Apple Expands Crackdown on App Discovery Apps

[alent1234]

Not like these apps help you find anything either
Only if the developers paid up to get their app promoted

Except for the part where we CHOOSE to find and run these apps. The "empororer without clothes" on the room is that Apples "discovery" section of iTunes is terrible. You can easily find an app if its freshly updated in the last 60 days or so... HEAVILY SKEWED to Apple's editor picks. If an app hasn't been updated, Apple pishes is way down the list, fast, and you get junk instead.

The situation is apple's making... Develop BETTER APP SEARCHING or shut up about those that are doing Apples job for them. But see that's the REAL issue here. APPLE has a zillion places they swear off developers from any kind of "assistance" getting people to see your app one you load it. Apple is going to tell you it's YOUR job to get YOUR app seen... Then they cancel any app placement programs other than APPLE's plastered all over the App Store.

Where are APPLE's rules for making "Editor's Picks"? Is APPLE making those choices fairly without bia$$? Is Apple's storefront any more "honest" than the others? Why or why not?

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Suck the blood from '115 Billion in the bank' Apple? How? If that app points to a paid app, Apple collects its 30% share, don't they? And no one is forcing you do download those useless repeats. Apple doesn't need this kind of defence any more dude, they are among the most wealthy tech companies in the world and are becoming the uber Big Brother. Sadly, I must add.

The app discovery apps skew the App Store popularity rankings

 

[rmwebs]

It's not just app discovery apps. They have really cracked down on ALL app submissions over the last month or so. I've had 3 apps rejected in the last 30 days, all due to 'not using enough of the native UI components'. They were referring to a 'black tab bar' at the botton - any other color, and it was rejected. The same happened with buttons last month. We styled them to match the rest of our app - it got rejected. We changed the buttons back to default (which looked but-ugly) and they approved it.

In one case we were told we had 'too many tableviews'. The app was pulling RSS feeds and listing the results. Go figure.

 

[iGrip]

"Apps that display Apps other than your own for purchase or promotion in a manner similar to or confusing with the App Store will be rejected."

Thank you Apple! Until now, it has been SO confusing! Getting rid of those apps has made everything much clearer.

The entire User Experience was suffering before.


/s

 

[tonyr6]

Apples annoying review process is getting out of hand. To reject your app because of not enough UI components is going to far. It still ticks me off that just about any tweak even simple crap like hiding Newsstand or showing the battery meter (I have a iPod Touch 5) requires a jailbreak which I refuse to do out of reason. Okay Apple iDevices rarely if ever get infected but locking down everything like a iron fist actually drives away people to the competition.

 

[PracticalMac]

Getting harder to want to stay with Apple.

 

[glyster]

web solution

Even if Apple start blocking, just go to a web site like AppShopper.com, Appess.com, etc. for the app deals.

 

[Daalseth]

It surprises me how many of you don't have an Android phone, yet.

Played with Android on a couple of different devices. Didn't like it. Sticking with iOS.

 

[KingOfAllINeed]

This is a great thing. Keep the predators out. This is the main reason that I've consistently chosen Apple over Microsoft.

 

[tevion5]

Don't use iPhone, but on all my Macs it is very slow. I am actually forced to get many apps elsewhere because it is faster than going through the Appstore.

Actually now that you say it, it is also just as stupidly slow on the Mac. i5 processor can play Battlefield 3 at full settings, but browse the App store with major latency? Come on.

 

[Troneas]

This is a great thing. Keep the predators out. This is the main reason that I've consistently chosen Apple over Microsoft.

what predators are you talking about?



have you even used one of these apps?


all they do is offer a clean, user friendly experience to browse apps and notify you when apps you are interested in offer discounts or are on sale. they also feature both professional and user reviews and recommendations of other similar apps to the one you are browsing.


in short, they help you save money and make a better decision before you hit the purchase button.

predators?

 

[MikBe]

Catcher in the Rye

I instantly saw some great conspiracy theories:

Feb-2012 Apple buys app discovery tool Chomp.
Today Apple shuts down 3rd-party app discovery tools.

2012 Apple gets into bed with social media giants Facebook and Twitter.
Today Apple shuts down sharing not controlled by those two.

<ducks>

 

[tonyr6]

The Apple App Store is just plain terrible. It is slow and buggy. I hope in iOS 7 they make it a native app instead of it being this HTML crap it is now.

 

[Futurix]

Guessing Apple has discover some kind of fraud with some of this apps?

The main reason for existence of all such apps is to game App Store rankings (aka fraud). It's is surprising Apple did not do anything about this earlier!

 

[Rogifan]

The main reason for existence of all such apps is to game App Store rankings (aka fraud). It's is surprising Apple did not do anything about this earlier!

But I thought it was to help people find good apps and discount apps? At least that's what we're told here...

 

[macman34]

I echo what almost everyone here said about this being a bs move by apple, all the more so since their app store is rubbish and these apps are helping the end user at the end of the day.

But I 'll go a bit further and say that this is another quite perplexing at best, or downright stupid at worst, decision that makes me want to ask does apple currently have a CEO actually overseeing such choices and using his best judgement?

Cook is turning into another John Sculley, but unlike Sculley's case apple is the richest and most powerful technology company in the world currently, sailing on autopilot.

Problem is that in the few cases where they have to go off autopilot and Cook has to exercise his judgment, his judgement seems to never be up to scratch.

As in this case, where apple manages to alienate users, developers AND anger legislators of anti-competitive practices. gg apple for hitting the trifecta here.

 

[alchemistmuffin]

How about making a decent App-store app, instead of banning out people who try to make it easier for us.. Search is still terrible in the app-store and you're punishing these developers for it, gg Apple.

App store is decent enough. Literally, prior to Apple buying Chomp, we needed App discovery app just to find the right app. Now, it's kind of useless to own an discovery app, since App Store is clean enough that searching for app is really easy.

Not to mention, app discovery app is spam anyway.

 

[Judas1]

The main reason for existence of all such apps is to game App Store rankings (aka fraud). It's is surprising Apple did not do anything about this earlier!

How do these apps game the App Store? And why is it even possible for a simple app that advertises other apps to game the App Store? Me thinks you don't know hat you're talking about.

 

[Bubba Satori]

Hardly a day passes that the 1984 ad doesn't seem even more ironic than ever.
The slippery slope from Think Different upstart to iEmpire to punishing police state.
Magical has morphed into mugging and suing.

 

[charlituna]

Guessing Apple has discover some kind of fraud with some of this apps?

I'm sure they aren't real keen on many of them having paid placement.

 

[ilmman]

How about making a decent App-store app, instead of banning out people who try to make it easier for us.. Search is still terrible in the app-store and you're punishing these developers for it, gg Apple.

+1, spot on

As a developer for the App Store I agree. We have been getting screwed around too much this year and sadly there's not enough exposure to put the pressure on Apple.

 

[firewood]

How do these apps game the App Store? And why is it even possible for a simple app that advertises other apps to game the App Store?

Easy. Some App Store customers are sheep. 1% is perhaps millions. They actually respond to paid placement spam reviews and notifications that these "discovery" apps sometimes spew. Apple would prefer that developers pay to improve their apps instead of to play games to boost downloads from sheep. Apple protects its sheep.

 

[lordofthereef]

This isn't anticompetitive or anything.

 

[Casiotone]

What a crazy idea for Apple to decide which products are sold and how they are promoted in their own store!

I just bought a Whopper and a Pepsi at McDonalds a little earlier today, thank god free enterprise let companies decide what is sold in their competitor stores!

(Yes, it is sarcasm.)

 

[Rogifan]

I echo what almost everyone here said about this being a bs move by apple, all the more so since their app store is rubbish and these apps are helping the end user at the end of the day.

But I 'll go a bit further and say that this is another quite perplexing at best, or downright stupid at worst, decision that makes me want to ask does apple currently have a CEO actually overseeing such choices and using his best judgement?

Cook is turning into another John Sculley, but unlike Sculley's case apple is the richest and most powerful technology company in the world currently, sailing on autopilot.

Problem is that in the few cases where they have to go off autopilot and Cook has to exercise his judgment, his judgement seems to never be up to scratch.

As in this case, where apple manages to alienate users, developers AND anger legislators of anti-competitive practices. gg apple for hitting the trifecta here.

99.9% of iOS users have probably never heard of apps like app gratis. Much ado about nothing, except for sites like this which have nothing to talk about until WWDC.

 

[lordofthereef]

99.9% of iOS users have probably never heard of apps like app gratis. Much ado about nothing, except for sites like this which have nothing to talk about until WWDC.

I agree with you here. So, why the problem then? Certainly it isn't hurting anyone if nobody knows about it?

Also, I am starting to wonder about Starbucks free apps and music that they give their gold star members weekly. Would this be considered promotion of another app/music and therefore subject to takedown? I have gotten some pretty great tracks and even apps from Starbucks that I likely would ot have had they not been free. And, they also got me to write reviews and look further into developers and artists I would never have known about.