Apple Reimbursing Customers Who Recently Purchased Now-Acquired App Workflow

[MacRumors]

Apple today began sending out emails to customers who purchased popular automation app Workflow in the last few weeks, letting them know that they'll be receiving a refund for the purchase price of the app.

Apple is handing out refunds because following its recent acquisition of the Workflow app and team, it made the Workflow app free to download and removed some key functionality.

A MacRumors reader shared his refund email with us, and we've also seen several reports of Workflow refunds from Twitter.

Dear iTunes Customer,
Thank you for purchasing Workflow by DeskConnect, Inc. Workflow is now available for free in the App Store. Since you recently purchased this app, we have issued you a full refund in the amount of $3.23. These funds will be applied to your original payment method and may take up to five business days from the issue date to post to your account.

Regards,

iTunes Support Team
http://www.apple.com/support/itunes/ww/

For those unfamiliar with Workflow, which is now owned by Apple, it's an automation tool that allows users to create a variety of workflows to automate tasks like creating GIFs from a series of photos, translating an article, posting photos to multiple social networks at once, calculating a tip, and tons more.

Following Apple's acquisition of Workflow, there was an update to remove certain features, including workflow functionality that involved Google Chrome, Pocket, LINE, Telegram, and Uber, likely for legal reasons.

Apple plans to keep Workflow available in the App Store, and it is now a free download. [Direct Link]

Article Link: Apple Reimbursing Customers Who Recently Purchased Now-Acquired App Workflow

 

[Michaelgtrusa]

Ok very nice on them.

 

[vthree]

Anyone got some good workflows to share?

 

[jerry16]

So much potential with this app. Unfortunately, two of the immediate work flows I thought of in an effort to eliminate taps, can't be done.

• Turn on low power mode
• Close all open apps

I would hope that with the acquisition maybe a deeper integration w/ iOS would occur but I suppose if that were the case then Apple would just build these features right into iOS.

*and before anyone starts harping on me about why open apps don't matter, I don't care, I like them closed

 

[FloatingBones]

Anyone got some good workflows to share?

Check out the archive at MacStories. Federico Viticci is one of the best sources anywhere on Workflow. There's more in the Club MacStories premium site, but plenty of free stuff too. And check out their Canvas podcast.

 

[starpuma]

So much potential with this app. Unfortunately, two of the immediate work flows I thought of in an effort to eliminate taps, can't be done.

• Turn on low power mode
• Close all open apps

Jailbreak is your friend

 

[OriginalAppleGuy]

Jailbreak is your friend

No it's not. It may allow you to do more with the device, but it also opens it up to severe security concerns.

 

[subjonas]

lol woohoo! Never thought I'd see those $3 again. Seriously, it's a nice gesture and much appreciated.

 

[fitshaced]

This no I might prefer to may the $3 for the app with the extra functionality.

 

[C DM]

No it's not. It may allow you to do more with the device, but it also opens it up to severe security concerns.

Severe security concerns?

 

[ErikGrim]

This thread is strangely devoid of hate.

 

[Traverse]

I love Workflow and have used it for years.

It's sad that my I had such a negative reaction when Apple bought them, I'm just afraid they'll do something contemporarily (word?) Apple with it and it has so much potential.

 

[szw-mapple fan]

This thread is strangely devoid of hate.

Who doesn't like free money?

 

[C DM]

Who doesn't like free money?

Not when it's all a sinister plot to get you hooked on Apple because you start thinking that they are a nice/good company that you like.

 

[MaxDrago]

and before anyone starts harping on me about why open apps don't matter, I don't care, I like them closed

There is no "close app" function in iOS. There is only 'Force close'. It's there for apps that have misbehaved in some way.

The apps aren’t open, but they're in standby mode to help you navigate and multitask. You should force an app to close only when it’s unresponsive.

Note: Force closing an app may damage it's settings (or any other open files), just as force quitting an open application that's currently in the background on a Desktop OS may cause damage or data loss.

Paraphrasing Mr. Montoya... You keep using that word, 'phone', I do not think it means what you think it means.

 

[Unami]

*and before anyone starts harping on me about why open apps don't matter, I don't care, I like them closed

"open" apps seem to use more ram. on my 5s in safari the "dictation"-microphone often went greyed out - force-closing a few apps in the task viewer remedied that. i guess this is no more the case with ios 10 but that doesn't mean those suspended apps don't use any ram.

 

[dk001]

I love Workflow and have used it for years.

It's sad that my I had such a negative reaction when Apple bought them, I'm just afraid they'll do something contemporarily (word?) Apple with it and it has so much potential.

I can sadly see it vanishing and a lobotomized version being built into an iOS stock function.

 

[IJ Reilly]

There is no "close app" function in iOS. There is only 'Force close'. It's there for apps that have misbehaved in some way.

Note: Force closing an app may damage it's settings (or any other open files), just as force quitting an open application that's currently in the background on a Desktop OS may cause damage or data loss.

Paraphrasing Mr. Montoya... You keep using that word, 'phone', I do not think it means what you think it means.

You can't "close" or even quit an iOS app, at least not in the way we are accustomed to thinking of closing or quitting an app on a desktop computer. Background apps are in a saved and suspended state. That saved state can be deleted if the app gets wonky, but you are not actually closing or quitting anything. If that app is allowed to run background processes then those processes continue to run even after the saved state is deleted.

As for Workflow, I downloaded it thinking it could run a video playlist. No such luck. It only recognizes videos taken by the device and not any you've downloaded to it.

 

[C DM]

You can't "close" or even quit an iOS app, at least not in the way we are accustomed to thinking of closing or quitting an app on a desktop computer. Background apps are in a saved and suspended state. That saved state can be deleted if the app gets wonky, but you are not actually closing or quitting anything. If that app is allowed to run background processes then those processes continue to run even after the saved state is deleted.

As for Workflow, I downloaded it thinking it could run a video playlist. No such luck. It only recognizes videos taken by the device and not any you've downloaded to it.

It has been my understanding that with perhaps some exceptions (like some system services or apps) and/or use of Background App Refresh, and app that isn't in running or suspended state isn't allowed to perform background activities.

 

[IJ Reilly]

It has been my understanding that with perhaps some exceptions (like some system services or apps) and/or use of Background App Refresh, and app that isn't in running or suspended state isn't allowed to perform background activities.

It's difficult to test this easily with many apps, but it can be done with Mail at least. Delete Mail's suspended state then send yourself a push email from another device. The last time I tried this myself the email notification displayed on the iOS device the same as if I hadn't deleted the saved state. You could try this in Messages too I suppose or any app that includes a notification widget.

 

[C DM]

It's difficult to test this easily with many apps, but it can be done with Mail at least. Delete Mail's suspended state then send yourself a push email from another device. The last time I tried this myself the email notification displayed on the iOS device the same as if I hadn't deleted the saved state. You could try this in Messages too I suppose or any app that includes a notification widget.

Well, Mail and realistically even Messages are more along the lines of built-in system services/apps, so they are in a somewhat different category that most other apps when it comes to this kind of thing. Furthermore, notifications come through ANPS, which is a system service for push notifications, and that doesn't rely on an app running or being suspended or anything like that.

 

[IJ Reilly]

Well, Mail and realistically even Messages are more along the lines of built-in system services/apps, so they are in a somewhat different category that most other apps when it comes to this kind of thing. Furthermore, notifications come through ANPS, which is a system service for push notifications, and that doesn't rely on an app running or being suspended or anything like that.

They are in the category of apps that are allowed to run background processes, however small or large that category may be (uncertain myself). I do know Apple is pretty stingy about what is allowed to run in the background. The point I am making is about what happens when you delete an app's saved state. The answer is you have done only that. You can't quit anything that isn't actually running and you can't quit allowed background processes. This only came up here because of the desire to have Workflow automate a process to do essentially nothing.

 

[C DM]

They are in the category of apps that are allowed to run background processes, however small or large that category may be (uncertain myself). I do know Apple is pretty stingy about what is allowed to run in the background. The point I am making is about what happens when you delete an app's saved state. The answer is you have done only that. You can't quit anything that isn't actually running and you can't quit allowed background processes. This only came up here because of the desire to have Workflow automate a process to do essentially nothing.

Well, what I'm saying is that there are certain system level services and apps that are simply part of the device itself inherent to built-in functionalities of the device and iOS (functionalities like phone, contacts, messages, mail, calendar, and a number of others) that are essentially more or less part of the OS itself and thus have different privileges and ways of running compared to pretty much any other app, and in particular to essentially any third party app.

In the case of third party apps, they can perform various functions in the background if they have been opened before but not might be currently used, either directly through background service abilities (that various VoIP, location, music/audio, and some other apps can take advantage of) or through what Background App Refresh can allow for. However, if those apps are "closed" (basically either haven't been running since the last time the device restarted or have been cleared away from the recent apps list) then they can't make use of those background privileges at that time.

 

[IJ Reilly]

Well, what I'm saying is that there are certain system level services and apps that are simply part of the device itself inherent to built-in functionalities of the device and iOS (functionalities like phone, contacts, messages, mail, calendar, and a number of others) that are essentially more or less part of the OS itself and thus have different privileges and ways of running compared to pretty much any other app, and in particular to essentially any third party app.

In the case of third party apps, they can perform various functions in the background if they have been opened before but not might be currently used, either directly through background service abilities (that various VoIP, location, music/audio, and some other apps can take advantage of) or through what Background App Refresh can allow for. However, if those apps are "closed" (basically either haven't been running since the last time the device restarted or have been cleared away from the recent apps list) then they can't make use of those background privileges at that time.

I'm not a coder but from what I have read, apps that take advantage of the defined background services in iOS are all treated the same way. They can use those background services for specifically allowed purposes, and are suspended when that service is completed. I am not sure but I suppose it is possible that some apps using a background service while otherwise suspended might cancel that usage if the saved state is deleted (though I know some definitely do not). Even if that is the case I still don't see any point in routinely deleting those saved states. This mythological maintenance method is based on the misapprehension that these apps are "running" otherwise.

 

[crashoverride77]

So much potential with this app. Unfortunately, two of the immediate work flows I thought of in an effort to eliminate taps, can't be done.

• Turn on low power mode
• Close all open apps

I would hope that with the acquisition maybe a deeper integration w/ iOS would occur but I suppose if that were the case then Apple would just build these features right into iOS.

*and before anyone starts harping on me about why open apps don't matter, I don't care, I like them closed

Its 2017, iOS is at version 10 and people still dont understand how multitasking works. Closing all apps on iOS does next to nothing.