Perfectly worded! Its a shame Apple still feels the need to hinder talented developers.
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Apple Cracks Down on Notification Center Widgets, Says 'Neato' Must Remove Note Taking Feature
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Perfectly worded! Its a shame Apple still feels the need to hinder talented developers.
Neato Team
Hi.
On behalf of Neato Team I'm here. Here to response.
1- Neato is not a key logger. It doesn't collect any data. We suggested to Apple to add our privacy policy, But Apple just want the keyboard be removed.
2- Before iOS8 a lot of app has their custom keyboard. So the Apple's issue is not having a custom keyboard which has violated 3rd party keyboard boundaries.
3- We are ready to simplify widget. But Apple doesn't accept.
4- Calculator widgets are mini version of apps. What is the different? Neato's keys are A,B,C,.. and those calculators' keys are 1,2,3
5- In the update that we have prepared we improved keyboard, but we can not submit it as it has a keyboard in widget!
You can follow us on Twitter: @UseNeato
Or send an empty email to neato at marblzz dot com
To be notified about the last news.
We do our best to find the best solution.
Hi.
On behalf of Neato Team I'm here. Here to response.
1- Neato is not a key logger. It doesn't collect any data. We suggested to Apple to add our privacy policy, But Apple just want the keyboard be removed.
2- Before iOS8 a lot of app has their custom keyboard. So the Apple's issue is not having a custom keyboard which has violated 3rd party keyboard boundaries.
3- We are ready to simplify widget. But Apple doesn't accept.
4- Calculator widgets are mini version of apps. What is the different? Neato's keys are A,B,C,.. and those calculators' keys are 1,2,3
5- In the update that we have prepared we improved keyboard, but we can not submit it as it has a keyboard in widget!
You can follow us on Twitter: @UseNeato
Or send an empty email to neato at marblzz dot com
To be notified about the last news.
We do our best to find the best solution.
NeatoTeam said:
Calculator widgets are smaller versions of their larger parent apps. Neato has ZERO functionality outside of Notification Center. You've literally built an entire app around NC and that's not what it's for. (Plus, it allows someone to input data and send it out to the internet on a locked device. You can't see how that's a problem?)
That aside, you've built your own keyboard which bypasses whatever keyboard the user has chosen to be their system keyboard. That throws in a good bit of user interface inconsistency (ESPECIALLY since there's absolutely no autocorrect), and users can't type as they normally would. Me for example, this is the mess that came out in Neato when attempting to type "this is a test of the emergency broadcast system":
this isa tesr ohewmeenxt foadcsd sysem
Sorry, but your app breaks a lot of interface consistency and guidelines and moves very much against what the NC is even meant to be used for.
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Though I can agree that apps should be looked at to ensure they cause no harm, Apple seems to take issue with apps who innovate too much, this is why Android is gaining ground with young people.
In the new version, Neato app, itself is a simple note taker too ( like default Notes app ).
In the new version keyboard is improved and you can type better.
Send us a email and we will send you the new version for testing
IMO notifications should be notifications, that means that widgets should have a limited scope and not use the mechanism as a generic app launcher. It makes perfect sense to enforce this to make sure that the interface remains clean in terms of functionality.
I am sorry, you typed something wrong and blaming the app for your own fault? The app use default system keyboard, I do not see what is the problem. Speaking of inconsistency,the whole keyboard in iOS is mass. You are randomly throwing back to system keyboard, you are not allowed to use third party keyboard when enter password etc.Apple is biggest offender of being inconsistent. I like this app, it allows me quickly type some notes without unlocking the phone and open note app
So why could an app in the notification centre have a keylogger but no app anywhere else could?
Pretty sure even the developer of the app/widget confirmed that it's not a default system keyboard.
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If Android is gaining ground for younger people or really any group of people it's primarily because of the much wider selection of phones and much cheaper versions of them available (generally with older/worse hardware and software).
And what regular user is going to EVER think that a widget might be a security risk if they leave NC available at the lock screen?
Regular users don't think in any way like tech-savvy users.
Any app can have a key logger, sure. But "any app" is also not available from the lock screen. This one can be.
You don't see the problem because you have no idea what you're talking about. Neato does NOT use the default system keyboard. Also, real-time auto-correct is the exact reason why you can type as fast as you can on an iPhone. I typed the rest of my post on the same phone I used to type the note in Neato, without adjusting my typing style at all. My post was fine, the Neato note was completely unreadable. That's a GIGANTIC interface inconsistency.
The fact that you can't use the system keyboard in Notification Center and that auto-correct isn't available there says that text-based input was never meant to happen there. That's kind of where the story ends.
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Somehow the vast majority of developers already know that this is part of how Apple operates and many more keep on coming and coming because they know they have a great opportunity within Apple's ecosystem.
While I appreciate Apple's effort to keep the garbage out, unlike Android's anything goes approach, Apple gets ridiculous with some of its restrictions. If enough Android apps have more and better features than their iOS counterpart, that can't possibly help Apple.
Apple always had rules in place. Nothing new about it. Android apps always had some options that they can offer that aren't there in iOS. iOS apps still seem to be growing and being quite lucrative. It's the nature of iOS and Apple's ecosystem. That's not to comment on how good or bad (or right or wrong) that might be, but to say that's how it has been from the beginning and that's the reality of that ecosystem that has been there for a long time now (and it actually becoming a bit more open than before, just not completely open or anything like that).
Actually, that's where the story is supposed to start. Nobody questions that these widgets exceed what Apple intended for notifications, but it's also clear that many users are actually interested in these extended features. It's not even surprising, as example the "feature creep" into the lock screen since its inception is pretty evident.
It's pretty clear that "dumb" notifications are not going to be enough. Apple is likely going to need to figure out how to allow these extended features in a secure way.
Security is probably part of it somewhere, but it's also the level of functionality. While widgets and actionable notifications have added some level of functionality beyond the basic level that regular notifications used to provide, it seems that the idea wasn't really to open it up to any and all kinds of functionality there--basically some middle ground at best and likely even somewhat less than that where it's basically some limited functionality so that the Notification Center still stays light and quick and simple (while providing some more usability and functionality at the same time).
" iOS. Because Today widgets don’t allow keyboard entry, users need to be able to use the containing app to configure a widget’s content and behavior. "
From Apple's App Extension Programming Guide - https://developer.apple.com/library....html#//apple_ref/doc/uid/TP40014214-CH11-SW1
Surprised it got through app store review in the first place. Apple are picky, yes, but Today widgets are supposed to be simple extensions to an app. A note taking widget could be quite useful but its just not what Today extensions are about.
Just sayin
From Apple's App Extension Programming Guide - https://developer.apple.com/library....html#//apple_ref/doc/uid/TP40014214-CH11-SW1
Surprised it got through app store review in the first place. Apple are picky, yes, but Today widgets are supposed to be simple extensions to an app. A note taking widget could be quite useful but its just not what Today extensions are about.
Just sayin
It's a damn shame that Apple feels the need to act like fascists when it comes to application design. It should be up the to the USER to decide if they want to modify how message center behaves, etc. But then we all know Apple doesn't want the user to decide anything (gauging the utter sheer lack of GUI customization options in OS X). The more Apple treats its users like children, the more people will flee to Android and in the case of OS X, Windows. A lot of people find Yosemite unacceptable, for example and the consequences to Apple long term with brain dead decisions like this could be potentially catastrophic for their bottom line. Mr. Cook is no Steve Jobs. He's no innovator at all and Johnny Ive has proven himself inept with GUI design. If Apple continues this path, they are on borrowed time, IMO.
Apple has been on this path since the beginning of iOS and just slowly opens up parts here and there a bit. After all these years of doing it like that, and in even more restrictive ways that even now, their "borrowed time" has been only increasing rather than decreasing.
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Clearly that's been happening all along.