It seem’s that Apple needs to have someone working full time on quality control of Apps and their listings on the store. They also really need to enable the ability to either complain or contact them directly if someone thinks something is awry and an app needs a re-review.
I feel the App Store system is working quite well but it seems that once a dev is ‘in’ theres no real test of worth for their apps.
Nullsofts SOCKS proxy app as a perfect example of the exact opposite of the rule is true also. Nullsofts App is legit and falls within Apples guides – yet it gets pulled, presumably because of AT&T’s connection sharing rules – rules that are relevant to AT&T’s market and could be legit elsewhere. Not only did they pull the App (twice!) but they didn’t even bother to contact the dev with an explanation or even notification that it had happened.
We don’t want Apple become big brother but some common sense – ‘Does the world need this?’ questions need to be asked. And if they need to be asked, someone needs to be employed to ask them.
What I don’t get is that the $US999 I Am Rich app actually makes it live, but that NZ’s own Orsome tvGuide v1.2 takes weeks to get through quality testing processes. Orsome, based on sales numbers alone have proven that it’s a real app, and people are happy to pay, so why can it not be fast tracked?
I still think overall though that this is all just a teething process for Apple, the iphone and it’s distribution model. If things didn’t go wrong – it would be just weird. Long term, they’ve made a great way of end users to have a simple and easy way to get extra features for their phone. No need for manuals, complex distribution and install procedures.
UPDATE Apparently 8 people actually brought that I Am Rich app before it was pulled…..