Stories about Mac App Store rejections are even less interesting than stories about iPhone rejections, because unlike the iOS platform, you can trivially distribute unvetted programs yourself.
That doesn't make this a bad blog post, but, if we can possibly head off a day-long argument over the merits of app store approval processes, that'd be neat.
I agree with you that a Mac App Store rejection isn't as fatal as an iPhone App Store rejection but I still feel that there is room for discussion about the fact that Apple considers this app to not be useful.
I had never heard about it before this entry on HN, but I downloaded it, because up until now my solution for Lorem Ipsum was to keep a text document full of it on my desktop and copy and paste into my HTML mockups.
LittleIpsum looks like a very useful tool for designers. Perhaps Apple only wants the App Store to be for apps that have broad appeal to "normal" people who aren't designers and content creators.
Most design tools these days have this capability built in somewhere in the menu hierarchy (go ahead and look for it; it's probably there). I could see where they'd reject this for minimal usefulness since, I think, the App Store is supposed to be the showcase of the best and brightest apps (or something like that).
Preventing users from running code not obtained through the Mac App Store would change the Mac fundamentally from a personal computer to something like a console.
Apple making that move would alienate every software dev and anyone who's ever bought a boxed retail app that's unavailable on the App Store, just to start.
Clearly, Apple likes markets they can control completely, but I think that if the time comes Apple will simply stop selling and supporting Macs rather than attempt to fundamentally change what a Mac is. And if it does happen, it'll happen very slowly.
I think that if the time comes Apple will simply stop selling and supporting Macs rather than attempt to fundamentally change what a Mac is.
I'd say that would still count. A prediction I'm more than 50% confident of: by the end of 2016, Apple will not sell any consumer-targeted products that run unapproved apps.
And, Apple already has a platform exclusively for curated apps: iOS. The whole notion of a "Mac App Store" revolves around curated apps on an otherwise open platform. A locked-down MacOS is really, from the perspective of consumers (the only thing that actually matters), just iOS.
Apple will not prevent ad-hoc app distribution on the Mac; doing so would prevent Adobe from releasing Creative Suite on the Mac because of their non-App Store-compatible licensing.
Won't happen. Or if it does, easy: time to leave the Mac.
"There is no “Lorem Ipsum” used as filler for content, either. At least one of the senior managers refuses to look at any mockups that contain such “Greek” filler. Doing this detailed mockup removes all ambiguity—everyone knows and can see and critique how the final product looks. It also means you will not encounter interpretative changes by the designer or engineer after the review, as they are filling in the content—something I have seen happen time and time again. Ultimately, it means no one can feign surprise when they see the real thing."
Update:
Just a clarification, I was being sarcastic. I'm a user and love the app.
Reminds me of a web application I put together for a large British corporation. I was waiting for the final copy to be approved so gave them a test site with several bits of lorem ipsum in place of real text. It was failed due to there being "a translation issue" on some parts because "it was doing something funny and changing the English text to Greek or something". This was from an apparently 'technical' person as well!
That's one possible reason, but if that is in fact the case, there are a number of dummy text languages (even ones that use real English) available that would be relatively easy for the developer to add.
As someone who has regularly used LittleIpsum at work (web developer), I was discouraged to see that Apple rejected it. I'd hate to see him overbloat the software to meet the "requirements" as the perfection of LittleIpsum comes from it's simplicity. It's the ideal kind of software for the Mac App Store since it's small, has a relatively limited feature scope, and (for now) is free.
I'm sure that we're going to see some other unusual/dubious rejections over the next month or two while both developers figure out the system and Apple refines it's internal requirements.
Given that this is a little tool that sits in the menubar, I suspect this is an example of an app that simply doesn't fit the model of app that Apple wants the store to be focused on.
I agree. I use a Lorem Ipsum generator (a web site, but I want better) but would not use this one. The menu bar is really the wrong place, and aspects of its user interface perplex me. Growl Notifications? What on earth for?
The Services menu would be appropriate, but after rounding, zero users know it exists.
I'm guessing there is tons of complaints if a regular store denies a product from their shelves too? And an uproar if Steam (or any similar service) denies a game from being distributed using their system? I also assume that the same protests occur if, let's say, Bodega (or Chrome Web store for that matter) refuses to list a specific app?
There will be if that store starts putting its storefront right in every house and apartment. (Not commenting on the legitimacy of the complaints — but monopolies do tend to get a lot of criticism when they're perceived as being unfair, and software bundled with the computer comes very close to that threshold.)
There is a bit of a psychological difference. People creating Mac Apps are for the most part Apple's customers and many identify with the brand. So the rejection hurts a bit more.
Instead of taking the attitude that gosh I hope apple will approve this app, try to think i wonder if they are smart enough to see how awesome this is. That way when they reject it, it will because they are too stupid to see how smart it is, and you can take it to a place that value your work. Fuck apple.
That doesn't make this a bad blog post, but, if we can possibly head off a day-long argument over the merits of app store approval processes, that'd be neat.