By now, you’ve heard the horror stories. Developers put their heart and soul into building an application for the iPhone App Store only to have it rejected by Apple. And sometimes apps are at first accepted and then later pulled for odd reasons. And sometimes app updates are rejected, even though there isn’t much difference with the version accepted. We get a half dozen or so stories sent to us now every single day. It’s no wonder that a lot of mobile developers are growing wary of the App Store. But Steven Frank is not one of those developers.
Steven Frank doesn’t make iPhone apps, specifically for the reasons stated above. But he is a very popular Mac developer, that co-founded the OS X development house Panic, makers of the popular coding application Coda, among other apps. Frank is well-known in some circles as a Mac enthusiast. You know, the kind of person that is often derided as a “fanboy.” And that’s why what I’m about to tell you is surprising: He’s ditching his iPhone.
In a candid post today, Frank explains his utter frustration with both Apple and AT&T over the way they’ve handled the device and its developers. The whole Google Voice fiasco was the last straw for him. Again, Frank doesn’t make iPhone apps, but he’s simply disgusted as an end-user — someone who pays close to or over $100 a month, and can’t use a range of apps that are available on other phones, including some also on AT&T.
And so he’s now ditching his iPhone and boycotting any device that runs the iPhone OS (including, if applicable, the rumored Mac tablet). He says he’s going to get a Palm Pre, a device he considers inferior to the iPhone, but one that doesn’t (at least so far) have the app issues the iPhone does. (Nor does it have the AT&T issues.)
Is Frank crazy? If he is, he’s not the only one.
Perhaps you heard about Om Malik of GigaOM doing the same thing over frustrations with AT&T several months ago. And as someone who covers the iPhone ecosystem quite a bit, I’ve had a number of discussions with iPhone users who have either ditched their device over similar concerns, or are considering it.
Personally, I’m not there yet. I still consider the iPhone to be too far ahead of the other smartphones even with its (sometimes major) flaws in the App Store. But I’m getting much closer than I ever imagined to looking at other phones simply because of my complete and utter disliking of AT&T at this point. At the very least, if Apple doesn’t get rid of the AT&T exclusivity agreement next year (which, for the record, I think it will), I’m going to unlock my iPhone to use it on another network.
But that’s a separate issue from Frank’s. He’s right about Apple’s often odd, and sometimes downright hostile actions towards developers in regards to the iPhone. It needs a better set of guidelines for developers to work with, because clearly, the current ones aren’t cutting it. And it needs to be more consistant with adhering to its guidelines. I’d also say that some more transparency would be nice, but I know that will fall upon deaf ears. This is Apple, after all.
The iPhone and the App Store remain too far ahead of the competition for one person, no matter how big, or even a group of people leaving, to have much of an impact. But Apple has to be careful that its rivals don’t mature quicker than anticipated (the Pre finally opened its webOS SDK, for example), or we could see some serious defections. By that I mean at first some developers, fed up with the App Store, may move on to other platforms. And that may lead to more doing then same. Eventually, that will trickle down to the end-users.
I’m not saying that will happen, but there is a lot of outcry for changes right now. And it’s getting louder everyday.
[photo: flickr/thetechbuzz]
Web apps people. It will all go back to web apps. You’ll see.
Web Apps are cool, but they have their plusses and minuses(plenty of minuses).
plenty of pluses if i might interject. Here is an app, featured last week in iphone’s web app gallery: http://askaround.me/
I think there are probably many more plusses than minuses, but there is one fatal minus for many web and specifically Google Voice I think: push notification.
This is not really needed for phone calls, but specifically with push notification Google Voice could replace text messaging. Then finally we would pay what texting should cost, nothing, since we already pay for data service! Can you imagine if AT&T or Comcast tried to charge you $0.15 per email you sent on top of your DSL or Cable bill?
Web apps are NOT the answer. It’s a lowest common denominator platform that’s cobbled together with hack upon hack upon ugly, disfigured hack. At its base is a markup language that was designed for rendering scientific documents — NOT enterprise systems and definitely NOT mobile applications. We need nothing more than to move beyond this glorified turd polishing alchemy we call AJAX. The mobile platform offered a promising return to a sensible programming environment, and now you Javascripting mochikit scriptaculous wizbots want to putrefy these waters with your quirksmode hacks? No. Thank. You.
Oh yeah, don’t get me started on flash.
Oh, HTML5 has plenty of potential. And at least from this POV right here and now, it seems to be able to change the HTML-for-text-docs concept. Take a look at what people are doing with it right now:
https://bespin.mozilla.com/
http://wave.google.com/
aww, you make it sound like non-web-apps are better
)
(some are, but so are some web apps
1/10
Nice try troll.
my first iphone app was approved today, and it’s just a wrapper for a web based app. saved me ~a month of work, how ’s that bad? – the game interface is just the way i wanted it to be
@tenthings
Did you use phonegap?
This is exactly my issue with what people term “web-apps.” The web is the network and the common infrastructure. It does not mean that everything has to be rendered in a browser.
you can pretty much turn any webapp into an app on your iphone. just get a full screen browser like “Quicky”, “Oceanus”, or “Bolt” and set that page as the homepage and viola! You got yourself an app.
Its all ball bearings now. Forget web apps.
I just saw another Palm Pre ad on TV. Another glowing woman in a field. All the ads seem to involve glowing women in fields. Is it being marketed to women only? Is it a girly phone?
I’ve seen probably a couple different Pre ads, and only one seemed gender-neutral; think it had like Facebook and Twitter and some other apps getting flicked by and talking about how Pre is always updating. Think it was a woman’s hand doing the flicking though.
Totally correct. I love my iPhone and I wont be giving it up. I just pray Apple drops AT&T next year. But I definitely cannot stand some of the stupid things that the App Store has done.
keep prayin … lol … wimps like u are the reason why we are in dis mess at the first place!
This is major notice for Apple. But will they even care? I hope they do, I am a mac Fan, but all this stories just do not seem right.
So I also really like the idea of jailbreaking and unlocking the iPhone and taking it to another carrier, But which one? It won’t work with Verizon or Sprint because of GSM, right? So what does that leave?
Any GSM carrier that uses a SIM card should suffice. Rural areas in Montana could use Cellular One, I just kept my T-Mobile service when I moved from San Francisco and roam on Cellular One.
I should say GPRS/EDGE/etc, but you get my point…I hope.
Tmobile
Yes, T-Mobile, but I guess my question was whether that is really a reasonable option? I honestly don’t know as I’ve only ever had Verizon and AT&T. Anyone know how T-Mobile’s service compares to AT&T? Specifically curious about coverage in the Northern California Bay Area.
T-Mobile I believe.
Does visual voicemail work if the iPhone is on the T-Mobile network?
no
Right, but Google Voice could mitigate that imho.
T-Mobile
Jailbreak anyone? It’s quite simple and fixes part of your iPhone frustrations. Mine has worked great on T-Mobile in Montana (of all places) for past 18 months on a 2G and 3G iPhone.
GV thing was the last straw for me, i jail breaked my iphone yesterday, running apps in the background alone makes it worthwhile
Exactly.
iphone sucks anyways … hate closed systems and I dont why all these users moan and b1tch abt it and do nothing … people is power! we are the end-consumers and if we decide as a collective to boycott and say NO to Apple – where it’ll hit their bottom lines – then finally they’d do the smart thing and get rid of this ridiculous censorship …
Apple’s done this before. Back then, their AT&T was their focus on making all of the boxes themselves and suing out of existence anyone daring to make their PC built on the Apple OS. At the same time, they were a total hassle to deal with for developers. They had a lot of fans in the early days, but developers got tired of not being properly assisted and supported and most importantly, of being unable to consistently eke out a living. The ecosystem of software developers back then was small enough that this had a huge impact, so maybe things “are different” now, but what if they’re not?
As an iPhone developer I find Apple’s behavior annoying, but the bottom line is there are 25MM iPhones out there, and owners install an average of 40 apps each. That’s simply too big a market to ignore. My guess is that Android will succeed enough to be worth developing for as well, but webOS? I’m not downloading the SDK any time soon.
Well, given that even Nokia is embracing Android and that the rest of the market leaders are also releasing Android phones (Samsung, Sony Ericsson, Motorola), iPhone with its 2% of the market is insignificant. Also, given that Android will run on Netbooks and household devices, Android developers will have a much larger market.
I’m ditching mine this week as well. Sorry but this is getting out of hand. All those iPhones we bought our developers… yeah we will be asking for those back and giving them something else in its place as well… and they aren’t upset about it either.
He should just get a Bold.
that was pretty funny!
John YOU are funny.
Hey at least i’m using the best of both worlds. But one stays in the toilet and another with me on the road, at play or in office.
I have a Bold. Guess which device i am using while taking a dump?
I’m not sure why anyone is surprised by Apple’s attitudes toward the app store and their enigmatic behavior – it’s Apple! I mean, I love their products (and my iPhone as pissed as I am) but the company has always had hubris issues and this sort of behavior is in complete keeping with that attitude. The problem really centers on the fact that they are the gatekeepers of the App store – they never should have set themselves up as that, both so they can’t be liable but also so they could keep being the dicks they’ve always been without much repercussions.
Of course, rolling around in all that money probably didn’t phase them much. But they really need to cease these ridiculous one-carrier contracts and then let the app store become the wild west and make the networks just DEAL with it (because they won’t have much choice!)
As someone who has worked for Apple I can verify the hubris that you speak of. There are so many super cool and talented people there but they really live in a bubble and many are completely out of touch with the rest of the technology world. Apple still doesn’t really “get” the internet after all these years. They still make great hardware and OS though.
>Apple still doesn’t really “get” the internet after all these years.
what do you mean?
I think he means that everything should be free… Unfortunately, Chris shows he doesn’t “get” business.
Here’s an idea. Bring your talent to the Android Market! Everyone’s welcome
Exactly! Go develop for inferior devices and less desirable consumers. That’ll do it!
As someone who is looking forward to buy his first iPhone next week, this (and many other) post makes me want to reconsider my decision. Although I’m not a mac fanboy, I still love the products they make, and the iPhone is no exception. Hopefully Apple will stop screwing itself and its customers.
I thinking about ditching mine as well. I have bought the first 2 iphones and have 2 macs currently but this is just crazy. I waiting to see what the new line of android phones have going on for them, and I just might make the switch
I never purchased one, mainly due to the lack of multitasking and physical keyboard (I do not handle touch well). After borrowing one from a co-worker, I was pretty amazed at it’s power and polish. However, reading these articles (and they do pop up extremely often) turned me off.
Regardless of how much I enjoyed the device, I just can’t see the allure of a walled garden when there are some very strong competitors out there – the Pre for one, and HTC’s offerings (albeit very pricey) as another.
“I never purchased one, mainly due to the lack of multitasking…”
Nice of you to update your excuse:
“I never purchased one, mainly due to the lack of phone-based applications…”
“I never purchased one, mainly due to the lack of copy-and-paste…”
go with android and palm pre people! Be free!! And it has background apps.
Google Voice was a major black eye, but it is still the best smartphone IMO.
We’ll see what happens with Android this fall, and there’s no question that LG+WinMo7 will be bringing some heat in 2010
It is the best… but in the words of Too $hort: “If I let em push me then they’ll push me again…”
I personally love it running unlocked on T-Mobile… Google Voice is free through Cydia, so AT&T’s visual voicemail is a moot point… but I can feel the frustration, and understand it. Hey, whatever toots your whistle….
The best smartphone?
I’ll take a Blackberry over an Iphone any day.
8100 and up.
With the BB web browser? No thank you!
(and the third party browsers are only a little less buggy and lose out when it comes to integration with the rest of the device)
I’m very surprised that some many “tech-heads” are using the iPhone to begin with. It might have good hardware, but it’s operating system is severely crippled.
Incompetence and business decisions aside, the iPhone still has–hands down–the best hardware and software out there. The Pre is close, and Android is not quite there yet.
hardly that clear..
Frankly, you cannot develop games for the Pre or Android. If that does not make the choice clear, I don’t know what does.
Trust me, I wish there were an alternative.
have you actually used one?
This may seem a simple solution but why don’t you all just jailbreak the iphone?
I have and I still get all the great iphone features plus those apps that have been rejected well some seem to end up in the cydia application and that company now has there own app store…
Could Google Buy cydia???
Yes they can, but i doubt Google would. I mean it would cause so much problem with Apple and Google relationship. Plus Google would have to “patch” and “monitor” Cydia
As a company we have had our 3 iPhone apps stuck in the approval process for over 3 months and always get the standard reply from Apple.
No movement and no communication. This is probably one of the worse customer / developer supports out there.
Funny, I just called AT&T yesterday and weaseled my way out of my contract so that I can sell my iPhone and pick up an Android device. Which is completely OPEN. Hell, you can even you porn apps if you wanted. Big brother is not watching.
I did look into unlocking my phone and using it on another network. But, due to the different types of networks and how the device is made, the phone can only operate on a GSM network. That only leaves T-Mobile and AT&T. So, even if they do get out of bed with AT&T or you unlock, don’t expect your existing devices to work on anything other than T-Mobile. Even then, 3G is out of the question. An unlocked iPhone will not function with T-Mobiles 3G. So if you go that route, you will be downgrading your service.
How’d you weasle out of your contract??? Cuz I got about a year left and want out of mine
How were you able to weasel out of your contract? Please share.
Don’t know for US but in Europe you can usually say that you are moving to an area where their service is not available (aka another country). In some case, a plane ticket and a letter suffice…
You know what to do next time you flight to Canada or Mexico
Ordered up myself the MyTouch from T-Mobile. Had T-Mo service for 10 years, love it. Like idea of open OS Android.
I don’t think these geek defections mean much, unfortunately. I agree that apple is stifling a lot of interesting development, but as long as they control mindshare and much of the consumer smartphone market, they’ll remain a prime target for developers.
+1. Its just pissing in the wind.
We’ve been trying to get an app approved for the past 3 months. It has been 2 weeks since we submitted the new build with ONLY the rating changed because the review team deemed our initial rating too low. That’’s the only thing they had to check. Forget approving it, there hasn’t been any activity on our app (according to our mobile analytic service). I really do have a feeling that Apple’s customer and developer service will lead to its downfall.
I can’t wait for the 2nd and 3rd gen Android phones. Apple can’t be the only company in the world that makes innovative well design phones! I mean, come on! HTC… I’m looking to you!
As for these boycotts and frustrations, they don’t mean much. It’s only news among the tech elites. 99% of iPhone users probably don’t even know–let alone care–about Google Voice or Latitude.
Jail broke my iPhone after the GVoice debacle. Now I have multitasking, GV Mobile for my Google Voice account management, and tethering whenever I want it. While Apple is trying hard to lobby against legal jailbreaking, they are simultaneously pushing their users into it.
If Apple wants to maintain its iron grip on the App Store, they need to realize more and more people are going to jailbreak…
at first our app got rejected and the second time ..same app accepted!!
nice site!
Apple is doing a great job keep the crap out of the appstore, frankly they should reject even more junk apps since there is still plenty of crap getting thru.
Now I don’t agree with rejecting the google voice app because its “competitive”, but can’t blame them for keep the other junk tou.
Good post. Glad that some hardcore apple supports are standing up to Apple and speak out against some apple’s very strict policies. Good for you. Keep it up.
While I can’t comment on the AT&T problems (I’m an Aussie with Virgin Mobile and I love ‘em) I must say that developers whining about app rejections really should just suck it up and get on with it. I’ve published 4 apps now (Penalized, Big Spender, iTelepathy, and Astrominer) with a 5th on the way, all submitted to the US App Store. I have received quite a few rejections for things that I wouldn’t consider major, plus rejection in one app for something that was accepted in another. The fact of the matter is that Apple obviously have a number of people reviewing the apps, and some of them miss stuff that others find when a new version is submitted. No big deal. I’ve always received a clear indication of what failed it, then fixed it and resubmitted.
So you’re argument is basically “it didn’t happen to me yet, so I don’t care.”
Really? Even though it happened to Google *without* a clear indication of what failed it? That just seems like poor judgment.
android will win
Sigh.
Small improvements are made here and there.
The big picture is still the same, or getting worse.
At the rate apps been popping up every month, I highly doubt things will get noticeably better.
Same goes for the Network issue. It CAN NOT be solved.
Unless the rules been changed. The rules about App Store, the rules about been carrier exclusive.
This was always on the cards.. just that its been highlighted now
On Buzz Out Loud ep. 1029, Molly Wood said she’s doing the same thing as Om Malik. Dropping the iPhone and going back to the blackberry.
The question of whether it’s AT&T or Apple driving Google’s Voice App will be resolved soon enough – provided Apple declines to extend AT&T’s exclusivity.
As but one infrastructure provider, AT&T won’t be able to call the shots, and it’s likely any AT&T “veto” will be overturned swiftly if there’s enough of a demand for the application on the itunes store (and let’s face it, it’s a near certain bet there would be tons of demand). If on the other hand the app remains in limbo, then Apple was likely behind the move, since it would have nothing to lose at that point by blocking off Google.
Either way, if Verizon or other carriers step in to offer non0jailbreak service, all will be revealed.
A developer whose never made an iPhone app quits the iPhone.
Wow. Now that’s news.
In other news, Samatha Johnson announced that she’s quiting the USA Olympic Gymnastics team. Though she’s never actually been on the team (or a gymnast), Samatha nonetheless feels that their discriminatory attitudes…
Well yes you have a point. However I think there is lots of damage being done to the luster of the iPhone as a platform. Crappy relations with developers, apps rejected, thousands of almost useless apps (that are really website content), not tons of money to be made, etc etc.
If negative things continue and the competition keeps improving at a faster rate than the iPhone, it’s a whole new ballgame in the mobile world.
Not really. Joe six pack doesn’t care at all. We have a very, very small minority trying to stir up discontent here. Its all politics. How does it feel to be Google’s pawn?
Google’s pawn? You’ve got to be kidding. Do you have any idea what Google Voice does? It will kill AT&T’s profits. Apple removing the app and/or not allowing other GV apps is collusion at best.
poor analogy
poor analogy
*yawn*. So one quits, maybe forty more join (who knows). Probably happens every day on every platform for every carrier. Is there a trend? Maybe, but I think you’re hyping it up due to your own biases.
I think people need to calm down a bit. Yes, the approval process is horrible and needs much more transparency. AT&T has restrictions and we are going to lose some good apps in the process.
But, are you out of your mind?
This is still the most profitable platform to develop for. This is the still the best platform to use.
And you know what? Apple doesn’t care about losing some developers while they iron out the process. They still have 15,000 that are active and 100,000+ registered.
Give it time. AT&T will lose exclusivity, Apple will start loosening the reins (haven’t we already started seeing this happen?), and the approval process will stop being insane. Not to mention the App Store overhaul.
I applaud the effort, but few are going to follow in this boycott.
Apple is destroying the developer ecosystem, and I experienced this personally. It’s easy to be calm when you haven’t spent six months without pay and are waiting for Apple to approve or even acknowledge the existence of your applications.
When Android becomes mature, I will be moving. I guarantee you this much.
once i was in love with a girl. I thought she was the most beautiful girl on earth even thought many friends didn’t think she was. after a year or so i found out that she just was a girl.
I am starting to have same feeling for my iphone 3gs. This time I need to really thank APPLE and AT&T
I found a solution to people who are fed up with the iphone on AT&T. I call it the iPhone 3GA (the a is for awesome). It has most of the benefits of the iphone without any of the crappiness of AT&T. I would encourage more people to try it out.
http://www.benj...ave-iphone-3ga/
I think the Iphone is becoming too big and its market has shifted, let’s face it the majority of Iphone owners has never heard about Google Voice or G-Push.
Most people like the Iphone for the wow factor and to play disposable games on it.
Apple knows this and now it will not make any efforts to please the tech scene and risk making the device “complicated” .
This just shows what used to be an original innovative product reaching a “mainstream” market.
And as you know, Apple in its elitism culture think that everybody is ….DUMB …
It is high time that the US FTC start looking into the iTunes app store and Apple’s and AT&T’s behaviour. Their rejection of apps for seemingly arbitrary (but likely preferential) reasons is hugely anti-competitive. I paid good money for my phone and I have a right to choose which applications I would like to run on it.
I’m workin my app, Line2, though approval now. We first submitted it June5. Still waiting.
Line2 is an iphone app like GV Mobile, but instead of hooking into Google Voice, it hooks into a hosted PBX platform so a small company can set up multiple lines all connected into a centralized billing and management system with an auto-attendent, call screening, etc – all accessable via the web.
It basically creates an iPhone office phone system. Each employee’s iPhone has two numbers – their new Line2 number for business calls, their existing number for personal calls, Each has separate contacts, call history, and voicemail. The boss can track and pay for calls on the Line2 business line, the employee covers her calls on her personal line. Inbound business callers get the professional greetings, call routing, etc they expect, but with no need to buy a phone system.
If this product gets sucked into the Google Voice decision vortex, they’ll be killing a cool new product catagory – office phone systems based on the iPhone.
Peter sounds like a great idea! I like it. Good, luck. Sounds like a pretty expensive app to run and maintain – I hope you didn’t invest too much cash into it and find out your don’t meet Apple’s day to day rules for app approval. That is Apples big problem.
I think that Apple needs to create a clear vision to its developers, along side a complete set of standard iPhone Application development rules and regulations. Apple needs to disclose its app review policy/process to public.
This way, iPhone developers / investors, etc wont dump time and money into an application that is going to be rejected. I would be very upset to find that all of my hard work and money was wasted because Apple did not clearly state its review process / requirements.
I’d like to say that it sounds like Apple’s behavior when they are not going to approve an app! What app? It will be declined I bet.
My primary purpose in having a cell phone is to make phone calls. Beyond that, I need a contact manager, synchronization with the computer, SMS, and MMS. Other apps need not apply.
AT&T is inferior to many other carriers and for that reason alone, I’ve never even considered owning an iPhone. It would be like having a battleship in a pond. Great ship, terrible sailing in it.
But I think even if it wasn’t on AT&T, the way Apple (much like Microsoft) treats its customers by locking them in and limiting them to what APPLE considers to be good is inherently disrespectful. In short, I don’t like the way Apple views its users and I don’t like the way Apple users are portrayed.
So the iPhone will never be a possession of mine. From the sound of it, many other iPhone users are thinking the same thing.
“My primary purpose in having a cell phone is to make phone calls. Beyond that, I need a contact manager, synchronization with the computer, SMS, and MMS. Other apps need not apply.”
If everyone had that kind of short-sighted thinking we’d be missing out on things like the Internet. I don’t need to view information at home when I can go to a library… I don’t need to email when I send letters…
great post..thnx buddy
What are our options? Really?
People complain about walled gardens and arbitrary decisions by a company. Isn’t that par for the current smartphone industry? Is the Blackberry completely open? What about Pre or the HTC phones?
The only really open alternatives are niche phones that have a tiny user base and will never get the amount of developer following that the iPhone has.
Here’s an idea, why doesn’t TechCrunch use a little of their political capital to buttonhole an Apple App Store rep instead of posting photographs of their writers copping a feel on Randi Zuckerberg?
Just an idea, y’know, but it might make a good blog post. That is, unless you’d like the controversy to continue and keep playing piggy-in-the-middle.
YES – Apple are giving hard time for developers but in the end of the day they have the best Platform with great costumer base.But all the iPhone Developers can build Apps for Android and then grow they exposure for new audience.
I would really like to know Apple’s strategy in this matter. One would think that after a certain period of time and x million pieces sold, it is safe to say that the phone is a success and its sales will only grow further when they offer it unlocked…
Too simple thought? Probably, as I have the feeling that Apple wants to remain “the exclusive” brand and not become a next Nokia…