Sidebar Sidebar
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.

Apple Disallows Previously Approved Calculator Widgets for iOS 8 Notification Center

Cougarcat said:
Ridiculous. Reminds me of the early days of the App Store when they rejected apps from "duplicating existing functionality."

I don't understand why Apple does this. It just makes users mad and their features less useful.
Click to expand...

They were once run by one of the biggest control freaks known to man, and that spirit lives on. They simply refuse to let users run the mobile devices that they bought the way they want. It all has to fall under Apple's vision of how they should operate.
 
have not found any useful widget yet... still not using any.

and it seems like apple likes to remove the ones that might actually be useful.
 

Attachments

  • IMG_3380.PNG
    IMG_3380.PNG
    184 KB · Views: 153
That's pretty weird. I can't see a good reason for this.

I have to wonder: is this Apple's real, final decision? Or just a low-level app reviewer's opinion? In my experience, the first-pass review is pretty superficial and pretty strict. I think Apple must train them to (1) move fast; (2) flag anything that seems remotely questionable. Then the app developer has a chance to explain themselves.

In this case I would almost guess the reviewer was confused over a prohibition on "calculations". A widget should make only very light use of the CPU (and other resources). You could describe anything more as "calculations". Of course a calculator is used to make "calculations" as well, but not at all in the same sense.

I guess time will tell.
 
Remember when there was a weekly scandal about an App Store rejection or policy?

Those were the days!

Most of them turned out to be false alarms when the real facts emerged. Some turned out to be real blunders, or policies that made sense at the time but didn't take into account important things. Some were a necessary downside that went with a real user benefit (security or privacy, typically).

And what did Apple do in nearly every case where they had screwed up (whether a single reviewer or a bad policy)? They made it right.

This is a policy that Apple needs to scrap or at least refine. If history is an indication, they will do so. People love that PCalc widget! And if there are real security issues that led to the rule, hopefully they will be addressed in better ways. Or this is just a "bad call" that quickly gets reversed and forgotten.

In the mean time, does complaining about it help?

Yes :) This helps too: apple.com/feedback
 
Absolutely ridiculouse move by apple?
Why?

I dont get some of this stupid idiosyncrasies by apple.. I just dont!
 
Makes perfect sense to me.

For all of you who think this is ok: Where do you draw the line at which point you cut off apps for just being "apps in the notification center?"

I think Apple will find it far easier to be fair if they just disallow all of them instead of giving exceptions to some things like calculators and...what?...dictionaries? color pickers? Angry Birds lite? Where does it end? What's the line?

I couldn't tell you where a good line would be. Best to just not have one at all.
 
Benguitar said:
laugh out loud. I love how MR is plagued by people that "use Apple products, while they simultaneously hate Apple"
Click to expand...

You know, it's possible to love Apple products, and yet still be critical of asinine decisions Apple makes. :rolleyes:

The fact that this is a calculator really isn't the point––it's the fact that it's limiting the potential for widgets for no good reason.

Small White Car said:
I couldn't tell you where a good line would be.
Click to expand...

How about, if it works as an OS X widget, it should work for an iOS widget, too?
 
Small White Car said:
Makes perfect sense to me.

For all of you who think this is ok: Where do you draw the line at which point you cut off apps for just being "apps in the notification center?"

I think Apple will find it far easier to be fair if they just disallow all of them instead of giving exceptions to some things like calculators and...what?...dictionaries? color pickers? Angry Birds lite? Where does it end? What's the line?

I couldn't tell you where a good line would be. Best to just not have one at all.
Click to expand...
But Apple draws a line with this decision? Widgets are disallowed from performing calculations. No line at all would be allowing everything and letting the market decide which apps are common in the notification center or not. I don't really see what the problem with that would be. So there's a way to play a mini-Tetris in the notification center? OK?
 
Well, it IS a NOTIFICATION center ...

I think it's kind of frustrating that Apple would initially approve something like this and then reverse direction after people are already buying it. (How about grandfathering existing approved apps in, but drawing the line for new apps, moving forward?)

But that said... I don't think a notification center implies an area where interactive applications are supposed to run either. It's just a panel to display some quick information. That's not useless at all. It's just a definition of what it's there for.


Rafterman said:
"Apple's App Extension guidelines do clearly state that Notification Center widgets should have a "simple, streamlined UI," a limited number of interactive items, and specifies that a widget is "not a mini version" of an app"

In other words, they want the Notification Center to be useless - to look pretty but do nothing helpful.
Click to expand...
 
The iOS implementation of widgets is ridiculous and useless for me.

On Android you can pick and choose what you want on each screen, so you have a nice organized phone. Maybe I want my calendar to be right on the main screen along with weather. News on another. Etc. In iOS they just keep stacking and stacking under "today" - how does putting them under "Today" even make sense? If I want 5 widgets, why should they all have to be grouped together on a single screen - sure I can move them up and down, but that's it. So pointless.
 
I believe the issue here is that Apple wants widgets to be as light as possible - so next to no actually work should be done in them, all of the work should be moved into an app hosting a widget.

The stupid part of course is that they allowed this in the first place.
 
nickhutson said:
£10 for a calculator? No thanks. I'll just swipe up.

I am still waiting for them to add the compose Tweet, Facebook etc buttons BACK to the notification centre.
Click to expand...

Swiping up and going to the calculator leaves your existing app. If you need to go back and forth between the calculator and your app, it can get pretty annoying. Having the calculator as a widget means you never leave your app.
 
Cyberius11 said:
The iOS implementation of widgets is ridiculous and useless for me.

On Android you can pick and choose what you want on each screen, so you have a nice organized phone. Maybe I want my calendar to be right on the main screen along with weather. News on another. Etc. In iOS they just keep stacking and stacking under "today" - how does putting them under "Today" even make sense? If I want 5 widgets, why should they all have to be grouped together on a single screen - sure I can move them up and down, but that's it. So pointless.
Click to expand...

It's even more ridiculous in Yosemite. You have this tiny scrolling sidebar on a huge screen, and you can't even get to it easily with a keypress like you can with the Dashboard. I wouldn't mind so much if it weren't painfully obvious that Dashboard's days are numbered.
 
Small White Car said:
Makes perfect sense to me.

For all of you who think this is ok: Where do you draw the line at which point you cut off apps for just being "apps in the notification center?"

I think Apple will find it far easier to be fair if they just disallow all of them instead of giving exceptions to some things like calculators and...what?...dictionaries? color pickers? Angry Birds lite? Where does it end? What's the line?

I couldn't tell you where a good line would be. Best to just not have one at all.
Click to expand...

From what you're saying, they shouldn't allow Widgets at all then. Why shouldn't people be allowed to put a calculator widget, dictionary widget, or *gasp* mini-game in the Notification Center if the tech allows it and the user wants it?

What would be an example of a Widget that they should allow, then? You yourself say that it would be hard to say what the line should be.

I downloaded the lite version of PCalc just now on my iPhone and it currently still has the calculator widget in it. We'll see how it plays out — it sounds like it is one developer for now reporting this, so we don't know if it's a new trend by Apple. If so, maybe if enough people complain or download apps like this where Apple is trying to cripple the Widget function, Apple will get the message.
 
autrefois said:
From what you're saying, they shouldn't allow Widgets at all then. Why shouldn't people be allowed to put a calculator widget, dictionary widget, or *gasp* mini-game in the Notification Center if the tech allows it and the user wants it?

I downloaded the lite version of PCalc just now on my iPhone and it currently still has the calculator widget in it. We'll see how it plays out — it sounds like it is one developer for now reporting this, so we don't know if it's a new trend by Apple. If so, maybe if enough people complain or download apps like this where Apple is trying to cripple the Widget function, Apple will get the message.
Click to expand...

No, allow them on the homescreen, which is the same stupid grid of icons it has been for years.
 
Simplicated said:
Is Apple even thinking from the user's perspective? It's really convenient to perform quick calculations without leaving the app, then double clicking to go back to where you were.

Sometimes Apple just makes asinine decisions. This is one of them.
Click to expand...

Apple wants to make sure you leave the app to do your calculation. That way, Safari can refresh that form for you so you start over when you get back.
 
I imagine this is to prevent any malicious software from running as a widget or exploit something in notification.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Register on MacRumors! This sidebar will go away, and you'll see fewer ads.
Top Bottom
Back