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Apple Apologizes to Developer After Indigenous Language App Wrongly Removed From App Store

I’m glad Apple reversed course and reinstated his account and app. As well as a public apology, that’s pretty stand up action. Good on them.

That being said, I hope they really drill down and implement some new strategies for screening the apps. All these rumor sites latching onto these mistakes/flaws in the App Store is definitely weakening their argument about having a walled garden. Don’t get me wrong, it’s definitely miles ahead of its counterparts (Google play, Samsung store, etc) but I just don’t want to see the snowball get any bigger.
 
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On and off over the last decade I've attended a major font conference in the US—in 2011 we had two representatives of the Cherokee Nation give a presentation about how great an impact the inclusion of the Cherokee keyboard on iOS made to support uptake of the language among Cherokee youth.

These things matter. And I'd imagine an app like this matters a great deal to the Tsimshian peoples of the North Coast of BC.

I hope they made that apology to the developer, Brendan Eshom, directly rather than through a statement from a PR rep. Global is one of our largest national news orgs in Canada, the interviews with the dev, Brendan, were enlightening and Apple's response was likely via email.
 
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This story focuses too much on the app, which is irrelevant other than saying it was not fraud, and not enough on why Apple targeted it. It doesn’t matter if it was a language app, and app to help people learn about dishwashers, or whatever. What did the app or the developer do which Apple flagged? That’s the part that’s completely missing from the story.
 
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MacRumors said:
Apple has apologized to the developer of an app meant to promote the Indigenous language Sm'algyax after he was falsely accused of dishonest and fraudulent acts, and as a result, had the app removed from the App Store.
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He should have developed a clone of FlickType app that did nothing with an $8/week subscription fee. With Apple getting a 30 percent cut, they would have looked the other way. ;)
 
sc0rch3d said:
While probably an honest mistake, it goes to show you that your entire business could go up in flames b/c some "app store" randomly decided to remove your business from it.
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Has nothing to do with "honest mistake". It has everything to do with "all Apple decisions are final", unless the media sees a problem. There needs to be more balance directly from Apple to App Store decisions.
 
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They need to stop this ‘automatic removal’ of apps, unless they pose a proven, demonstrable risk to users.
It’s entirely arbitrary and inconsistent and the fact that they often get it badly wrong then ignore the developer afterwards is extremely problematic.

If they have a compliance issue with an app they should at least attempt to *contact* the developer and sort it out with them before considering removing it or terminating their account of all things. It’s a perfectly reasonable expectation for developers to expect communication from Apple as they are *paying* for the privilege of putting their apps on the App Store.
Communication with developers doesn’t seem to be Apple’s strong point though really.
 
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Slarti.BartFast said:
Further evidence that Apple need to increase the 30% to maybe 45% so they can employ more people to better run the app store....
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Yes, because clearly charging merely 30% is leaving Apple so strapped for cash that they just can't afford to dedicate any more resources to the App Store. It's not like the App Store is already a massive profit center or anything!
 
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Aeronauts said:
I think you misread the article. Apple are NOT taking down scam apps even when notified about them.
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“ Apple states that apps that attempt to trick users or engage in "scam practices" will be removed from the App Store, however many still remain.”

I read it fine. They are attempting to remove scam apps. They don’t catch all and they will make mistakes, but they have a team looking into it.
 
Polaroid said:
And they apologized and gave him access back...? Why is everyone always after free stuff.
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If you accuse somebody of fraud and aren't able to prove that, it may end a lot more expensive for you than what a Macbook Pro would cost. Removing an App and terminating the account isn't just a small mistake, it's potentially destroying a company/career. Also they only apologizes because the press got wind of the story.
 
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sirdir said:
If you accuse somebody of fraud and aren't able to prove that, it may end a lot more expensive for you than what a Macbook Pro would cost. Removing an App and terminating the account isn't just a small mistake, it's potentially destroying a company/career. Also they only apologizes because the press got wind of the story.
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They had the app on other platforms so i’m sure they did ok.
 
MacRumors said:


Apple has apologized to the developer of an app meant to promote the Indigenous language Sm'algyax after he was falsely accused of dishonest and fraudulent acts, and as a result, had the app removed from the App Store.

appstore.jpg

Brendan Eshom, a member of the Ts'msyen First Nation community, developed and published "Sm'algyax Word" on both Google Play and the App Store this past July. The app serves as a dictionary for phrases and words from Sm'algyaxm archived from FirstVoices.com, and at its core is meant to preserve the language for generations to come.

However, the app was unexpectedly removed from the App Store when it acquired around 600 downloads, pushing it to the top charts in the Education category. Eshom says that he received an automated email from Apple informing him that his developer account would be terminated due to "dishonest and fraudulent" acts that go against Apple's terms and conditions.

Eshom told Global News that it's "definitely concerning when Apple is accusing you of committing fraud" and said that he attempted to reach out to Apple for an explanation for his termination, but his attempts were unsuccessful. The freshmen college student ultimately decided to contact Consumer Matter, a segment from Global News in which companies and corporations are pressed for answers, to try and get Apple to respond to the situation.

Apple responded in a statement to Consumer Matters, explaining that the termination of Eshom's developer account was a mistake and that his app about the Sm'algyax language showcased "how technology can be used to bridge cultural understanding." Apple goes on to apologize to Eshom and promises to improve its processes to ensure it does not happen again.
Just this week new questions started to circulate following the revelation that scam apps on the App Store continue to enjoy millions in revenue. Apple states that apps that attempt to trick users or engage in "scam practices" will be removed from the App Store, however many still remain.

The contrast between Eshom's case, where a completely innocent app was removed from the App Store, and the case of scam apps roaming rogue on the platform highlights recent concerns that Apple's losing grip with implementing and maintaining an effective moderation policy.

Article Link: Apple Apologizes to Developer After Indigenous Language App Wrongly Removed From App Store
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To the editor:

For the sake of clarity. Please change the spelling of Ts’mysan to Tsimshian (Ts’mysan) and then use Tsimshian through the rest of the article.

The spelling Ts’mysan (while valid) is not commonly referenced, where as most literature (online) uses Tsimshian with a reference to the indigenous spelling in parenthesis.
 
Polaroid said:
And that entitles him to a free Mac? Yeah right, his app is back and they apologized. Time to MOVE on.
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Actually, that BS should entitle him to the first Apple Car, which is why these racists should hope that he is satisfied with a free Mac.
 
So I'm still not sure what even happened? Did they think he was committing download fraud because his app got a lot of downloads in a short amount of time? Did they remove it because it was a cultural app and they thought he was "appropriating" the culture or something?

If it's the first one, that's scary as a developer trying to make popular apps. Like if my app is too popular you're just gonna assume all those downloads must be fake and fraudulent?

And if it's the second one, that's even more ridiculous, so I'm just gonna hope it's not.
 
A simple apology is all that is necessary, provided that apology is spoken by Tim Cook in Sm'algyaxm.
 
farewelwilliams said:
“ Apple states that apps that attempt to trick users or engage in "scam practices" will be removed from the App Store, however many still remain.”

I read it fine. They are attempting to remove scam apps. They don’t catch all and they will make mistakes, but they have a team looking into it.
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They are claiming to remove scam apps. That's not quite the same thing.
 
nsayer said:
They are claiming to remove scam apps. That's not quite the same thing.
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If they claim to remove scam apps, then that suggests to me they have a team that deals with scam apps. Therefore, my earlier assertion of a "team looking at scams on the App Store" remains valid. Please point me to something in the article where it conclusively says that they do not have a "team looking at scams on the App Store".
 
WoodpeckerBaby said:
I think this is an honest mistake.
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It was very likely an honest mistake.

However, how it was dealt with after the mistake is unacceptable. The fact that Apple ignored his many attempts to prove that his app was not fraudulent, and that it took him going public for them to give him a second look? Not okay.

Mistakes are unavoidable. Not having a proper system to review them is bad management.
 
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