
The curious case of our iOS app (Prey) - 1880
http://preyproject.com/blog/2012/03/the-curious-case-of-our-ios-app
======
mirsadm
My first job out of uni was for a startup in Melbourne, Australia. After 3
years the place was running out of cash. The company was betting its entire
future on this iPhone app that we were developing for them (iPhone 3G era). It
was finished in about 3 months and we submitted it to the app store. Apple had
taken over 2 months to reject the application and the process to get it
approved took almost 6 months. This was a voip app and Apple's reasoning was
that it was potentially competing with their own products. By the time it was
approved the company was pretty much finished and I'd taken up another job.

As crappy as the whole process can be it is still a million times better than
pre-iPhone Nokia. We had to pay thousands of dollars to get a dongle license
just to be able to develop for Nokia phones. After you finish you have to pay
money and submit it to an "approved" test house so they can run through a
bunch of test cases. If your app failed you had to pay again and resubmit.

~~~
grego
Note that with respect to Nokia what you describe is no longer the case. Last
I checked it took 1 Euro to register as a developer, and Nokia QA+signing is
free. Developers get 70% cut as elsewhere.

~~~
bgramer
He probably could have been a bit clearer but he did acknowledge that Nokia's
procedures had been changed by putting "pre-iPhone" in front of Nokia's name.

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dtorres
Prey iOS app dev here,

The app is technically ready to be submitted I'm waiting on some last graphic
details that need to be designed yet, so as the post says any day next week we
will submit the app which will be diligently tweeted (@preyproject) and
hopefully (with Apple's blessing) it will become available on the last days of
this month.

In the meantime, you can check what we've been doing here:
<https://github.com/prey/prey-ios-client>. *

*As you may note, it doesn't compile since the project includes the In-App Purchases classes which are private and part of a submodule. Delete those references and you'll be good to hack :)

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lazerwalker
That's frustrating. Especially since the Kindle app falls under the category
of "paid content is available, but no references are available in-app".

With all of the great improvements Apple has made to the App Store submission
process, it's frustrating there's still such inconsistency and so few ways to
speak with someone reasonable. From what I hear the review team is busting
their asses off, but it's still frustrating (and a bit baffling) for something
that represents such a large part of the success of iOS.

~~~
etherael
It's easier to pick on prey than it is to pick on amazon, large companies in
general are bullies but apple especially, watching continuous slow motion
train wrecks like this makes my stomach turn. But hey, that's the way the
world goes I guess.

~~~
philip1209
I honestly think it's one of those Yahoo/Facebook-type deals. If Apple tries
to frivilously deny Amazon's app, they risk pissing off the dominant player in
the ebook market, who could sue for all kinds of random things relating to
iBooks. Prey lacks that leverage.

~~~
etherael
Exactly, so as I said originally, Prey is a much easier target than amazon.
Also more people would be actively angry they couldn't read their books on an
apple device than would be angry they couldn't use prey on their apple device.

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zem
so i used to have a lot more sympathy for people who got fucked over by apple
in this manner. and i guess i still do feel sorry for them, but my main
emotion when reading stories like this nowadays is an intense sense of
frustration that developers continue to deal with the apple/ios ecosystem at
all. it's always been an abusive relationship, and nothing looks likely to
change about that, so why do it? is the money really that good?

~~~
Danieru
I have to agree.

"We’ll probably include a bonus discount to users who upgrade via the App
Store" Really? You didn't choose Apple, the users did. Please explain to me
why it makes sense to reward people for making your job harder?

By all means have a sale, but at least run a parallel 'Thank you for using a
dev-friendly platform' sale for android/laptop users.

~~~
dtorres
It's not a reward for Apple. It's a discount to thank/compensate those who
read about the iOS client being available when it wasn't.

The in-app purchases can be managed outside the app so probably this
"discount" will be temporary.

Then again, it isn't a bonus because you are an iOS user but the fact that we
had a broken promise.

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gsibble
We had a similar experience with an app last year. Submitted, rejected for
small reasons, submitted again, no word for four weeks despite constant
attempts to contact Apple, then a phone call. Turns out they also have some
rules they don't publish. I asked for their explanation in writing and they
were unwilling to give it so I had to go to my Board of Directors with nothing
to show for why the app was not approved for weeks. Had to rip out a huge part
of it and recode over a two week 18 hour day madness before being approved in
20 minutes after submission (they do help out when you bend over).

As for the rule.....basically, unless you are the New York Times, you are not
allowed to use their recurring subscription payment model. It's "public" per
se, but they don't let anyone use it unless you are a massive publishing
company and fit into their preferred business model.

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trafnar
My app, Cocoyon is built explicitly for the purpose of tracking the location
of your friends in real-time. We initially got the exact same "Your app does
not include features that require persistent location." rejection.

What the really wanted from us a was a battery usage warning in the
description.

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teyc
Regarding the point about storm trooper imagery, these images have to be
licensed by LucasArts etc. This is why even if I drew Donald Duck and put it
in the public domain, you are unable to use it in your product without
licensing the necessary rights for it.

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tar
Its instances like this that reveal the inherent problems associated with app
stores tightly controlled by a single company.

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jonny_eh
Honest question here: Why would I use this product instead of Apple's free
"Find My iPhone"?

~~~
calciphus
The primary function is on the paid app that an admin can monitor many devices
(iphones, android devices, laptops, etc) from a single interface, and even get
periodic reports that a device is still functioning properly and at a known
location.

If the only device you own is an iPhone, there's probably not an advantage. If
you've got several devices or are in a small company IT department with a
mixed environment, it unifies them in a very nice way.

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smsm42
iOS applications must be bringing really huge money if people are ready to put
up with this kind of abuse.

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Shank
I love the complaint about data. Oh, the app is trying to conserve battery,
but the explanation isn't explicit enough so we'll count that as a flaw.

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tylermenezes
Can someone please explain to me why Apple still has yet to be investigated
for anti-trust?

~~~
olefoo
Because the only monopoly they have is on Apple products. There are other
phones, other laptops and other tablets available. No one is being forced to
develop for IOS, no one is being forced to buy Apple products whether they
want them or not. They may be the currently dominant player in the smartphone
category, but unless both Google and Microsoft decide to abandon that market
they can't be said to have a monopoly.

tl;dr: You may not like their policies regarding selling their software to
their audience, but you are not required to participate in their marketplace
to sell software.

