Mentioning Android Is a No-No In iPhone App Store 441
donberryman writes "Apple has told a software developer that its application cannot be included in the iPhone App Store if it mentions Google Android. The developer just wanted to mention that the app was a finalist in Google's Android Developer's Challenge." The developer complied with apparent good humor. Here is their blog post, which includes the text of the iPhone store's not-quite-rejection.
David or Goliath, Which One Today? (Score:5, Interesting)
Oh, now I get it. You push the little guys around [wikipedia.org] when you're the big man on campus [macobserver.com]. Certainly is interesting I can find literature about Symbian [apple.com] on your site. Tell me, if a very popular Symbian or Blackberry app was ported to the iPhone, would you allow the developer to advertise it? Because I'm betting you would.
Advertising... or not? (Score:4, Interesting)
I don't see this guy mentioning that his application was a finalist in a developer challenge as such.
If anything it makes it stand out...
Gee, how did Apple find out in the sea of 5,000 applications that turn your phone into a flashlight?
They probably search for 'android' and snuff the mention of it out.
It is their store.... they can do what they want and for that reason I don't buy from it.
I have seen tons of apps on the android store that mention iPhone or the fact that the same application was written for it.
We don't see Google snuffing those out....
This Apple has worms in it.
Re:Remember a time.. (Score:5, Interesting)
New app submission (Score:5, Interesting)
I wonder how a game where an archer (who just happens to look like a certain Android) shoots an Apple (that just happens to have a bite taken out of it) off of it's pedestal would be received? Hrmmmm...
Re:Uuuuh wrong? (Score:5, Interesting)
Re:Makes Sense (Score:1, Interesting)
Of course they don't, but that's irrelevant. There's no physical way for the user to try to put an iPhone app on their Android phone. Likely, they'd try to search for it in the Android Market, and they'd find... the Android version.
Re:We're all mind readers (Score:5, Interesting)
I've had it explained to me that it makes much more sense to build the metadata index on a powerful PC, rather than building the functionality into each mp3 player.
My $40 sandisk indexes a couple of gigabytes in about 10 seconds, so I scratched my head too.
MM DOES sync iPod touch... kinda (Score:3, Interesting)
I use Media Monkey and it does sync the iPod Touch... kind of.
First, it only syncs music, not apps. (duh)
More importantly, though, it seems like the sync is buggy as hell. I don't even try to use my iPod Touch to play music anymore, because it rarely goes more than three or four tracks without locking up and becoming unresponsive for a good minute or so, before finally failing to play the next song and giving up. Basically all I use the iPod Touch for now is as an authenticator for WoW and occasionally to listen to podcasts in the car.
Also worth mentioning that for MM to sync the iPod Touch, you need to have iTunes installed... And a very, very specific version of iTunes at that.
Re:The wording of Apple's reply (Score:3, Interesting)
would you have preferred them to have rejected the app outright instead?
An outright, written rejection on the grounds of mentioning the competition may be seen by lawyers as grounds for a lawsuit.
Re:We're all mind readers (Score:1, Interesting)
Yeah, it annoys me that the iPod has niggly faults (no power switch, no reset button, no battery compartment lid, no watchdog timer to resolve 'hanging') that more development would have cured, but instead Apple spent time and money artificially restricting and obfuscating basic functions.
I mean, really, you transfer your mp3 file (lovingly taken from vinyl and hand-finished with the correct spelling and umlauts and everything) to the thing and it RENAMES THE FILE WITHOUT ASKING FOR CONFIRMATION! Nice going, guys. Good data handling procedures there, ALTERING FUCKING USER DATA WITHOUT THE COURTESY OF MAKING A BACKUP. Excuse me while I instead copy the mp3 onto micro-sd ready to be crammed into my phone or car radio.
I could MAYBE put up with all the iPod's deficiencies if it was some POS Kazakhstani device i picked up at Asda for £10. Ludicrously, the crappy £10 music player/usb stick i DID buy from Asda is less crippled.
Re:We're all mind readers (Score:5, Interesting)
Obviously he didn't hate them until he experienced the product.
After years of disinterest in Apple, I finally bought my wife an iPod because the treadmills at our gym have their crummy prioprietary dock. So I caved, and bought an iPod. And guess what, it still didn't work! Turns out Apple locked down the video output on newer models so they could control the sale of accessories, like $45 video-out cables. So I sold the new iPod on ebay, and bought an older iPod Video that works with the treadmill. It'll be a long time until I buy another Apple product in the absence of further coercion.
Re:We're all mind readers (Score:5, Interesting)
You can [marcansoft.com]. They tried really hard, not just by using proprietary everything but also using ridiculously obfuscated crypto, but we broke it again. No jailbreaking needed.
For those who love magic 16-byte keys, the magic "freedom for Apple music players" number this time around is 618ca10dc7f57fd3b4723e08157463d7 ;)
Re:We're all mind readers (Score:2, Interesting)
So then how do you explain Trent Reznor? He blasted Apple pretty harshly after an update to his NIN app was rejected. Yet he got his app back on and it's still there today.
Re:We're all mind readers (Score:3, Interesting)
Actually, Android phones have been able to work around the issue without requiring a new protocol or any specific, non-standard sync application.
They simply expose some partition through USB as a block device, but the partition is unmounted by the embedded OS before being handled to the USB host. From the host point of view, the device is like a removable disk drive, and when the user chooses to switch the partition to the PC side, it's like if someone just inserted a disk in the removable drive.
It's kind of silly that the phone is unable to access the files in the partition while they're being accessed by the PC, but nonetheless, I think it's a cleaner solution.
Re:We're all mind readers (Score:2, Interesting)
Neckbeards...nice! Hey, if a guy can post a stupid thing about Starbucks, John Mayer and Apple to start this thread off, then I say neckbeards and slashtards are legit.
On a serious note, I've been watching slashdot for a couple of years now and have never (even though I try) been able to understand the "drm-whining neckbeards" and their free-tard mentality--and I have a pretty open mind--and I work at a software company. I've decided to finally chalk them up with the Ron Paul retards...they have their passion, but I'll never understand why they are so interested in shooting down mine.
Re:Remember a time.. (Score:3, Interesting)
(btw, "idiot" is one of those pesky little words that, when used in an argument to attack the opponent, says much more about the person that said it than anyone else)