'Convertbot' App Update Rejected Over Too-Similar Time Icon

[Slurpy2k8]

Fair enough. It is pretty much the exact same icon.

They should just move the hands and put a little knob on top like a stopwatch.

'Fair enough'- are you ****ing serious????

Thats not the app icon, its an icon for one of the conversions WITHIN the app. This is the one of the most ridiculous thing I've ever heard. Thats a pretty universal icon for time, and to see it, you'll need to purchase the app then fire up the program.

This makes no sense whatsoever. What a ****ed up decision by Apple.

People who are saying, 'whats the big deal, they can just change the icon' aren't getting the point. The point is that an app can be rejected for something so incredibly absurd assinine, something that has no chance to harm the user or Apple.

 

[MacFly123]

Fair enough. It is pretty much the exact same icon.

They should just move the hands and put a little knob on top like a stopwatch.

Sorry Apple, I just think you are being dumb about this.

 

[leandromp]

I cannot believe u guys are complaining about this.

Their using the same icon!, something that apple created!
i would have done the same thing!!

This "company" or developers just want attention to their apps! there's no reason to be complaining about one stupid icon, that clearly you didn't created and when the reason for the rejection is totally their fault.

So, stop whining and do your own thing.

 

[iPhone 62S]

I cannot believe u guys are complaining about this.

Their using the same icon!, something that apple created!
i would have done the same thing!!

This "company" or developers just want attention to their apps! because there's no reason to be complaining about one stupid icon, that clearly you didn't created and when the reason for the rejection is totally their fault.

So, stop whining and do your own thing.

It's a clock, unless Apple owns the rights to clocks then you are talking crap.

 

[leandromp]

It's a clock, unless Apple owns the rights to clocks then you are talking crap.

Oh trust me, is not about the clock anymore, that's the last thing your guys are thinking about right now.., is about the "rejection" and "how stupid apple is cause of it".. that's all you guys do with this kinds of thread, even when is the developers fault, which bdw, is the case.

Nobody cares about the damn icon or the app, is all about complaining because they got rejected. I'm not defending apple, but i just hate to read all of your comments sometimes. If apple didn't have those poor 40 employees approving the apps, you were the first ones saying the "App store is not secure", "my phone is acting very slow, do i have a virus"? kinda of thread and all that BS.

Those people are there for a reason. If you don't like it, then get the G1 and all those crappy apps and the (malware?) that was wondering around a few months ago...

it could be a frikin (.)! Is like if i took a pen from my friend without his permission and he's asking for the pen back, and i'll start whining and complaining cause he wanted it back. Is not yours!

Are the developers too lazy to make their own clock?
you can say whatever you want about my opinion, but it is what it is, MY OPINION!

 

[sachamun]

I think a lot of the comments here miss the real issue.

The issue isn't about an icon's design or it's intended use.

It's about Apple denying developers (and ultimately their users) the right to choose how they use their device. The app store reviewers are not stupid at all - they are simply following strict guidelines put forward by their employer, and therefor doing their job.

I don't deny that Apple has had to make a tough decision regarding app filtering - with no filtering at all there could be some tricky issues to deal with in terms of their image - which is, of course, a bug part of what you're buying when you buy an Apple product. If an app doesn't fit into their scheme of how users should perceive Apple, they deny it access and therefor deny it the ability to be associated with their brand.
(I think branding is rather evil but that's another story...)

But isn't freedom what shaped the internet and forced it to grow into the intelligent network it is now? The same can be said of any type of community. If the internet itself were a private club (as the iPhone is - you must follow Apple's rules), we would rely entirely upon the owners and rule-makers on providing solutions to the inevitable problems stemming from such a massive network. The only solution for the internet was to free it and allow it to be inherently open-source. The only real solution for Apple and their developer community is, no - not changing the clock to read 9 o'clock or 5:45 - but following the same principles that all members of successful communities do - agree not to hurt each other then agree to leave each other alone and live as you wish.
The rest sorts itself out:

If you meet someone in public and they start annoying you with stupid BS non-stop form the get go, you probably politely excuse yourself at some point and go elsewhere. You don't kill them simply because they don't fit in with your scheme of things (oh i've wanted to). If they steal your wallet or start getting violent, you'd probably call for help and people would usually help you. The same would go for the app store community - if you don't like an app or it's truly confusing, you can simply not use it or make a suggestion to the dev, but if it's truly harmful and therefor worth 'filtering', a community sorts it out pretty quickly.

Bah, I just finished work and it's 3am - I don't see the point in typing more.
Yes I have an iPhone and a Mac so I'm a giant hypocrite anyway.

 

[kmcrawford]

I've had an app rejected for the same reason. But fair enough, their icon means one thing and my icon (looks the same) means another. It's all about consistency within their device. Apple wants their device to be the easiest to use and understand, and they wouldn't want developers confusing their users.

 

[ratbatblue]

This is lunacy, of course. But that's nothing new for the App Store.

 

[Fikester]

Exactly, and here's my thing about this. Does Apple think we're idiots and think we are going to BUY a converter app and see a clock icon and think, hmmm, maybe I can look at my previous calls. DOH! I can't.

If Apple wants to reject apps they can, it is there prerogative, but give a little better explanation then throwing its customers under the bus like they have here. I love Apple, and will continue to, but this is getting a little out of hand.

Just my 1 1/2 cents.

Oh come on, it's not like people will go into the app and think "hey, this converter must be showing my phone history!" is it? Idiots.

 

[admanimal]

Speaking from experience, the most annoying part about these types of rejections isn't necessarily that Apple has a problem with an icon, it's that they have a problem with an icon that has been in the app for a long time already.

I have been in a situation where a critical update to my app was delayed because Apple all of a sudden decided that one of my icons, which had been in the app for 4 months and through at least 10 reviews, was too similar to one of their icons. And it's not like these icons are hidden somewhere that the previous reviewers wouldn't notice.

I know it sounds like developers are all whiny little babies (and some are), but I think it's hard to appreciate how frustrating this kind of thing is until you have put long hours into developing an app.

 

[Spades]

Apple wants their device to be the easiest to use and understand, and they wouldn't want developers confusing their users.

And what icon would be more obvious for time than a clock? Changing it to something else will probably be more confusing.

 

[lucasgladding]

I feel sorry for anyone working for Apple with the App Review team. While approval process could be faster and much more transparent, I am generally quite happy with it. The team deserves much more credit than it has been given.

In my opinion, the refusal here is completely justified. Apple is not claiming legal rights to the icon, they are simply enforcing the convention within the OS. If Tapbots had used the same icon to show recent conversions, I suspect the update would have been accepted without incident.

Personally, I think Tapbots understands the concern and is simply grabbing attention here. I have my fingers crossed that my next update will be rejected - it would be great publicity.

The second paragraph in the blog post from Tapbots is the most frustrating in my mind. Is Tapbots wasting the review team's time with questions like this? Is my next update being delayed because other developers like to be difficult for the sake of being difficult. Any clock icon, regardless of the time, could be mistaken for the history icon.

Until developers begin giving Apple the benefit of the doubt, all suggestions will be taken with a grain of salt.

 

[creator2456]

They should just move the hands and put a little knob on top like a stopwatch.

The way Apple has been going, they would reject that icon for being too similar to Safari's icon

 

[iPhone 62S]

Oh trust me, is not about the clock anymore, that's the last thing your guys are thinking about right now.., is about the "rejection" and "how stupid apple is cause of it".. that's all you guys do with this kinds of thread, even when is the developers fault, which bdw, is the case.

Nobody cares about the damn icon or the app, is all about complaining because they got rejected. I'm not defending apple, but i just hate to read all of your comments sometimes. If apple didn't have those poor 40 employees approving the apps, you were the first ones saying the "App store is not secure", "my phone is acting very slow, do i have a virus"? kinda of thread and all that BS.

Those people are there for a reason. If you don't like it, then get the G1 and all those crappy apps and the (malware?) that was wondering around a few months ago...

it could be a frikin (.)! Is like if i took a pen from my friend without his permission and he's asking for the pen back, and i'll start whining and complaining cause he wanted it back. Is not yours!

Are the developers too lazy to make their own clock?
you can say whatever you want about my opinion, but it is what it is, MY OPINION!

While it is good that Apple keeps the App Store secure by checking what goes up on there, it's mad the stupid things they reject apps for, and this is a good example of that.

In what way would having a clock icon like Apple's one for the phone history icon equate to the converter app being malware, or equate to people on the forum thinking it was?

Yes they may have copied where Apple put the hands of the clock, but Apple didn't say it was a infringement issue, they said the issue was people might get confused by the fact the icon was similar, which is just utterly stupid.

 

[lowbatteries]

It's a clock, unless Apple owns the rights to clocks then you are talking crap.

Um, its not a clock, it's an icon. Apple doesn't own "lines" or "circles" or "colors" either, but they own this icon. They created and own this representation of a clock.

However, that isn't the issue. That icon has come to represent "recent" or "history" in both OS X and the iPhone, and having a blanket rule to not let people give standard icons new meaning is perfectly fine with me.

OS X and the iPhone are so nice to use partly because of Apple's stringent HIG. I wish more apps (especially MotionX GPS) adhered to it.

Since this app is a conversion tool, I think a stopwatch would make more sense, since its actually a tool for measuring time. Clocks just tell you what time it is now.

 

[rstansby]

This seems reasonable. It won't be hard for the developer to change the icon.

 

[iPhone 62S]

Um, its not a clock, it's an icon. Apple doesn't own "lines" or "circles" or "colors" either, but they own this icon. They created and own this representation of a clock.

However, that isn't the issue. That icon has come to represent "recent" or "history" in both OS X and the iPhone, and having a blanket rule to not let people give standard icons new meaning is perfectly fine with me.

OS X and the iPhone are so nice to use partly because of Apple's stringent HIG. I wish more apps (especially MotionX GPS) adhered to it.

Since this app is a conversion tool, I think a stopwatch would make more sense, since its actually a tool for measuring time. Clocks just tell you what time it is now.

Refer to the last paragraph of my post above yours.

 

[lowbatteries]

Speaking from experience, the most annoying part about these types of rejections isn't necessarily that Apple has a problem with an icon, it's that they have a problem with an icon that has been in the app for a long time already.

I have been in a situation where a critical update to my app was delayed because Apple all of a sudden decided that one of my icons, which had been in the app for 4 months and through at least 10 reviews, was too similar to one of their icons. And it's not like these icons are hidden somewhere that the previous reviewers wouldn't notice.

I know it sounds like developers are all whiny little babies (and some are), but I think it's hard to appreciate how frustrating this kind of thing is until you have put long hours into developing an app.

This I agree with. Apple should learn not to backpedal - if you saw something and approved it, you can't just decide NOT to approve the same exact thing later. Heck, they could have approved this app and still let the developer know they needed to change their icon before the next update.

What if this was a critical bug fix? Apple would be hurting users as much as developers here.

 

[.:R2theT]

To the people saying that Apple should have caught this earlier: Perhaps, but these are just people working to approve these apps. People make mistakes. A bigger mistake, generally, is to let something continue incorrectly once a error has been identified.

To the people saying that Apple's process is too draconian: Don't develop for Apple's ecosystem then.


I personally like the fact that Apple pays attention to these little details. My experience is that it is all the little details that brings things together as a whole. Apple, in general, does an exceptional job in that arena.

 

[lowbatteries]

Refer to the last paragraph of my post above yours.

Which was:

Yes they may have copied where Apple put the hands of the clock, but Apple didn't say it was a infringement issue, they said the issue was people might get confused by the fact the icon was similar, which is just utterly stupid.

I completely disagree with your last paragraph. Identical icons meaning different things introduces confusion. I just pulled out convertbot on my phone, and looking at it I could definitely see how the icon, in this instance, might make you think "recent conversions". In fact, that might even be a cool feature for convertbot to add ...

 

[iPhone 62S]

I completely disagree with your last paragraph. Identical icons meaning different things introduces confusion. I just pulled out convertbot on my phone, and looking at it I could definitely see how the icon, in this instance, might make you think "recent conversions". In fact, that might even be a cool feature for convertbot to add ...

So you seriously think you'd have opened a converter app and thought it showed your recent calls? Honestly?

You're only noticing it now because you've read the article, if you haden't you wouldn't have given that icon a second thought, much less thought it showed recent calls.

 

[53buick]

what about a sundial?

 

[lowbatteries]

So you seriously think you'd have opened a converter app and thought it showed your recent calls? Honestly?

You're only noticing it now because you've read the article, if you haden't you wouldn't have given that icon a second thought, much less thought it showed recent calls.

Who said anything about "recent calls"? Put on your reading glasses, please, I said "recent conversions". Which makes sense - app that does conversions plus icon that means "recent" = "recent conversions".

And "recent" is what this icon means everywhere it appears. Short sampling of apps that use it:

• Safari on OS X
• Safari on iPhone (in history icon)
• Phone (recent calls)
• Youtube (recent videos)
• Skype (recent calls)
• Cydia (recent changes)

So, their is a clear consensus that this icon means "recent". Convertbot has no "recent" feature so they shouldn't use this icon. Steal the Stopwatch icon from the Clock app.

 

[Eso]

I completely disagree with your last paragraph. Identical icons meaning different things introduces confusion. I just pulled out convertbot on my phone, and looking at it I could definitely see how the icon, in this instance, might make you think "recent conversions". In fact, that might even be a cool feature for convertbot to add ...

I also concur, albiet for a different reason. In fact, I am probably the one that got this update rejected.

You see, I use ConvertBot in engineering to convert to SI units. Oftentimes, I will be using the app and think to myself, "Oh, I need to call one of the last numbers in my recent call history." I would become very frustrated when pressing the icon would bring up time conversions as opposed to launching the phone application and directing it to recent calls. It was so infuriating! I sent dozens of confused emails to Apple and demanded they resolve the issue with their OS.

I am glad that they have finally taken action. I just hope they look into the issue with 1Password not integrating properly with the phone app next. Everytime I dial a number in this app it doesn't initiate a phone call! It's so frustrating using this iPhone!

 

[lowbatteries]

I also concur, albiet for a different reason. In fact, I am probably the one that got this update rejected.

You see, I use ConvertBot in engineering to convert to SI units. Oftentimes, I will be using the app and think to myself, "Oh, I need to call one of the last numbers in my recent call history." I would become very frustrated when pressing the icon would bring up time conversions as opposed to launching the phone application and directing it to recent calls. It was so infuriating! I sent dozens of confused emails to Apple and demanded they resolve the issue with their OS.

I am glad that they have finally taken action. I just hope they look into the issue with 1Password not integrating properly with the phone app next. Everytime I dial a number in this app it doesn't initiate a phone call! It's so frustrating using this iPhone!

View attachment 190875

Again, this icon has absolutely nothing to do with the phone app, not sure why you've all latched onto that. That was just the example Apple happened to provide. The icon means "recent". As posted in the original post:

Convertbot 1.4 was rejected because our icon for Time is too similar to one of Apple's default resource icons for History/Recent. They say users might get confused that our Time category might mean History or Recent. Now I might be able to understand if this happened when we first submitted Convertbot, but there have been multiple releases already so why is this a show-stopper now?

I agree with Apple: the icon needs to change. I agree with the developer: why now?