This week there have been several stories on the blogsphere (here, here, and here, for example) which consist of developers complaining that Apple has rejected an iPhone application that they submitted to be part of the App Store in iTunes, or because they believe that the process for submitting an application is too cumbersome. At least two of these have been because Apple believes the applications would be competitive with a product or feature set that Apple already has in the iPhone. This has, in turn, devolved into a chorus of voices (Ryan Block for example) exclaiming the virtues of openness and transparency, along with opining on the evils of Apple’s terms of service for iPhone developers. To all those who are annoyed at Apple here is what I have to say to you: Get Off Your High Horse.
Apple, like Facebook, Microsoft, and virtually every other major software producer is in the business of platforms. They create the environment that developers want to develop in. Developers need platforms, whether the platform is a distribution channel or operating system. When you create the platform, you set the rules. If Apple wants to restrict iPhone applications to those that do not compete with features built into the iPhone, well, they can go right ahead and do so. It is right in the SDK’s user agreement. Developers will go out and develop for another environment, or make a product that complies with the rules of the road. No one is forcing developers to build for the iPhone. Six months ago, it was not even possible for developers to create programs for the iPhone. So, to all of the developers who are annoyed with Apple, just go out and develop for Android, Blackberry OS, Windows Mobile, Palm OS or S60.
However, lets be honest here. Serious developers, those that really want to distribute and monetize their applications will keep on developing for the iPhone. There are many reasons to believe this. The first is just the hardware. High end software requires high end hardware, and there is no more capable mobile device from a hardware perspective than the iPhone 3G. The competing Android G1’s paltry 1GB of native storage and lack of an onboard 3.5MM headphone jack, let alone its clunky industrial design, puts it at a slight disadvantage.
Then there are the approximately fourteen million iPhones. The size of the installed base alone makes developing for the iPhone a strategically advantageous move for developers. Finally, the ability to distribute applications over the air and to the desktop makes the Apple distribution scheme much more appealing to those who care about actually getting software in the hands of consumers. The fact that more than 100,000,000 applications have been downloaded in the past three months from the App Store is indicative of the strength of the eco-system which Apple has built. If you want access to that eco-system, it means that you need to comply with Apple’s rules not the other way around.
Android is exciting because it is open, but openness does not come without its tradeoffs. From a developer’s perspective this means having a free-for-all distribution system. And don’t forget that Google’s partners have yet to sell one Android phone, though no doubt they will. As more Android based phones come out, with the ability to pick and choose which modules are included, support, stability, and usability—all essential on a mobile device—will likely suffer.
What about the other mobile platforms? S60 just is not robust enough for most developers to build applications for, and it does not have a solid distribution system for mobile apps. Windows mobile devices suffer from the perennial and proverbial blue screen of death, and the next generation Palm OS might very well turn out to be vaporware. The Blackberry could be a real platform if RIM ever comes up with a better way to distribute apps (more in terms of making them easy to find than actually getting them on the phones).
So to developers out there, those who love the App Store and those who loathe it, recall that the power of the platform is to create a system which connects software developers and consumers of that software. But when someone makes a platform, they also control the rules which go along with that platform. And right now the platform to be on is the iPhone platform. To those who are unhappy with the restrictions that Apple places on the App Store, don’t complain. Just keep on coding.
And you are saying this for the platform which is a market leader in smartphones? The platform which has more users than rest of them put together? And the platform which has a damn high number of applications available & which not monopolistic to boot?
Really? You sure you are talking about Windows Mobile which runs on mobile phones & haven’t confused it with the Windows operating system for PCs?
Is TechCrunch’s level going down that its now publishing such posts? Or is this an Apple parody? I don’t feel like believing that TechCrunch is publishing this but then I just read it!!
I’m quite intrigued though with those strong comments you made against S60 & Windows Mobile. And I’m a software engineer as well, yes, so my curiosity is increased. For how long have you used S60 & Windows Mobile, if you have ever used them (which I very much doubt)? And I very much doubt that you’ve ever written a software for any of these platforms. So someone who doesn’t know about software engineering saying that writing one for S60 sucks is really swell. And as for iPhone’s *great* hardware, go out & try the new HTC Diamond & the upcoming Touch HD and don’t forget to try out Samsung Omnia as well. And while you are at it you might also wanna give Nokia N96 a spin. I think you would want to rephrase that claim about *superior hardware* in iPhone!!
The writer has drunk too much Apple Kool-Aid. No one can dare criticize Apple and its magnificent leader, Lord Jobs! The reality is that Apple is an evil, monopolistic corporation that has brainwashed its “fans” into thinking it can do no wrong. The Apple fanboys have Jobs’ greed and bullying staring them in the face and they ignore it. Apple sells overpriced crap and its “fans” beg for more. Its pathetic.
One thing mobile companies may not realize by taking too stringent a policy is that it invites all developers to write as much of an application on the server as possible, and to implement as little device-side code as possible. If a company (Apple or anybody else) makes it hard for a good app to be made available, people can just turn around and write a thin client for some other device, and render that device more competitive (presuming that the app is actually valuable).
The flip side of this defensive position is that whenever your application hits big time, you can easily move it to other platforms. Apple loses the exclusive benefit of it.
Best to remain open !
I look forward to your YouTube video “Leave the iPhone Alone!”
condescending ahole.
I, for one, completely agree with the article. I’m so sick and tired of reading all of the complaints. This is a free country and you are free to develop your own device and make it as open as you’d like. Until then, either live with what’s out there or don’t buy it.
“either live with what’s out there or don’t buy it.”
You do know this whole issue is about developers and their business relationship with Apple. It has nothing at all to do with a consumer choosing to “buy” anything or not.
Next time you go slamming people on the internet, try and at least get a basic understanding of the topic being discussed.
How to be an ass:
“Next time you go ________, try and at least get a basic understanding of the topic being discussed”
Oh almighty Markus, please enlighten us with the findings you have from your vast research on the topic at hand. It’s not too complicated. You write an app, apple approves or denies it. You continue and move on. Thank god we’re seeing someone doing quality control on these widgets that on other platforms a six year old could build and publish. I don’t buy magazines that everyone can write on. I don’t shop at stores where anyone can sell a product. I don’t listen to radio stations where everyone can post their songs. Get it? these things, if they exist, suck.
BRAVO!
Let’s face it, most of the people that are complaining are folks that the average consumer will never know, ever care about, or likely ever really want the apps they are developing. Most of the complainers are Freetards anyway — open source morons that prefer to give away crap that’s been group-thinked into nothingness.
To the complaining developers: PLEASE — just stop developing for the iPhone. Go elsewhere. Go to the amazingly crappy Android. Hey, give up and get a job at K-Mart — you’re leaving the platform gives others more opportunity.
Did apple pay you for writing this blog??? This is the biggest stupid, and nonsense article I ever read…. KEEP CODING = KEEP WASTING TIME! thats your motto?
Just revise your entire article, its seems that you contradict yourself!
Im an iPod touch owner, but of course im ok, if developers stop building apps for the iphone, or ipod touch…. and im veeeery fine with them complainning, because, i WANT BETTER APPS!!!! and they should keep complaining until apple listen to them! That way, we would have better apps! This control should not even be legal!, we live in a country who believes in capitalism, is not competence, an anti-monopoly issues part of this system??? I want a more open device, I want to choose what apps I want!!! I dont want anyone deciding for me! its your problem, if you wanna keep having horrible apps like most of them right now on the apps store, and ITS YOUR PROBLEM, IF YOU WANT TO HAVE APPLE TAKING DECISIONS FOR YOU… POOR GUY!
Are you kidding me? What a load of drivel.
Everyone gets to complain about Microsoft, Facebook etc and we all chime in, “Yeah, how unfair, they can’t do that, it should be an open platform!”
But when the angelic Apple does it, we can’t complain about it? What a crock.
Good job, Dan Kimerling, for outting yourself as a total Apple fanboy and not a person with real chops to call ALL companies on their shit.
Yeah, right. It’s only if you Microsoft, people can start antitrust cases for the platform which is not open enough (a case which made MS open their protocols for instance). But if it’s an Apple platform — just STFU and code. Awesome!
You guys prove you have no idea what you are talking about when you talk about a “blue screen of death” in Windows Mobile. Everyone who has used Windows Mobile phones long enough to still remember the time when they used to die knows that even in this case there isn’t a BLUE screen. Furthermore, this case is gone long ago. Please try to learn the subjects you talk about a little better.
If you really are an iPhone App developer you have a damn good idea what you can and cannot develop for the iPhone. Read the agreement you signed when you got development software.
If you didn’t read it, you are stupid and SOL.
Do XBox 360, PS3 or Wii developers complain this much about those closed systems?
What the hell? They’re closed systems but games don’t get rejected without merit.
Get your facts straight boy.
Lol, worst techcrunch article ever.
Bold Title. Lots to think about here. SDK making it almost impossible for anyone to get an app in, even if it is a good one, and the fact that Apple is holding everyone’s source code as their own. Corporations with only money in mind, similar to other companies that do the same thing, or the social revolution that is the internet and Web 2.0 in general….Interesting times to be in I must say…
This is a bit narrow-minded. While it is true that Apple is fully within it’s rights to reject apps, the question is whether they are doing so responsibly, and in a way which makes it clear to developers what is acceptable.
In this way, Apple has failed its developer community. While many “serious” developers will continue to work on iPhone software, it does not behoove Apple to discourage any of the developers.
Regardless, this fiasco has made me seriously reconsider acquiring a phone using Google’s Android OS, and I know I am not alone here.
You are an idiot. You need to understand the merit behind the complaints: Free and open software development and distribution is for the betterment of all users and likewise Apple benefits. Wake up and realize Apple is a greedy corporate enterprise that does not place its customers above its ideals or its perceived need for money and control.
Hey hippi… a business needs to make money not be your friend.
Apple’s strategy for making money happens to be giving people great experiences and they’re very successful. Are you so brilliant to suggest a new strategy for them?
Apples app store reminds me of the chinese political system, where your allowed to make money any way you want, as long as you don’t criticize the government. To explain the analogy, if communist ideology = apple ideology then communist criticism = creating iphone apps that compete with apple apps.
Another argument to shift the blame for [insert Apple problem of choice here] away from Apple, keeping Apple’s image as squeeky clean as possible. What would we do without Appologists?
You sound like Apple’s lapdog.
Stop sucking Jobs’ dick.
this Dan Kimerling guy is a really crappy writer. was he a graphic designer before?
Dear me, this is poor stuff. Is this really TC’s “official” opinion?
looks like the author was drunk when he wrote this article.
Who’s complaining?
Never confuse one or two NOISY people with MAJORITY OPINION.
John Davis
“WINDOWS MOBILE DEVICES SUFFER FROM THE PERENNIAL AND PROVERBIAL BLUE SCREEN OF DEATH” <– !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
WOW! I always thought TechCrunch was a fairly reliable site… until I saw this sentence. This reeks of “anti-MS”-ism all over it.
Sure, some WM devices are crap. But some are great! Sure, the OS has a lot of UI non-sense in it. But it works. And it is a much better platform for developers to develop mobile applications on.
Get this: The latest iPhone OS isn’t any more stable than the latest WM OS.
Yup.
I think there is merit to both sides of the argument. I think that Apple has to enforce this sort of thing because they probably already have plans for something like Podcaster and other apps they’ve rejected. If you are developing one of these gray area applicatons you need to realize that you may end up getting a rejection. I do wish it were a tad more open…because a lot of good apps are not hitting the phone. Hopefully all of this hasn’t fallen on deaf ears in Cupertino.
Agreed you are a complete tool.
And don’t ever tell me to ’stop complaining’ when a company is completely screwing me over.
The Apple App Store is the #1 threat to net neutrality to date.
They decide, from top to bottom, what you get to do and what you don’t get to do with the apps. They decide what you can talk about and not talk about. Finally, developers must invest their money and hours into creating an app to ‘present to the app store gods’ for approval, and if rejected, they’re completely fucked.
You are right, Apple decides what can be done on the platform – we, the developers and users, will decide how much and how loud we complain about that, and take action to get them to change their policy.
But don’t ever tell us to shut up again.
Of course, when M$ created a platform, and made it difficult, although not impossible, for other developers to put products that “would be competitive with a product or feature set that” M$ already had on their platform, you all cried foul, foul, punish them.
Yes, yes, it’s different because of the sheer market penetration M$ has. And M$ is evil, and their products stink, so it’s no big deal to come down hard on them, they deserve it anyway. Get real.
What Apple is doing is anti-competitive, if what M$ did was. You don’t get to build a platform and tell people to build apps for it, work to achieve market dominance with that platform, and then tell people they can’t build competitive applications for that platform. The DOJ has already established that as precedent.
To set the record straight, ever Android phone available has been sold. It may not yet be in the hands of the buyers, but several reputable publications have reported that the G1 has sold out. Shall we fill the comments section with all the deficiencies of the iPhone, like it’s anemic storage space, poor keyboard, buggy interaction with M$ Exchange, joke of a battery, etc., etc.,? Let’s not and say we did.
Apparently, Dan was one of those seated in the theater watching Steve Jobs drone on about the wonderful life he’s giving Dan to live before the girl came in with the hammer and smashed it all up. Too bad for you, Dan, many of us like to think for ourselves and not be “protected” by companies like Apple and M$ from other developers. Stop defending their monopolistic choke-hold on the platform. They opened it up, and now they can’t close the door. Let’s hope the girl with the hammer doesn’t end up being the DOJ spoiling what is a good platform with a lot of stupid rules, and Apple just wises up on their own.
Oh, and to you other commenters out there. Open Source does not mean FREE. Get a clue. Being Open in your platform does not mean OPEN SOURCE. Again, get a clue. In this context, being open means allowing competing applications to reside on your platform, and allowing someone else to profit from the sale and distribution of those apps. This nonsense of not allowing someone to sell an application on the iPhone because it competes with something Apple is already selling is just that, non-competitive nonsense. It has nothing to do with software being free, with Open Source, or anything else. Stop being such a homer and open your eyes. There are other colors out there than Apple white.
On a side note, this kind of Apple homerism is inappropriate for such a publication as TechCrunch. Not what I’m used to seeing at all. Very disappointing. Where have all the editors gone?
I agree with the article.
These people moaning are likely to be the same sados who spend all evening getting dressed-up for a night out on the town, only to be refused entry by the doorman because they’re not the preferred clientele. You’re pissed off right? Sure, but would you go home and trawl the interweb posting comments about it and blog articles because you’re a sad whiny looser? Oh you would.
Think about it, take a deep breath and ffs just move on.
Apple doesn’t want you, chances are … most of society doesn’t either.
linkbaiting succeeds in generating more traffic but destroys the brand, a lessen MA will soon learn if he hasn’t already.
MA and Calacanis are tight right? I just listened to the recent twit with Leo Laporte and he talked a lot about linkbaiting…I just don’t think that is what this is. Maybe…but I don’t think so, this is just a strong opinion post.
What an asinine post….there are legitimate reasons for apple to manage the platform and he doesn’t explore a single one of these and there are legitimate reasons for developers to be frustrated with apple and he doesn’t explore any one of these rather he just uses a sensationalist “stop complaining” headline…this blog post represents everything that is wrong with the blogosphere these days. Looking forward to Techcrunch raising its standards as these days there is more thoughtful writing happening on CNET.
Wow, developers are the whiniest bunch of children alive. It’s no wonder that Steve Jobs has to act like your mother because most of you are in dire need of one. While most of you blast this article is ridiculous, I’d actually use two words to describe it, “painfully obvious.” And while the topic is on software development it’s more steeped in the notion that the world works in a certain way that most of us call “reality.” You all should get out and check it out. It’s sunny (sometimes).
Everyone’s in it to make money. What you all bitched about yesterday about Microsoft and are bitching today about Apple, is what you will bitch about tomorrow about Google. You’re all looking for a cheap handout and cry when things don’t go your way. The problem is that none of you had the capacity to build your own infrasturcture/platform and therefore you will always be subject to someone else’s rules and not your own. The platforms are run by profit maximizing corporations and if your crapware interferes with that, you’re out. How is that hard to understand?
When I first heard about an app that was denied that caused a media frenzy, my first inclination was that it probably competed with iTunes in some way. Turns out that’s exaxtly what Podcaster (or whatever) did. That guy is a 100% certified moron. You don’t need a response from Apple outlining why it was denied, you need common sense and that developer has none. And while he was crying about it, some other dude rakes in $250K on the App Store. I guess he had some free time on his hands since he wasn’t bitching to the world.
But don’t worry, you’ll all be back here again soon enough bitching about Google. Sure, it claims to be open and all that good stuff, but Google is another profit maximizing company, and they’re gonna get you somehow, make no mistake about that.
TC Feature request:
The ability to ‘mute’ specific authors or the ability to get RSS from others. That would be a big help in filtration.
Thanks!
Pretty much the worst article I’ve ever read. Truly pathetic.
Wow, I had to look twice if I really was reading an article on TC. Bad, really really bad! And I’m an iPhone Dev who has not been turned down, but even I think Apples current system is crap. The author has no clue about what’s going on.
The developers can bitch all they want, the bottomline is that the iPhone market size is blowing away any other competitor, even gphones yet to come. Would you rather develop for 10M+ iphones or 500K+ gphones? If you want to play in 10M+ market, then stop your whining and be smart about the apps you want to develop. Stay away from potentially offensive apps (whoopee), apps the dup functionality, and apps that violate AT&T non-tethering TOS and you should be just fine.
Dan, you and anybody else who shares your opinion is a blithering idiot fanboy because you are basically complaining about other people’s complaining. If you’re allowed to do it, so are they. Why don’t you take your own advice and “stop complaining”?
Complaining about a bad product “feature” is helpful to everyone because it serves as a warning to new developers. Complaining about other people complaining is just pure idiocy.
Also, where were you when everybody was complaining about how bad they thought Vista was?
Sounds like an article written by an Apple fan boy. Horrible editing – seriously.
Windows Mobile suffers from the bluescreen of death? Seriously, are you still living in Windows 95/98 era? The organisation I work for primarily distributes phones with the Windows Mobile OS on it and it NEVER faults for anyone. The only things that go wrong are hardware based issues, which happen to all mobiles. Thats over 20,000 employees.
Speaking of SDK’s, you obviously have never used or let alone bothered to read about Visual Studio .NET. The only damn reason the iPhone is getting popularity is because it has fashion appeal – not technical appeal.
I hate these constant remarks about how “developers should just stop complaining”. Isn’t that what we have been doing since 2000 when IE6 was released? So its OK to tell Microsoft to change its game but not to Apple?
TechCrunch, when is this guy going to get the axe?
One of the most idiot things I’ve ever read on TechCrunch. The amount of money and time that go into software development can be enormous. To have a long and drawn out acceptance process, leading to rejection for something like “being too competitive with Apple’s own products” is not in the spirit of free markets, and it crushes innovation.
Apple made the platform. Great. They can monetize it in tons of ways. Let the developers have a fair shake at success.
Dan should not express an opinion on something he clearly knows so little about. This is embarrassing.
I have an apple iphone and IM SICK OF PEOPLE TALKING ABOUT IT EVERY GOD DAM MOMENT!…. can’t wait for the storm.
This article misses the point entirely. Developers are complaining about the fact there are no clear rules – less about the closed nature of the store. The missing openness is in fact only the NDA that is still in effect that is hurting the development of the platform. This is no “whining” this is a serious problem that Apple needs to address.
NO ONE IS PERFECT – EVEN APPLE
http://www.yout...h?v=TaXFeVnSj8M
CORRECTION: The App Store has distributed over 100 Million Apps in the FIRST TWO MONTHS of its existence. It distributed 30 million in the first month, 70 million in the second month.
How much has the App Store sold by now? A lot more.
Consumers are NOT SCARED off by the problems with the developer NDA.
Instead, Consumers are making MILLIONAIRES out of many developers. The ability to make hundreds of thousands of dollars from a simple application (simpler than a desktop application), using a free development kit, without having to do heavy marketing of your product is fuel enough for thousands of developers to write iPhone applications.
To those that do not like Apple’s NDA, GOOD RIDDANCE. They obviously have written either applications in bad taste or which break the guidelines or which copy Apple’s own iPhone services. They were NOT thinking differently or creatively enough.
If a developer is CREATIVE AND ORIGINAL, he or she realizes that Apple’s guidelines and NDA and any arbitrariness in application acceptance are EASY to comply with. And that there an unlimited number of applications to write for the iPhone.
I applaud Apple’s focus on the consumer’s experience. Numerous friends have already bought and downloaded over 100 applications from the App Store. I did not realize until recently that I had downloaded 100+ applications. That is amazing. The Apple App Store makes the process of downloading and installing applications so much FUN, I have already installed more apps in the first two months of owning my iPhone 3 G than my Mac or Windows machines.
The App Store is such a selling monster compared to any other online sales machine, that any developer wanting to make a lot of money has to realize that Apple’s guidelines are really minor problems compared to the potential income generation from the iPhone 3G. THIS is the main reason to develop for the iPhone 3G – aside from just LOVING the system.
as soon as there’s a competitor up and running, this type of totalitarian run system will not stand long.
we only have to lick their boots until someone plows another road that leads to the same holy land. then it’s hasta la vista.
“To those that do not like Apple’s NDA, GOOD RIDDANCE. They obviously have written either applications in bad taste or which break the guidelines or which copy Apple’s own iPhone services. They were NOT thinking differently or creatively enough.”
So if Microsoft were to disallow a developer who created a better office suite than MS’s own from distributing it to Windows users, presumably you’d have no problem with that?
Trouble is, if no-one is allowed to improve upon the functionality of a whole range of iPhone software because it puts them in competition with Apple, then consumers will be left with a device which fails to fulfill its inherent capabilties. From what I understand, Podcaster was one such app which provided superior functionality to Apple’s offering. Unfortunately iPhone users won’t get to find out for themselves.
Hey ho. Musn’t grumble.
“So if Microsoft were to disallow a developer who created a better office suite than MS’s own from distributing it to Windows users, presumably you’d have no problem with that?”
Yes I’d have a problem with it but instead of moaning and wining like a bunch of babies, I’d move on to a different platform say like MAc OS X. And let Microsoft face the ramification of its choice, which may turn out to be to its advantage or to it downfall.
sorry, but they’re going to need an army of external auditors before i can look at publicly viewable “red bars’ lighting up to indicate lies coming from the mouths of political candidates (they’re all full of shit to begin with)….simply telling us to look for different colors on a screen is useless…
that’s funny. when people complain about stupid things Microsoft does, everyone backs them up and get all excited. Now when people complain about something stupid Apple does some people get all crabby and “outraged” to the point of writing this crappy article on a great site like this. WOW! Honestly?! It makes me laugh.
Finally, at least another opinion is voiced!
I enjoy that the iPhone can be two devices – one, a stable, managed platform that a consumer can just buy and use and one that, if you choose to, you can jailbreak and have your way with it.
Best of both worlds in my opinion, but relevant to the article, nobody is forcing anyone to develop for the iPhone app store. Apple may need to and probably will clarify the rules – the platform is only a few months old as far as development goes.
That’s right! Get off your high horse you coder guys. Just write your code and submit it to the high priest. He and only he in his infinite wisdom will decide if your application is worthy. If it isn’t then it’s your fault and you should be thankful your were even permitted to submit your worthless bits.
Never give up. Suffer in silence. Abide by the developer agreement. Don’t ask for more. This is the new American way. And, if we catch you developing for Android … well … I just can’t talk about that.