
Dash for iOS: Back on the App Store - ingve
https://blog.kapeli.com/dash-for-ios-back-on-the-app-store
======
jph
Dash is _excellent_ and on my best-of software list for programmers who use a
Mac.

Fast documentation search works brilliantly and I especially like the offline
capabilities.

The Dash iOS app is a great addition -- try it on an iPad with the Duet second
screen app.

Best of all, the author is responsible and responsive. Well worth buying.

~~~
kstrauser
> The Dash iOS app is a great addition -- try it on an iPad with the Duet
> second screen app.

Better (for me) is setting the iOS app up as a remote for the macOS app. In
Emacs, I can hit `C-c d to` and the iOS app will open the docs for the
function my cursor is currently over. I can use my iPad as little docs-only
viewer under my monitor.

~~~
rgrau
there's also helm-dash[1], which gives you the documentation part inside your
emacs.

1\. [https://github.com/areina/helm-dash](https://github.com/areina/helm-dash)

------
kstrauser
That's excellent news! I've been using the macOS version all along (and
happily paid to upgrade to the new version that came out recently), but I've
definitely missed the iOS version.

On a side note, much as I love the app, the circumstances behind it being
pulled came across as shifty. Whatever _actually_ happened, I hope it never
happens again.

~~~
johansch
What exactly was shifty, do you think?

~~~
matt4077
The author released an unauthorised recording of a phone call with Apple. That
itself was probably not illegal (though it would be if he had been in
California as well).

But, and that made me question his sanity, it basically contradicted
everything he had said before, and made it clear he had been lying to the
developer community to put public pressure on Apple.

Even worse: when that call was made, Apple had actually given in, and was only
asking for him to publicly acknowledge that they had tried to contact him (but
only using one of two e-mail addresses on file). He had succeeded in
leveraging a minor reputation into a PR defeat for Apple, but got so drunk on
power that he threw it away.

I would've wished for a bit more soul-searching in the community that was so
eager to grab the pitchforks because the story fit so well with the common
narrative of Apple abusing small developers, but oh well...

The initial incident is also pretty well known now: "Someone", with his credit
card and developer credentials, created some spammy apps and marketed them
with fake reviews. Those apps were signed using hardware registered in his
name, which was, from time to time, also used to sign new releases of Dash.

According to him, the spammer was a friend/relative who he was helping to get
started.

------
jasonlotito
Background: [https://blog.kapeli.com/dash-and-apple-my-side-of-the-
story/](https://blog.kapeli.com/dash-and-apple-my-side-of-the-story/)

~~~
tehwebguy
From the Apple guy on the phone:

"We need it to be accurate, right? So, accurately stated, we believe the
account was linked to an account with fraudulent activity, and accurately you
are working with Apple to unlink your account and bring the account back into
the program."

"We want to work with you, right? But we want to make it clear that WE didn't
make a mistake."

I've never had customer service that bad from Apple before. The ONLY THING
this guy wanted was for the guy to write a blog post saying Apple didn't make
a mistake!

~~~
matt4077
What? He was caught spamming and defrauding customers on the App Store, and
under the pressure of the developer community that believed his story about a
"friend" using his credit card/hardware/name they actually gave in and would
have let him get away with it... All for the small price of admitting that at
the very least he should have read the e-mails they send him before suspending
the account.

~~~
rhizome
"Fraud" seems like a pretty strong word for fake reviews.

~~~
mercer
Isn't it pretty much the definition of fraud?

~~~
rhizome
No.

------
teddyh
Oh good, since I assume this means that the document sets available for Zeal
will keep being updated.

(Zeal is a Free Software offline documentation browser for Windows, Linux, and
BSD: [http://zealdocs.org/](http://zealdocs.org/))

------
0xFFC
1) I wish there was license for FOSS software developers without making them
wait for every document 10seconds.

2) I only can pay from App Store i wish macOS version was in App Store too.

~~~
saagarjha
1\. Well, how could you enforce this? How do you know a project is open
source?

2\. Dash was pulled from the App Store due to conflict between Kapeli and
Apple. See the links in the comments above for details.

~~~
0xFFC
1) you are right. There is no simple solution, One good policy would be for a
first step, the free version of DASH to support only documentation for
libraries with GPL license.

2) I do have a serious problem with their business model. Reselling their app
after new version. I don't like that business model.

------
lloydde
> Quite a few “developers” have even added it to the App Store themselves,
> violating the GNU GPL license in the process

What violation is the OP referring to?

~~~
delinka
See
[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tivoization](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tivoization)

There's debate on whether the DRM imposed by the App Store qualifies as
equivalent to hardware restrictions that prevent executing modified software.

~~~
lloydde
Oh I see, GPL v3, but the OP has accepted pull requests and makes no mention
of copyright assignment, so the source of Apple App Store version also under
GLP v3, so OP is also violating the GPL?

------
mikestew
"Quite a few “developers” have even added it to the App Store themselves,
violating the GNU GPL license in the process."

Oh, so _now_ the developer is all about following the rules, huh? Rings a bit
hollow to me: [https://9to5mac.com/2016/10/13/evidence-against-dash-
develop...](https://9to5mac.com/2016/10/13/evidence-against-dash-developers-
fraudulent-account-claim/)

------
njloof
Can't get the .NET Framework docs to download, restarts after 100MB or so.
Anyone else?

------
joeyang
I live in Australia and I can't download it without switching my app store
country (which is a pain)... Are there any plans to enable it in other
countries too?

------
reledi
Please review your link styling to make them more discoverable. As it is, it's
impossible to find any links in the article on my mobile.

------
steffenfrost
Dang, I thought it would be the wallet app. :(

------
vvkmnn
Damn Canadian App Store.

Kapeli pls.

~~~
njloof
Just downloaded in Canada. Don't know whether there was propagation delay or
he flipped a switch.

------
johansch
Please, HN, don't promote this fraudulent* developer.

*) [https://9to5mac.com/2016/10/13/evidence-against-dash-develop...](https://9to5mac.com/2016/10/13/evidence-against-dash-developers-fraudulent-account-claim/)

(Considering that he has a history of buying user ratings I guess it's also
quite possible that the upvoting of this story and (selective) upvoting of its
comments is also bought.)

~~~
AsyncAwait
> don't promote this fraudulent* developer

He WAS fraudulent, however he still makes a useful tool and seems to have
since corrected his ways, so I'd give him a second chance.

~~~
sooheon
I'm disinclined to support even an ex- plagiarist and app fraudster. Besides,
Dash requires me to go to a separate app to look up docs, it's much better to
have them integrated into one's editor.

~~~
kstrauser
I'll leave the dev's reputation aside as it's already being discussed
elsewhere. That said, I think Dash is great. I can pop it up with a global
keystroke, not just inside my editor, and I use that a feature lot. It also
integrates with just about every editor so that you can open docs from inside
those editors with a keystroke.

I very much love having Dash open on my small laptop screen, with Emacs open
and filled with code on the much larger external monitor.

