Another App Rejected for “Duplicating Functionality”

by Eric March on September 21, 2008 at 4:20 pm

While we’re on the topic of app rejections, it seems that one Angelo DiNardi is finding out for himself what it’s like first-hand.

His app, MailWrangler, was designed to make logging in to Gmail (both standard and the Google Apps version) using multiple accounts easy while still retaining access to threaded views, your calendar, contact list, and the rest of it — something the built-in mail app can’t do.

All of this was accomplished by embedding Webkit into his app and simply allowing users to access the web-based version of Gmail — in other words, the main functionality of MailWrangler isn’t native, it simply acts as an embedded web portal.

None of that seems to matter to Apple, though, who rejected it on the grounds that it duplicated the functionality of the mail app, despite the fact that the mail app handles only a fraction of the features accessible through Gmail’s web portal.

No word yet on whether Angelo will go ad-hoc rogue with this app, but I am beginning to see the start of what could end up being a bit of a revolt for rejected developers who have similar tales of woe to share. Apple’s rather arbitrary vetting process is flawed at best, and developers who have put a considerable amount of blood, sweat and tears onto the development of their apps only to have them unceremoniously rejected with lame excuses are understandably upset about it. Stories like this are almost certainly going to make future developers consider their planned applications twice before they go forth and multiply.

Duplicating functionality is an idiotic reason to reject an app. If Apple’s own apps were good enough or served all required purposes in the first place there wouldn’t be a need for third party apps to replace them. Furthermore, stifling innovation by shutting down competition that does it better than you is low and shows Apple’s own insecurity towards their products. Apple really needs to stop playing at being their own virtual socialist republic and let competitive apps through. If an app comes along that does something better than they do, they should stifle it the old fashioned capitalistic way: Do it even better. Down the competitive rejection path lies only stagnation, bitterness and controversy that Apple could do without.

(via Slashdot)

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