http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/08/01/AR2009080101074.html Hey, here is an article about the FCC inquiring into the reasons why Google Voice was reject from the App Store. There are a lot of interesting topics that it raises (like different between open wired networks and closed wireless ones). For us, devs, though, it is also interesting because the FCC seems to be asking more general questions about the App Store approval process. Might this be a trigger to actually bringing some consistency to Apple's methods?
Wow, for the first time in my life I have this to say "You go FCC... you go." I bet Apple's gunna have some sore buttholes after this. Apple, Inc.: "This may not come as a surprise, but we actually use a Magic 8 Ball."
Interesting. We've all been talking and complaining about Apple's inscrutable and seemingly arbitrary approval process since the first apps got rejected. Heck, even before that, at the March '08 SDK event we all questioned the seemingly overbroad terms under which apps may not gain approval, and it turned out in some ways worse than we feared. Now that someone -- Google, no less -- is playing hardball with their own rejection and is getting the FCC involved, there's a few possible things we might see happen: 1. More transparency of the review process. Apple might be forced to be more explicit in their rejection reasons, both publicly, and privately to developers who get apps rejected. 2. More concrete regulations and guidelines. Let's face it, they might as well be consulting magic 8-balls, rolling dice, and rubbing Buddha's belly when determining which apps to accept and which to reject. My guess has always been that they've given each and every reviewer relatively wide latitude under some generic "use your best judgement" guideline from a set of relatively nonspecific things to look out for when deciding which direction to shove their thumbs. This investigation may require Apple to tighten up the regulations and inject considerably more specificity in order to make the approval/rejection process more uniform. 3. Unlikely, but it's possible it might make Apple loosen the reigns a bit on some of its SDK rules, such as writing apps that compete directly with on-board applications: Competing browsers, E-Mail apps, and other such things. Also, AT&T says that any apps can be run on any handset that runs on their network, but correct me if I'm wrong, don't they still have a big problem with Skype despite the hearings from a couple of years back?
Yeah, while I wouldn't be a fan of government regulation, per se, hopefully the best case scenario would be that Apple panics a little bit and, for example, actually publishes its criteria for application rejection or something like that. Maybe they open the door for more apps with competitive features to enter the store. At least that way, some of the risk that developers face when they invest money into an iPhone project, only to face the prospect of vague and seemingly arbitrary rejection, will be minimized.
Ooooo, someone with authority is asking Apple the questions now. Not just some random indie dev that the company can easily brush off. I'mma gonna go grab some popcorn and a coke
Unless I have the wrong impression of the FCC (from not being a US citizen) I don't believe they can do anything about the overall approval process. They can only do something about apps involving comms, such as google voice, other voip apps over the air instead of just wifi, excessive use of data etc. The magic 8 ball is probably still going to see lots of use.
