would appreciate the exponential increase in communication. Going from email bombs with no response to daily updates is a god send of epic proportions.Apple has every tool to do this. So you see, in the end, I’m not that impressed. Content, but not satisfied. It’s more than most others are doing, but that doesn’t mean it’s perfect. Far from it. If Apple really wants to turn around the App Store image in regards to the shifty approval process, taking the ideas highlighted above and implementing them would go a long way.
I’m just one guy. I’m sure there are many more of you with several ideas that could greatly benefit the App Store. Share them inside. Intrigue us…
Textually > Wired
Yes folks, another day, another bone head rejection story to tell you of. Instead of hateful or sick minded apps making their way through, or even user generated content bringing an app to Apple knees, this time it is something much more simple – a refresh button. Yes, something so simple and trivial has caused another app to get caught in the growing net of madness that is the App Store approval process. Come on in for all of the craziness.
Coming off a low point for Apple and their App Store approval process with the now app heard round the world, “Babyshaker“, many thought that that event would finally shake things up at Apple and turn their yes/no button pusher into a little more of a consistent fellow. We thought too much folks as it appears that the approval process is still as dumb as ever. The latest epic failure being the NIN app 1.03 update. The Nine Inch Nails iPhone app is a “companion to the website” according to front man Trent Reznor. So cutting to the nitty-gritty, why was the update banned? Well besides an inconsistent approval process, apparently the reason the NIN app was rejected was for “objectionable content” in the form of one song of of their album “Downward Sprial” playing in the background while streaming a podcast. Confused and/or downright disgusted by the sheer incompetence that continues to approve/reject apps?
In what is beginning to become a weekly occurance, Apple has again stirred up controversy regarding approved apps appearing in the App Store as well as the methods they use to approve/reject certain apps. The latest scandal is actually quite disturbing and makes me want to puke – it’s that bad. The app that is causing all of the commotion? “Baby Shaker”. The app does exactly what the title implies. It is a basic app with no real meaning other than to silence kill digital babies. The app starts with a screaming baby at which point you vigerously shake your iPhone/iPod Touch until the baby has red x’s appear over its eyes signifying that it is dead. Pardon my plain, simple, and blunt english, but what kind of sick fuck makes something like this, approves this, and ultimately pays to downloads this. Everyone involved should be fully ashamed and disgusted with themselves. The topic it touches on is neither funny nor a way to make money. I highly encourage everyone to boycott any other apps that Sikalsoft currently has in the app store as well as any future apps. Besides the questionable sanity of the developers involved as well as those that download this, the App Store approver(s) who let this slip by should be fired for the content they let slide though as well as their double standards. There are countless farting apps, boob apps, the infamous $1,000 app, as well as countless other questionable apps that violate the “App Store Policy”, yet somehow shaking a baby is ok. In reality, Apple, the company as a whole would never approave of this, however, the person who thought it would be funny to approve this app should shortly be living on the street begging for pennies. The developer, F*** them!
**Update 5:45pm (EST)**
Apple has officially removed Baby Shaker from the App Store. The call for boycott still stands.
**Update 4/23/09**
Apple took the time today to officially apologize for the “great mistake” and oversight. The official apology:
“This application was deeply offensive and should not have been approved for distribution on the App Store. When we learned of this mistake, the app was removed immediately. We sincerely apologize for this mistake and thank our customers for bringing this to our attention.”
So all is well again in Apple land. Do you forgive them/in the process of putting it behind you?
Source: Tech Crunch, CNet
It has been several weeks since a story has been posted about some seemingly retarded and incompetent move on behalf of Apple’s App Store approval team. However, not wanting to disappoint, the App Store approvers have once again given us something to talk about. What exactly is the cause for concern this time? Would you believe it all revolves around something as trivial and miniscule as a tiny icon that couldn’t occupy more than 40-50 pixels square?
