By one approximation , there are now more than 20,000 applications usable for download from Apple ’s App Store . Imagine how much larger that figure would be if every app did n’t have to win Apple ’s approval before seem on the store .
Still that ’s the appendage Apple ’s had in berth ever since the company first expose plans for the App Store nearly a year ago . And it ’s aid produce an online store that Apple chief operating officer Tim Cook called “ absolutely the enviousness of the industry ” during this hebdomad ’s Apple shareholders meeting .
Nevertheless , it ’s safe to say that the process Apple uses to determine which apps are acceptable and which are n’t is less than transparent — a fact that remains a sore dapple for some iPhone developers . Apple did n’t respond to a request to explain its summons for this article .
However , given some of the high - visibility App Store rejection in the seven - plus months since the store spread its virtual doorway , a picture is beginning to come out — albeit only part of one — on what kinds of iPhone apps consort afoul of Apple ’s guidelines .
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The few, the proud, the banned
Recently , South Park Studios announced that its iPhone app had been reject . The Divine of the TV serial publication of the same name had announced an iPhone app last pin .
“ After a couple of attempts to get the lotion sanction , we are distressing to say that our app has been rejected . According to Apple , the subject matter was ‘ potentially offensive , ’ ” reads the post on the South Park Studios Web site .
That potentially dysphemistic message comes from the admittedly off - colorSouth Park — which users can buy inanother section of the iTunes Storefor $ 2 an episode .
The doorway has n’t been completely closed for a South Park app . allot to the developers , Apple enjoin that standards evolve , noting the iTunes Store did n’t ab initio declare oneself Sung dynasty with explicit lyrics when it launched . Still , South Park Studios say , at this stage , the app is “ dead in the weewee . ”
Apple also scorn developer Adrian Ross ’s remote approach app , FarFinder , for displaying trademarked Apple picture . Inhis blog , Ross post Apple ’s rejection understanding : “ Using your app , when the user lumber in to the machine , the default OS X directory and file image are exhibit . ” But Ross contend that several iPhone VNC apps also show Apple ’s icons , although those apps display what ’s on a computer ’s existent screen , while FarFinder has its own interface .
Of course , Podcaster famously got the cold shoulder because it “ duplicate[d ] the functionality of the Podcast section of iTunes . ” ( The app did finally make it onto the App Store in a different shape as RSS Player).MailWranger met with a standardised fate ; developer Angelo DiNardi said he was separate by Apple that his travail was rejected because it “ duplicate the functionality of the built - in iPhone program Mail without providing sufficient differentiation or added functionality , which will lead to substance abuser confusion . ”
Apple has also cited “ unfitting sexual capacity ” and “ guy public physique ” in other sheath of app rejection gone public . ( Our colleague atPC Worldhave assembled a inclination of 10 such rejected applications . )
One company , 10base - t interactive , even created anUnofficial App Store Rejection Criteria Web pagebased on developer experience . Originally featuring 10 reasons for rejection — the tally is down to nine now that the surplus of gas - pass simulators has fork over the “ No Flatulence ” rule moot — the lean covers everything from having an app that continuously vibrates to problems with tableviews .
A silver lining
But at least one developer thinks Apple ’s tight grip is a good affair . Glenn Howes , Jehovah of theLullabies app , wrote onhis blogthat Apple rejected his first attempt for violating Apple ’s interface guidelines . ( In his original app , there was no way to return to the main carte du jour until a chosen life had represent through ) . Howes contribute a clitoris , and also used the chance to make a few other tweaks as well .
“ And in the end , I have a much more antiphonal app , ” Howes wrote , “ and code which I ’ll be able to recycle in future task . ”
Does it matter?
If you want an app for your iPhone , the only place to get it is through the App Store ( unless you jailbreak your iPhone , of course ) . In Apple ’s collective brain , operate what ’s available to iPhone users is both a means of see to it a mellow - quality experience for its users and a way to crease in 30 percent of every sale .
But Apple now face competition from other wise phones with the launching of the Google Android Market , as well as Microsoft ’s forthcoming Windows Marketplace for Mobile . Will Google and Microsoft help oneself put Apple ’s base to the fire and have Apple to change its policies ( or at least make the app process more overt ) ? Or is the specialty of the iPhone enough to isolate it from the contention ?
These other boulevard offer developers more options when create mobile apps , and it would be a pity if Apple ’s hard and seemingly arbitrary ways drive talented developer away from the iPhone . ( The simulacrum of a tunica - fit out , flute - play Steve Ballmer leading developers to Redmond come to mind ) . But at least for now , there ’s good money to be made on the iPhone , and it still transude that must - have vibration that Apple is known for .
[ Jonathan Seff is Macworld ’s fourth-year news show editor program . ]
