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'Chess Wars' App Update Rejected Over "Shiny Chat Bubbles"

Tuesday September 1, 2009 1:13 pm PDT by Marianne Schultz

Image courtesy of Joe Stump's Flickr page


Blunder Move's Chess Wars app, which allows users to place chess with Facebook friends via Facebook Connect, has been rejected due to chat bubbles that reportedly imitate those of the iPhone's Messages app too closely, according to the blog of one of the developers, Joe Stump. [Warning: this blog post contains profanity and may be NSFW.]

Chess Wars was initially released in early July, with an update to fix bugs released on July 30. Stump's blog describes that major bugs in version 1.1 required an update that was subsequently submitted to the App Store for approval. This latest update has been waiting in the App Store approval queue for about 6 weeks.

According to his blog, Stump was finally contacted today by Apple with information on the reason behind the approval delay:

They said they were rejecting the application because our in-game chat looked too much like Apple's SMS application. I've asked if we changed our chat bubbles to look like Facebooks if we'd be allowed in. Our contact at Apple is going to be getting back to me soon.


The promised follow-up from the contact at Apple resulted in the latest update to the blog post:

UPDATE: Just got off the phone with Apple while I was writing this blog post and they told me, no joke, that the chat bubbles are, in fact, trademarked. Furthermore, they suggested I could, among other suggestions make them "less shiny."


TechCrunch and other sites have followed this story and helped to provide publicity that likely prompted Apple's direct contact with Blunder Move today.

The current version (1.1) of Chess Wars can be found here (link opens iTunes).
[ 56 comments ]

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Unspoken Demise
Posted: 36 months ago
Well, Apple has trademarked shiny bubbles. I gotta go stop those kids down the street before they get arrested.

Seriously Apple?
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Small White Car
Posted: 36 months ago
Tweetie got away with this.

I guess it's just the right amount of shiny?
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mrkgoo
Posted: 36 months ago
I doubt anyone 'has got away with it'. If the shiny bubbles are trademarked, then Apple should've been stopping this a long time ago. Perhaps they've just realised this and are cracking down now. The problem lies in not informing the developers before.

If Apple ARE cracking down on this (and they're not going to go look for old apps - probably just new ones that have updates - which is kind of stink, as it punished developers who update), then they should send out a memo to all developers: Get rid of your shiny bubbles; Check your keywords for violations, etc.

Shame, because I liked the unified look.

If Apple have it trademarked, they have every right to demand them to change. It's simply stupid, though, that they are preventing an Apple app from being too Apple like. Still, if this were to be ported to another device, they don't want that device looking too similar to Apple's.
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tobefirst
Posted: 36 months ago

Tweetie got away with this.

I guess it's just the right amount of shiny?


The current Tweetie chat bubble theme does not have any shininess. Beejive, on the other hand...
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Small White Car
Posted: 36 months ago

The current Tweetie chat bubble theme does not have any shininess. Beejive, on the other hand...


Hmm, so perhaps they're serious about the 'less shiny' comment.

I wonder if Tweetie coincidentally changed theirs or if they were told to change as well.
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tobefirst
Posted: 36 months ago

I wonder if Tweetie coincidentally changed theirs or if they were told to change as well.


Good question. I wonder, too, if I'll see an update to Beejive in the coming days as a result.
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Michael73
Posted: 36 months ago
Most trademarks can be used with the express written consent of the trademark holder. Why not ask Apple for use? Not in Apple's favor is the fact that they've been selectively applying enforcement which could lead a judge to rule against Apple. As in, either Apple goes back and cracks down on everyone or they just let it go and let developers use the darn chat bubble.

One the other hand, Apple probably has a small army of patent lawyers working in their legal department. The company owns patents numbering in the thousands. I think it's rather unreasonable for a small developer with limited resources to know what "is" and "is not" permissible based on all the trademarks out there. Chat bubbles....who da thunk?!?
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SFStateStudent
Posted: 36 months ago
Another reason to JB, and put whatever BUBBLES I want on my iPhone.....:eek:
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Unspoken Demise
Posted: 36 months ago
They should make them MORE shiny. :D
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That-Is-Bull
Posted: 36 months ago
Wasn't an app rejected once for not looking enough like Apple's UI? They wanted UI consistency to avoid user confusion... And now this one's rejected for being consistent?
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