Rejected iPhone ‘Podcaster’ Application Due to Duplication of Desktop Software Causing Stress
by Jody Mitoma on September 18, 2008 at 12:10 am
According to Fortune’s Apple 2.0 blog, there are many iPhone game and application developers getting raged at Apple’s application approval process.
It is known that one developer in particular had designed an application for the iPhone which he sent to Apple for approval named “Podcaster”. The application was designed so that iPhone and iPod Touch users could update your podcast subscriptions directly, using the iPhone’s Wi-Fi receiver. It is already known that there are tons of iPhone owners out there that would actually buy this application, but that does not matter to Apple. One thing is for certain – if Apple takes the idea of this application (or any other application that has been previously rejected), and within a future firmware, decides to design an application similar to the one that has been rejected, there will be trouble.
Once Apple got a hold of the application, they reviewed it, then denied its approval into the App Store.
Why, you ask? Because the application apparently “duplicates the functionality of the Podcast section of iTunes.”
Wait a minute, did Apple just say “iTunes”? So, what’s the big deal here then, Apple? This application was designed for the iPhone and iPod touch… not iTunes. Even if it was duplicating a feature already found on the iPhone, what’s the difference between a podcast application and a calendar / calculator / clock / weather application? Yeah, there are tons of applications that duplicate Apple’s default iPhone applications, but now they decide that duplicating desktop software is not allowed… What gives?
The Apple 2.0 blog has yet to receive an answer from Apple about the entire situation. If a reply is at all given, we’ll be sure to post about it here.
Update: For those of you who are intersted in getting Podcaster for yourselves, it is still available via Ad Hoc distribution, thanks to the developer. Before getting your fingers on the juicy app, you’ll have to first donate $9.99 to the developer to receive the download. To do so, have a look here. It is also noted on the site that the application should work for a minimum of 1 year, but can be dissabled through Apple at any given time. It is not guaranteed that the application will run for any given amount of time, so spend that $9.99 wisely! For a closer look at the application at hand, have a look at the video provided below.
(via Fortune’s Apple 2.0 Blog)
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Posted in App Store, App Store Removal, Apple Corporate, Recognition, iPhone Related, iTunes Related
September 18th, 2008 at 12:38 am
I think the real issue with this one is that in order to be able to work with official podcasts, it would need write access to the music library and playlists for the update feature, and we already know Apple doesn’t want developers doing that. Yeah, it sucks, but them’s the rules, and the developer of Podcaster should have at least anticipated the possibility of something like this happening given that he chose to bend those rules.
June 17th, 2009 at 10:59 am
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