Comments on: Will Mobile Apps Live Up to the Hype? A View from the iPhone Trenches

By: Database Technology Update

Database Technology Update — Fri, 29 May 2009 03:57:13 +0000

[...] platform, Jason Jacobs, maker of the iPhone app RunKeeper, criticized some portions of the Apple app approval process that he said could make it less frustrating for [...]

By: McAfee “Planning” iPhone Security | Computer Security

McAfee “Planning” iPhone Security | Computer Security — Wed, 27 May 2009 23:14:07 +0000

[...] Will Mobile Apps Live Up to the Hype? A View from the iPhone Trenches (xconomy.com) [...]

By: Bob

Bob — Sat, 09 May 2009 13:37:15 +0000

I’m starting to work on other platforms? Why? Apple dings my app for bogus reasons. So I fix it and then wait a week for a response. This has happened four times and each reason is more bogus than the first. What do I do with the time in between? Work on the Blackberry and Android versions.

By: Jason Jacobs

Jason Jacobs — Thu, 07 May 2009 18:27:20 +0000

Dave,
Thanks for your comment. I think a distinction needs to be made between crying and speaking openly about issues that people may or may not know exist.

We’re certainly not waiting around for everything to be perfect in app developer-land, we are hard at work building the business. The point is that there are still issues, and that people need to be aware of these issues when evaluating the mobile applications landscape.

Even with these issues, the opportunity is already tremendous. So you can only imagine what will happen when these issues are forced out of the system as the smartphone market matures and by increasing competitive pressures.

Apple may have a huge lead right now, but if they get complacent, there is no doubt that someone else will eventually fill the void. One way or another, the smartphone market is poised for massive growth, and the mobile apps that are enabled by these smartphones are in for a fun ride!

Jason

By: dave

dave — Thu, 07 May 2009 17:30:39 +0000

while I agree with every point you have made, the dude has a point. you can cry until you are blue in the face, as others before you have done, and nothing will change.

for there to be change, Apple has to _admit_ that there is a problem. and once they admit to something, they are responsible for solving the problem. right now they continue to remain silent, almost as if to remain unaccountable, but I hope that changes by the time the WWDC rolls around.

By: Noel

Noel — Thu, 07 May 2009 17:03:52 +0000

Can you please explain any strategy or tips you might have to make sure you’re app gets approved? Thanks!

By: dude

dude — Thu, 07 May 2009 15:39:10 +0000

WAHHHH WAAAHHHHH WAAHHHH!

By: Stephen Orth

Stephen Orth — Thu, 07 May 2009 04:59:33 +0000

Amen brother. Your post captures my thoughts to the T. As an independent iPhone app developer, I too have become increasingly frustrated with the hypocrisy that is the App Store approval process. Case in point: I recently submitted a “Lite” version of my time-tracking and billing application, Timewerks, along with a new update to the paid version. The paid version was approved in a matter of days, but the Lite version was rejected due to an icon that Apple claimed was too similar to one of their system icons. However, that same icon has been shipping in the paid version since September and has gone through many feature updates/approvals. I’m still waiting for the Lite version to be approved after changing the icon…. the process must change.