[Big Mac]

I thought it would make sense to create a thread discussing app store rejections - what apps are getting rejected, why they may be getting rejected, and what users or developers may think about the rejections.

[Dakar V]

I think this might take the cake.
Apple's new low: censoring a dictionary

[Big Mac]

That's quite absurd. I always dreamed of working at Apple as a kid, and while I would still love to work there now if I lived near Cupertino, I'm a bit disturbed that people who get to live my dream are so incompetent they're making retarded decisions like these.

[Chuckit]

The weirdest part, which that article doesn't quite make clear, is that the app was still rejected even after the words were censored and they made the developer resubmit it with the age rating set to 17+ — even without all the naughty words.

[Big Mac]

WTF. Who's in charge there? Is the iPhone division being supervised by Dilbert's Pointy Haired Boss? This makes Apple look really bad, one of the top tech companies in the world making ridiculously amateur, high-profile mistakes.

[Dakar V]

Originally Posted by Chuckit 

The weirdest part, which that article doesn't quite make clear, is that the app was still rejected even after the words were censored and they made the developer resubmit it with the age rating set to 17+ — even without all the naughty words.

...and it also says there already dictionary apps approved with said words.



What I infer from all these odd app rejections is that the Apple reviewers seem to be able to (or are prone to) inject their personal views on what is or isn't app store worthy (which would explain some of the odd inconsistencies). That makes me think Apple hasn't done a very good job of defining to its own employees what its review concerns are. At the very least, their reviewers lack common sense.

Then again, wasn't there an app at WWDC that they flat-out refused to clarify why it had been rejected to the developer personally and in private?

Its all unsettling, given the power they have.

[ghporter]

Originally Posted by Big Mac 

WTF. Who's in charge there? Is the iPhone division being supervised by Dilbert's Pointy Haired Boss? This makes Apple look really bad, one of the top tech companies in the world making ridiculously amateur, high-profile mistakes.

I think this is the crucial point. With ADULTS who KNOW HOW TO THINK, this dictionary problem would have been a non-issue, especially with the way they massaged the word suggestion stuff. To me, it looks like Apple has a "set of rules" and a bunch of individuals reviewing apps that either think the rules are "handed down from on high" or that they'll get in trouble if they let something through that any sane person would see was NOT a problem, rules or not.

[Chuckit]

Originally Posted by Dakar V 

...and it also says there already dictionary apps approved with said words.



What I infer from all these odd app rejections is that the Apple reviewers seem to be able to (or are prone to) inject their personal views on what is or isn't app store worthy (which would explain some of the odd inconsistencies). That makes me think Apple hasn't done a very good job of defining to its own employees what its review concerns are. At the very least, their reviewers lack common sense.

Then again, wasn't there an app at WWDC that they flat-out refused to clarify why it had been rejected to the developer personally and in private?

Its all unsettling, given the power they have.

They do that all the time. The App Store is notorious for having essentially no appeal process. Whatever info they gave you in their first communication, that's often pretty much what you're getting. One of the Google Voice app companies that got expelled from the store spent a week or two trying to talk to Apple to find out exactly what happened. Finally they got someone to call them, and that guy wasn't allowed to give them any information or help whatsoever — or even refer them to someone else they could talk to, like a manager. He could just tell them that the app was rejected at Apple's discretion.

[Big Mac]

Retarded. Sometimes it's hard to believe Apple is as successful as it is given how much it screws up.

[Dakar V]

I think its a natural side-effect of how much it's grown in the past 10 years.