Phil Schiller Addresses More App Store Concerns
I've reached a point where I can no longer just sit back and watch this. The iPhone ecosystem is toxic, and I can't participate any more until it is fixed. As people have told me so many times: It's Apple's ballgame, and Apple gets to make the rules, and if I don't like it, I can leave. So, I don't like it, and I'm leaving.
Apple senior vice president of Worldwide Product Marketing Phil Schiller has since personally responded to Frank to provide him some reassurance that Apple was listening to his feedback.I haven't sought Phil's explicit permission to republish the letter, so I won't do so here. But to summarize, he said: "we're listening to your feedback". Not all of my suggested solutions were viable, he said, but they were taking it all in as they continue to evolve the app store.
He went on to say that the rumors of widespread e-book app rejection I'd heard were false -- that specifically one e-book app had been rejected because it facilitated iPhone-to-iPhone sharing of (potentially copyrighted) books. But that otherwise, there was no sweeping ban on e-book readers.
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(View all)-Omi
And the 17+ ratings on any app that has web access, or is a dictionary, or a few other things, seems a little over the top - why does a Wikipedia accessing application have a 17+ rating? The thing about "duplicating functionality" also seems very odd. As the app store matures, I hope that things change for the better.
I wonder if this suggests that he is taking more and more of the day-to-day running of Apple. Also, I wonder if this is a subtle indication that they will be a little more open under his watch.
Example could be the eBook that was pulled. The claim is that it was pulled because it allowed sharing of potentially copyrighted books. Fair enough, but potential is the key word, it doesn't mean it has happened. But maybe Apple has already been hit by an injunction by the book publisher association stating that if they release any apps that bypass the security of the copyrighted books, they would be sued and / or have charges brought against them. Thus instead of going after the developer / thief directly, they have shallow pockets, they go after someone who may have deeper pockets but isn't directly associated with it. This is just and example, it could be even more nefarious and based off the RIAA issues, or more; we don't know. But one bad apple (err lawyer) could be ruining it for everyone.
Back to the main topic. This is becoming a pattern, and a bad one. If Schiller keeps responding to these and nothing is done to the App Store policy, I expect bigger headlines in the tech world. That would be putting an even larger spotlight on the already hit-or-miss policy for app approval, prompting Apple to do something about it.
I have a feeling that Apple tells employees to just not approve anything they find objectionable in any way, shape, or form, or seems to duplicate functionality.
Apple has been getting hammered lately, and not by the usual fools. It's for good reason. The app store is brilliant, but there need to be steps taken to improve communication with devs.
The app store is brilliant, but there need to be steps taken to improve communication with devs.
With Steve still at the helm, that is unlikely to happen. When Steve no longer works at Apple, I could see that happening.
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