The iPhone App Store is One Huge Joke
It seems that with every passing day there is yet another App Store nightmare, where a seemingly innocuous application is mysteriously rejected for ostensible violations of Apple’s App Store policies. Policies, mind you, which nary a soul appears to comprehend except the Lord Steve Jobs and Co. The most recent incident was profoundly egregious – an update to Tweetie was rejected merely because the application has the potential to display offensive language to users. The manner in which Apple has “managed” the App Store over the course of the past few months has lead me to draw a simple conclusion: the App Store is one huge joke!
I want to touch on the larger issue of the App Store itself, but before I do I just have to say that the Tweetie 1.3 rejection is just plain freaking inexcusable. To reject an App merely because of the content it pulled off the Internet is unbelievable.
Is Apple so clueless that those charged with accepting and rejecting Apps really had no idea that people use foul language on the Internet? Someone please tell me Apple is pulling our legs! Following that same mentality, why is Mobile Safari allowed to exist on the iPhone if users may see objectionable content while surfing the web with the application? Oh, I know why – double standards. What is okay for Apple is surely not okay for third-party developers.
How else do you explain Apple’s behavior? Surely even the tight-lipped Apple battleship comprehends the power of the Internet and viral marketing? There are enough smart folks working in Cupertino to know that viral marketing can work in reverse – a viral backlash of sorts, if you will. What goes up, surely must come down. Look at where Microsoft sits these days – the same can, and will, happen to the App Store if Apple continues surfing this wave its riding.
Consumers are not going to stand for these types of actions much longer. There is only so much goodwill Apple has left to erode away to stupidity like App Store rejections based on quasi-unknown-policy-driven decisions before consumers will look elsewhere.
The fire and brimstone the App Store should really fear is not far away at this juncture. The really talented developers are quickly tiring of the make-it-up-as-you-go mentality Apple appears to be following. Who can justify spending a ton of cash on the research and development of an application when it is completely unknown if the App will ever see the App Store light of day?
Solution?
How can Apple solve the mess it has created? Simple – publish clear and unequivocal policies so all developers can unmistakably see what is and is not allowed in the App Store. Reach out to the existing iPhone development community and have open dialogue with the very folks who are helping make the App Store a success.
While Apple may have facilitated the ability to write Apps for the iPhone, they are most assuredly not responsible for it’s success. Chalk those achievements up to the myriad of talented developers who have written the innumerable applications driving sales in the App Store.
More importantly, Apple really needs to get out of the business of accepting and rejecting Apps. The only function Apple should be performing is a check to ensure the Apps submitted are neither illegal nor a threat to the operation of the handset. If some idiotic developer wants to write an obscene application, they should be allowed to present it to users in the App Store so long as it does not break the iPhone.
We need to see huge pressure placed on Apple both by the developer and user community. Challenge Apple to defend their egregious actions to the very people who have made the iPhone a success – you and I. Apple needs to start thinking differently than just thinking different. It is time they started acting like a real, professional company for a number of reasons, but mainly because they control the only legal distribution channel for Apps currently available.
Remember, without you and I there would be no I in iPhone – it would be just another piece of shit Nokia, Motorola or Samsung handset!
