Apple Kills Google Voice Apps On the iPhone 541
molnarcs writes "Apple pulls Google Voice-enabled applications from its App Store, citing duplication of functionality. The move affects both Google's official Google Voice and third party apps like Voice Central. Sean Kovacs, main developer of GV Mobile, says that he had personal approval for his app from Phil Shiller, Apple's senior vice president of Worldwide Product Marketing, last April. TechCrunch's Jason Kincaid suspects AT&T behind the move."
YAWN (Score:0, Insightful)
Apple's pulling a Sony (Score:5, Insightful)
How long can Apple keep this up? The iPhone app store has been a great thing, but slam after slam of bad press against it is slowly turning the opinion of the technically inclined. If they don't do something soon, they're going to end up like Sony circa 2007.
Wow... (Score:5, Insightful)
Wow, that's pretty scary. I'd hate to have developed software for a platform, only to find it removed from the platform a few months later as an anti-competitive action because the company that owns the platfrom decides to release their own versions of the same thing. That could put me out of business! And I'm sure the developer agreement with Apple gives them full rights to do this. Yikes. Well, I'm one of the few around here that doesn't have an iphone anyway.
Once again, Apple shows themselves to be Evil (Score:4, Insightful)
Why on earth geeks continue to view Apple as a Good Company boggles my mind. They've shown themselves time and time again to be evil, controlling, and dedicated to being as closed as possible. This is just the latest in a long, long line of anti-customer things they've done. Why do people continue to support this behavior?
Re:Once again, Apple shows themselves to be Evil (Score:5, Insightful)
Wny on earth **some** geeks would be more accurate.
I'm a geek I'd guess by most definitions and while I own and like my ipod touch I do not think Apple, Google, Microsoft et al are good 'companies' in the sense you mean. All companies, if they wish to remain in buisness, have just one goal: make the most money they can out of each individual customer.
Re:Once again, Apple shows themselves to be Evil (Score:3, Insightful)
Not sure I understand the comparison... (Score:5, Insightful)
Say it with me now... (Score:5, Insightful)
Doing Google a favor, actually... (Score:5, Insightful)
All the hype about phones (Score:5, Insightful)
Sigh...TechCrunch (Score:5, Insightful)
TechCrunch is citing AT&T is behind it, yet they have absolutely no evidence to indicate that. It is in both Apples and AT&Ts interest to keep the Google Voice app off the iPhone. TechCrunch is just blaming AT&T so they can keep their Apple fanboyism going.
This is why closed platforms suck (Score:5, Insightful)
It's always nice when companies go and make the case for why closed platforms suck with no effort required on anybody elses part. Apple is just another example. Having a gatekeeper say what you can and can't run on your phone like this was never a good idea, and now we're seeing why.
Apple fanboys will put up with anything, of course. I hope this type of nonsense gets through to the more sensible people out there though.
Re:Once again, Apple shows themselves to be Evil (Score:5, Insightful)
I don't think it's so much "A Good Company" as "A company that makes well designed, albeit expensive, products." If I had the cash my PC would be a mac and my phone would be an iPhone... at least, if I could use anybody but AT&T with the iPhone. That's a bigger hurde than the cost.
I don't dislike Microsoft because of their business practices; I dislike Microsoft because I don't like the way they design most of their products. YMMV as always.
"duplication of functionality" (Score:5, Insightful)
I'm sure it's occurred to more than a few of us that citing "duplication of functionality" is a gigantic fucking can of worms.
And Apple opened it.
..Trust Apple to maintain a fair marketplace? (Score:3, Insightful)
In a word? NO. Apple+AT&T are clearly operating under their own agenda and any agreements, past, present and future, are subject to change without notice or compensation. You will not be able to depend on them any more than you can depend on Amazon not to delete your books from your Kindle.
This is a risk of putting yourself under the control of companies like these -- they might seem cool now, but are quite subject to change without notice or compensation. The only protection anyone might enjoy is legislative or judicial relief. We have had such relief in the past and it has worked well for "we the people." We seriously need to break the agreement between AT&T and Apple as well as other handset exclusivity agreements along with all manner of other problems associated with mobile phone technologies.
The continuous merging and dealing among technology companies are in need of deeper scrutiny as at every turn they seem to limit or control technological advancement for their own anti-competitive and price-controlling purposes.
Re:Wow... (Score:3, Insightful)
This is going to happen with any platform is tethered. It won't matter if it is the Apple's iPhone, Amazon's Kindle or anything else. Unless the purchasers demand a change this won't stop. Don't expect any miracles.
Re: Apple's pulling a Sony (Score:2, Insightful)
And what would you have Apple do? Tell AT&T, their one sales partner, to bugger off?
I'd love to hear what any one of you would do (and how) if in Apple's position. But I'm sure most of you will just complain and compare Apple to Sony, Microsoft, Cheney,...
Re: Not sure I understand the comparison... (Score:2, Insightful)
Re:Coming to Cydia (Score:5, Insightful)
Re:Brings up question of future carrier App Store (Score:3, Insightful)
SMS, etc. (Score:5, Insightful)
Google voice provides unlimited incoming AND outgoing SMS for free. I've been using it on my blackberry because I have unlimited data, but no SMS plan (costs me 25 cents to send a single message). I'm not familiar with the AT&T plans, but if SMS packages are optional add-ons then they would certainly lose money as people realize they have unlimited texting through their google phone number.
Re:Wow... (Score:5, Insightful)
Re:Apple's pulling a Sony (Score:5, Insightful)
As a certain other famous 'evil' CEO said "Developers, Developers, Developers".
It may not matter to the end users, but if you are a developer thinking of working out that cool new killer app for the iPhone, hearing that not only does Apple have a horrible record for inconsistent approvals, but even when you are as big as Google and get a signoff from the top levels of the company, you can still have your app pulled retroactively, might mean the difference between giving the project a green light and considering someone else's platform.
Re:Coming to Cydia (Score:5, Insightful)
I am really sick of them making the most retarded decisions regarding what applications I can install on MY device
It's really easy to ensure Apple doesn't control what software run on YOUR device. Buy your device from a manufacturer who doesn't suck. iPhone users deserve what they get, knowing Apple tightly controls the ecosystem.
Re:Brings up question of future carrier App Store (Score:3, Insightful)
The iPhone already has carrier specific stores in a sense; by country. Netshare has already shown us that AT&T calls the shots for all carriers. Rogers, for example, at the time, allowed tethering on all of their data plans. There is no reason why the app should not have been in the Canadian store, even if AT&T wanted it pulled from the U.S. market.
Re:This should be good (Score:3, Insightful)
But being one and playing devil's advocate gets you insightful mods, that's nice I guess.
Re: Apple's pulling a Sony (Score:1, Insightful)
Apple has a lot of pull. They have a very, very desirable device that phone companies want badly. I have no doubt that, had Apple actually wanted to, they could have worked a very advantageous-to-them contract out.
The problem is that Apple is just as bad, if not worse, than the phone companies themselves when it comes to control.
Re:It was AT&T (Score:3, Insightful)
This isn't too surprising. At the time the App store was announced, there were vague implications that one of the major reason Apple wanted approval over applications (beyond issues like maintaining battery life, stability, user experience) was that AT&T wanted to control what was and wasn't allowed.
It was stated outright at launch that VOIP apps that allowed use over the cell networks wouldn't be allowed at all. It was implied that tethering applications and IM clients (which compete with SMS) would probably not be allowed. (Chat clients are now allowed, though.) Apple even said something about, "Since we have been given unprecedented access to AT&T's network, we're going to have to limit what we allow in order to be very careful about security,"... whatever that's supposed to mean.
I really hope that, as the iPhone/iPod-Touch platform matures a bit, the wireless networks also become faster and, just as important, more open, and that Apple opens the whole system up. I want to be able to access the filesystem on my iPhone (and not have my MP3 collection hidden), install applications as easily as I install applications on my computer, and run whatever I want. On that day, if the wireless network is any good, I'll drop my cell phone service, buy an iPod touch, and install a VOIP application.
Re:Coming to Cydia (Score:2, Insightful)
And by the same token, manufacturers should stop shoveling crap to us and crank out some hardware worth buying. As much as I despise Apple's closed mindedness, I despise the crappy hardware coming from HTC, the crappy OS coming from Samsung, and the unfinished work coming from Google and Palm even worse.
Re:Coming to Cydia (Score:5, Insightful)
Re:Wow... (Score:2, Insightful)
That said, my next phone will be on Android, and that'll be enough to switch me from AT&T if they don't get one in the near future.
Re:Once again, Apple shows themselves to be Evil (Score:4, Insightful)
I don't dislike Microsoft because of their business practices; I dislike Microsoft because I don't like the way they design most of their products.
And Apple designs their products such that they are owned and controlled completely by Apple even after you've bought them from Apple. You consider that a good design? I consider that just like Microsoft. Apple's may be a bit easier to use but they suffer from the same primary flaw. You have no control over them.
The only reason I can see for buying an Apple product is that they have excellent marketing. They do a fantastic job of luring in the mindless masses who don't have the wherewithal to actually think through the consequences of their purchases. When I buy something I want to control it.
Re: Apple's pulling a Sony (Score:5, Insightful)
Sure, tell AT&T that they have no interest in renewing their exclusivity agreement regardless of financial incentives if AT&T insists on prohibiting access to basic features of the phone. AT&T needs Apple more than Apple needs AT&T. People aren't buying iPhones because they are on AT&T's network, as much as they are paying for AT&T data plans because its the only way they can use an iPhone.
Apple is, with the iPhone, in a position of strength. But that only lasts as long as other premium smartphones, like those running Android, don't offer a better all-around experience, and if AT&T tries to defend its existing business model by hamstringing the iPhone, it may work in the short-term, but in the long-term its going to make it easier for other phones to displace the iPhone as the mobile device of choice, which will hurt Apple and AT&T both.
Re:Coming to Cydia (Score:4, Insightful)
Your opinion My opinion :)
Re:YAWN (Score:3, Insightful)
The Google Voice app is an official application. GV Mobile was not. The latter was pulled from the market yesterday; the former was rejected today.
Re:Doing Google a favor, actually... (Score:4, Insightful)
Re:Apple's pulling a Sony (Score:2, Insightful)
I keep hearing stories about AI getting there and that they'll be able to build a human brain in ten years or so. Once this 'brain' comes up with a joke like this I'll start to believe those stories.
Re:Sigh...TechCrunch (Score:4, Insightful)
But to your point. I think AT&T has a much stronger incentive to disallow Google Voice, (no more SMS, no more long distance fees, less of a reason to charge extra for a special iPhone package that includes Visual Voicemail, potential to have voice calls driven over the cheaper data network).
Re:Wow... (Score:5, Insightful)
Geeks would scream bloody murder. My parents wouldn't even notice. The EU would slap MS with another "giant" fine. The US *might*, possibly, bring suit against them. Said suit would last 8 years and resolve with a series of fines and injunctions against certain vaguely-defined anti-competitive behaviors. Meanwhile MS would still retain control over 3/4 of the OS and office apps market.
Re:It was AT&T (Score:4, Insightful)
Why doesn't Apple just get a list of phone uses that AT&T doesn't like and put them in the dev agreement for the SDK? Just state that any apps involving voice, or tethering etc. are banned. That way developers don't waste their time and money making such apps.
Paradox of voice + data (Score:5, Insightful)
The carriers think that voice is different than data.
The Internet (and service providers like Google / Skype etc) think that
voice is just another kind of data. (Though a bit of priority for the
packets to reduce latency would be splendid.)
This is just a replay of the old Bellhead vs Nethead battle.
I'm pretty sure the Netheads are going to win eventually, by the
logic of the usefulness of having general data networking to every
device.
But there will be much gnashing of teeth between here and there.
Use your words (Score:4, Insightful)
Oh, fuck this. Stripping the character. Damn /.
We'll go with "!>" then.
You know, you could avoid the whole problem by expressing your thoughts with actual words instead of misappropriated mathematical symbols which don't really fit the sentence you're trying to form...
"Is greater than", as used in math, does not have the same meaning as "is better than". The fact that the readings can take the same meaning is somewhat irrelevant: it's the same sort of thing as using an image of paw-prints in a GUI to represent "pause" - the conceptual link isn't as direct as it should be.
So, please, leave magnitude comparison to domains where they have some meaning... Elsewhere, use words.
Re:YAWN (Score:4, Insightful)
Kind of. As a non-iphone-user, it's still interesting to see how far Apple will go before the realise they're working against their hard-won customer loyalty. On the other hand, customers complaining about DRM when they specifically went and bought something that was DRM'd is pretty dumb.
Re:Hmm (Score:4, Insightful)
Ironically, I don't recall any case of Microsoft ever locking developers out of its platforms. Definitely not on the desktop, nor on Windows Mobile (not so sure about XBox). In fact, it's quite the opposite - someone "Developers..." already.
Google (Score:3, Insightful)
Re:YAWN (Score:5, Insightful)
It's still interesting to see how far "ooh, that's shiny and popular - I must buy it" crowd will go before the realize Apple is working against their hard-earned money. On the other hand, as far as they keep on giving money to Apple, Apple's not giving fuck about few who complain is pretty obvious.
Re:Apple's pulling a Sony (Score:5, Insightful)
Don't worry, in 3 or 4 years Apple fanbois will be raving about the revolutionary new iTalk and iTrack system that just debuted on the iPhone 6G.
Re:Estoppel applies here, no? (Score:3, Insightful)
"Personal approval" is rather different than a legally enforceable contract.
Getting your app shot down without rhyme or reason is the danger any iPhone developer faces. Not only does it lock out open source, but it locks out commercial development as well because nobody wants to face that risk. Eventually, the only people who will be developing iPhone apps are "bottom-feeders" who spend about an hour whipping up some trivial crap and then putting it up for sale hoping that once in a while, somebody will accidentally click the Buy button.
Re:Coming to Cydia (Score:3, Insightful)
The map is not the territory, and neither is the spec list the device.
Re:Breakup (Score:5, Insightful)
An interesting point.. perhaps Google should cut off all iphone users from Google services such as search, maps, gmail, etc. etc.
Truth is that many things iphone users like to do come from google, not apple.
Only One Problem with the iPhone (Score:3, Insightful)
Re:Hmm (Score:4, Insightful)
Re:Coming to Cydia (Score:3, Insightful)
Okay, let's put the specs aside.
Please, explain how the Touch HD hardware is crappy. I am very curious.
Re:Coming to Cydia (Score:5, Insightful)
Re:Coming to Cydia (Score:5, Insightful)
Re:Coming to Cydia (Score:4, Insightful)
Most of your arguments are about software. GP stated that HTC hardware sucks. My Touch HD has got an extended battery of 1700 mAh with the same size of the original battery (albeit somewhat heavier). There are still more applications for Windows Mobile (especially useful application like turn to turn navigation systems). Windows Mobile 6.5 works fine on my Touch HD and even 6.1 supports multitasking while iPhone OS does not allow it.
So the only valid point of yours is a somewhat weaker CPU, but I think that the huge, high resolution screen and all the other options more than balance the weaker CPU out.
What about us iPod Touch users? (Score:3, Insightful)
For sake of argument, in a twisted way, I can see Apple pulling the app from iPhone use, but what about us iPod Touch users? There is ABSOLUTELY NO DUPLICATION of application here on the iPod Touch. It's adding functionality that is simply not available on the iPod Touch.