'Launch Center Pro' Developer Must Remove 'Undocumented APIs' to Apple Apps

[MacRumors]

Developer David Barnard tweeted today that Apple is requiring that he remove direct links from his app Launch Center Pro because the app uses "undocumented APIs" to launch built-in Apple apps.

According to Barnard's tweets:

Apple called to let me know that we are using "undocumented APIs" in @launchcenterpro and that we need to remove certain Apple app URLs. [1]

The URLs will still work, but we have to remove Calendar, FaceTime, FaceTime Audio, GameCenter, Music, Passbook, Videos, Reminders, and iTMS. [2]

To be clear, these URLs will work just fine unless Apple actually removes them from their respective apps. [3]

All of those URLs have one thing in common, they are apps that ship with iOS. Apple apps in the App Store seem to still be fair game. [4]

And to be fair, those URLs *are* technically undocumented. I'm not even sure how they were discovered by people who shared them with us. [5]

Launch Center Pro is a speed dial-esque alternative launcher that uses hidden URLs to quickly open apps. Because the URLs to Apple's built-in apps are undocumented (with the exception of FaceTime), app developers are forbidden from using them on the App Store.

Launch Center Pro received a significant update to version 2.0 last week. It's available for $4.99 on the App Store. [Direct Link]

Article Link: 'Launch Center Pro' Developer Must Remove 'Undocumented APIs' to Apple Apps

 

[Jessica Lares]

It took them over a year to notice this?

Well, downloaded the last version for now.

 

[Quercus Alba]

But you can just add the URLs back in manually once the app has been updated to remove them, yeah?

Rules are rules, but this is just being finicky!

 

[6836838]

I wish Apple would just allow custom apps to be selected in the Control Centre. Perhaps in iOS7.1 (or 8)?

I'm still waiting for weekend settings to DND settings, so I won't hold my breath...

 

[GadgetDon]

It's the same reasoning it's always been for Undocumented APIs. Say for iOS 7.1 they change the URLs for some reason. Suddenly, on installing an update, the App no longer works. Unhappy customers, who installed an iOS update and it broke things, "Lousy QA"

In this case, it's perhaps unlikely to change, and maybe they should document it. But until they chose to do so, undocumented APIs remain undocumented and thus subject to change and app developers can't use them.

 

[Chatter]

I wish Apple would just allow custom apps to be selected in the Control Centre. Perhaps in iOS7.1 (or 8)?

I'm still waiting for weekend settings to DND settings, so I won't hold my breath...

Aah I miss the weekend settings from my BB and Android. But there are DND settings. Not robust at all but curious - what would make them better for you? Maybe I dont know I am missing something!

 

[6836838]

Aah I miss the weekend settings from my BB and Android. But there are DND settings. Not robust at all but curious - what would make them better for you? Maybe I dont know I am missing something!

Well of course there are DND settings, but it only allows the setting of a global DND time window.

 

[Telp]

Aah I miss the weekend settings from my BB and Android. But there are DND settings. Not robust at all but curious - what would make them better for you? Maybe I dont know I am missing something!

What would make them better is for their to be some variability in them. For instance, if you work 5 days a week and you want DND enabled at 10pm on those days, but then on the weekends you don't want DND to be enabled at all, or at a later date, there is no viable way to do that except to manually turn on and off DND.

 

[petsounds]

And yet it's still listed on the App Store under the Best New App list on the main page. (why app updates are listed under a "new" apps section is another question) It should be removed from the store until the developer can pull this stuff. Developers should not be rewarded for using private APIs.

It's curious though because Apple is widely believed to have and use an app scanner to check for private API usage. Either this is false, it's out-of-date, they stopped using it, or this developer went to great lengths to hide this usage.

 

[ValSalva]

It's the same reasoning it's always been for Undocumented APIs. Say for iOS 7.1 they change the URLs for some reason. Suddenly, on installing an update, the App no longer works. Unhappy customers, who installed an iOS update and it broke things, "Lousy QA"

In this case, it's perhaps unlikely to change, and maybe they should document it. But until they chose to do so, undocumented APIs remain undocumented and thus subject to change and app developers can't use them.

As a developer wouldn't the designer of Launch Center Pro either be privy to changes in URL schemes? (I guess not, if they are undocumented) At the very least he could put out a fix quickly?

But as you say, Apple should document these API's. They make iOS better.

 

[blackcrayon]

As a developer wouldn't the designer of Launch Center Pro either be privy to changes in URL schemes? (I guess not, if they are undocumented) At the very least he could put out a fix quickly?

But as you say, Apple should document these API's. They make iOS better.

He'd have access to the betas as well to get the fixes out before release.

 

[jonAppleSeed]

Kind of reminds me of Microsoft in the 90's

From Wiki:
Starting in the 1990s, Microsoft was accused of maintaining "hidden" or "secret" APIs: interfaces to its operating system software that it deliberately keeps undocumented to gain a competitive advantage in its application software products.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Criticism_of_Microsoft

 

[drbarnard]

And yet it's still listed on the App Store under the Best New App list on the main page. (why app updates are listed under a "new" apps section is another question) It should be removed from the store until the developer can pull this stuff. Developers should not be rewarded for using private APIs.

It's curious though because Apple is widely believed to have and use an app scanner to check for private API usage. Either this is false, it's out-of-date, they stopped using it, or this developer went to great lengths to hide this usage.

For the record, we didn’t try in any way to hide our use of those URLs from Apple. They have been clearly documented in the app for over a year. Also, the API used to open a URL is clearly public, we use it to open every other 3rd party URL used in Launch Center Pro. The only thing that was not publicly documented was the specific URLs used to launch certain Apple apps. People sent them to us over the years and we included them the Action Composer to make adding them more convenient. Items in the Action Composer can be added and removed remotely and we plan to remove these URLs today per Apple's request.

david
Contrast

 

[petsounds]

For the record, we didn’t try in any way to hide our use of those URLs from Apple. They have been clearly documented in the app for over a year. Also, the API used to open a URL is clearly public, we use it to open every other 3rd party URL used in Launch Center Pro. The only thing that was not publicly documented was the specific URLs used to launch certain Apple apps. People sent them to us over the years and we included them the Action Composer to make adding them more convenient. Items in the Action Composer can be added and removed remotely and we plan to remove these URLs today per Apple's request.

david
Contrast

Fair enough, and in your defense I'm not sure how Apple can consider URLs, documented or not, as an "API". But it's their playground, and you were playing with fire. But I'm sure you already knew that.

 

[djtech42]

I'm surprised that Apple didn't pull the app from the App Store. It's sole purpose is to use a loophole to "customize" the OS. I'm not saying there's anything wrong with it, but I thought Apple would remove it.

 

[jlang]

So would anyone be willing to post the URLs to the actions here?

 

[somethingelsefl]

If Apple could buy "Chomp" for it's functionality and then incorporate it, then they definitely should consider buying the development of this app.

 

[ArtOfWarfare]

With this logic, Apple should remove every app that has a Review link. AFAIK, there's no documented URL for taking users directly to the review composer for an app in the App Store, yet many apps include them and Apple never rejects them on that basis.