Doubt Cast on 'Dash' Developer's Defense Against Apple's Claim of Review Fraud [Updated]

[Analog Kid]

I believe Apple should have at least the decency to contact affected customers via email. We are left in the dark and the only way to notice it is by paying attention or hearing it from third sources. Their ‘don’t care’ attitude makes me seriously angry. I can understand completely why developers don’t have faith in the App Store.

I dunno, I've got a pretty long list of Apps I've bought and if Apple kept telling me every time the status of one changed, I might find that rather annoying. I spent a little time cleaning out my library a few weeks back, and I found that quite a few of my older apps are no longer available on the Store and I don't think they were all because of closed accounts.

Brick and mortar analogies aren't always the best because there's different frictions in the physical world than the virtual one, but if Best Buy stopped supporting a Sony product I'd bought from there, I wouldn't expect them to tell me. Sony might want to tell me where I should go for service if a major provider dropped out, but more often that not I show up and and get told "yeah, we don't carry that anymore".

Different people get set off by different things, I understand, but this doesn't push me over the edge. I don't think an honest dev needs to sweat it.

 

[KALLT]

I dunno, I've got a pretty long list of Apps I've bought and if Apple kept telling me every time the status of one changed, I might find that rather annoying. I spent a little time cleaning out my library a few weeks back, and I found that quite a few of my older apps are no longer available on the Store and I don't think they were all because of closed accounts.

Brick and mortar analogies aren't always the best because there's different frictions in the physical world than the virtual one, but if Best Buy stopped supporting a Sony product I'd bought from there, I wouldn't expect them to tell me. Sony might want to tell me where I should go for service if a major provider dropped out, but more often that not I show up and and get told "yeah, we don't carry that anymore".

Different people get set off by different things, I understand, but this doesn't push me over the edge. I don't think an honest dev needs to sweat it.

There is a difference between discontinuing a product on the App Store and removing it from the purchase history entirely, as in this case. The latter happens rarely and should be subject to a notification. Even in the first case I still would like to know and do not think that it can hurt. Per Apple’s policy, sellers have also no way to tell their App Store customers that they will no longer be supporting the version on the App Store. This happened when Panic decided to leave. There is just no way to know for a consumer that they can get updates elsewhere. This has been amply criticised and is a reason why I don’t have faith in the App Store anymore.

 

[Gary Dee]

So basically, his defense is:
1) I "gave" most of my Apps and the developer account to my Mom.
2) She, or someone associated with her whom I won't name, took part in promotional activities that break Apple's rules regarding reviews.
3) "I didn't have no stinkin' clue."

I never believed it from the getgo, but I sure appreciate all of the journalists who immediately took his side and tried to make Apple look evil.

 

[Riley0818]

Think of it this way: If Apple wasn't 1000% sure, why would they have taken the decisive action they did? Apple stood to lose a TON of credibility among developers if it was later found they made a mistake, and in the alternative basically gained nothing by banning a popular app (besides thousands of angry users).

Apple had to put an end to the manipulation. They did so knowing it would upset people, but did it anyway.

If there was even a chance it was a mistake, they wouldn't have done it. No benefit in the risk.

Dude is guilty, got caught, and is trying to concoct a streeeeetttttccchhhhhh of an excuse.

Should have taken the deal. It sounds like his app was good enough that no one would have given a flying crap if he manipulated reviews. In a month no one would have remembered.

I'm surprised Apple even made the offer in the first place