Sam OliverSchiller, the senior vice president for Worldwide Product Marketing at Apple, spoke with BusinessWeek just weeks after high-profile developer Joe Hewitt gained headlines for abandoning the iPhone. Hewitt said that he thought Apple could be "setting a horrible precedent for other software platforms" by mandating that all software be reviewed and approved.
In defense of his own company, Schiller said that the approval process guarantees a certain level of quality within the App Store. With about 10,000 applications submitted every week, he said Apple's important but difficult role is to ensure that the software available for download works as consumers would expect.
"We've built a store for the most part that people can trust," he said. "You and your family and friends can download applications from the store, and for the most part they do what you'd expect, and they get onto your phone, and you get billed appropriately, and it all just works."
The Apple executive went on to provide some insight into the approval process. He said that about 10 percent of rejections are due to inappropriate content, while the other 90 percent represents "technical fixes" for bugs and similar issues. And a small number of applications fall into a gray area where Apple is unsure what to do: One example was software that helped people cheat at casinos, which forced the Cupertino, Calif., company to study state and international laws.
Copyright issues also exist, as the development company Rogue Amoeba's recently publicized frustrations pointed out. Apple rejected the company's Airfoil application because it used pictures of products like the Mac and Apple TV.
The new interview isn't the first time Schiller has come out in defense of the App Store. This summer, he began personally e-mailing developers to respond to their concerns as bad press surrounding the App Store continued to mount.
Apple also recently added a feature to its Developer Center Web site that adds some transparency to the status of submitted applications. Developers can see where their application is in the review process through nine status levels including "in review," "ready for sale," and "rejected."
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53 Comments
...doesn't care for corporate reasons really. He/she will abandon it when/if a more open platform comes around. People still write more software for Windows in spite of all the issues with viruses, etc... Schiller makes some good points, but Apple needs to redesign its developers' business model before other platforms/companies exploit this. I can't even load my own apps on my own phone without a hassle.
One major differentiating factor between Apple and other platforms is the quality of the experience. I'd hate for Apple to open up the platform more thereby lowering the quality level.
Personally I'd rather see Apple raise the quality level perhaps by increasing the price of entry - e.g. maybe they should make the developer program subscription $1,000 not $100.
Btw, yes I have had apps rejected (and passed) - where rejected it was my own fault not Apple's.
>> Btw, yes I have had apps rejected (and passed) - where rejected it was my own fault not Apple's.
Maybe this is why you are biased. Try having a few apps rejected when it wasn't your fault.
Despite the issues, it's a wild, runaway success. The iPhone is THE platform to develop for.
I truly dislike the App Approval process. Although it may keep things more stable (though in some cases not really), I do not agree in the Apple censorship (I'm not talking about porn apps) and I wish that I could use what ever Apps I want without the risks of jail breaking. I don't mind paying for apps, I just want to be able to use what I want. (This is the main reason I'm in the market for a different mobile platform instead of my iPod Touch)
This being said, I feel that if Apple wants to be fair to its developers, and to its customers, then it should open an App Store for the Mac OS X (aka: computer) platform. ALL software would have to go through the App Store process before being allowed onto the computer, then digitally signed. Any non-apple signed software would fail to run. This would eliminate any last bit of malware, increase stability of the OS, cut out redundancy with the OS core features, give customers a one stop shop for all their OS X needs, and make sure all Apps are built as best as possible (finally, we'd have a functioning Adobe Flash Player!) and have a built in testing for all OS X apps! OS X developers would have to shell out $1,000 or more to have their apps reviewed, tested, and released via the App store.
Makes sense to me, perhaps something we'll see in 10.7? If you think its a bad idea, then why is the iPhone App Store approval process a good idea?