Neil HughesSpeaking at the D8 conference on Tuesday, Jobs mentioned Flurry was using its advertising tools to identify prototype hardware being tested privately on Apple's Cupertino, Calif., campus. He said Apple was "really naive" about what kind of data analytics firms were collecting.
Flurry responded by stating that it has been taking steps to address privacy concerns, and that the company has been in communication with Apple about its changes.
"Regarding sharing some specific aggregated usage statistics, to which Apple is opposed, we will comply with their wishes," Flurry's vice president of marketing Peter Farago told AppleInsider. "Our goal continues to be to add value to the developer ecosystem and be a strong partner to platform providers."
A few weeks ago, Flurry announced its "Privacy First Initiative," a set of developer requirements and product features that include simple, readable "Terms of Service" language, an opt-out switch as part of each application's settings, a mandatory data deletion button, and geographic data no more specific than a metropolitan area. The company has 30,000 customers and its analytics software is found in more than 40,000 applications available for the iPhone, Google Android, and BlackBerry.
Farago said Flurry is also updating its analytics service to comply with section 3.3.9 of the latest iPhone OS developer agreement.
"We will not collect device data," he said. "All in all, the changes required to be in compliance will have little impact on the usefulness we provide to developers about how to improve their applications, and how to continue to increase consumer satisfaction."
Flurry made headlines in January when it boasted that it had tracked 50 suspected Apple tablets on the company's campus days before the iPad was officially unveiled. The company said it had been tracking such devices, running iPhone OS 3.2, since October of 2009.
Jobs said the changes to the iPhone software development kit were not intended to fight off competition for its own iAd mobile advertising platform. He said Apple isn't looking to make money off of iAd, but to help its developers profit from their applications for the iPhone and iPad.
Jobs, who was noticeably agitated when discussing the matter, signaled that Apple could become more flexible with firms like Flurry in the future.
"After we calm down from being pissed off, then we're willing to talk to some of these analytics firms," he said. "But it's not today."
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"After we calm down from being pissed off, then we're willing to talk to some of these analytics firms," he said. "But it's not today."
Go Steve go!
Flurry should have known when they reported data on unreleased apple products that they were doing something wrong. It's unfortunate that they handled it this way as it may be useful for developers to know what hardware mix their app is running on as there are differences between iPhone/iPod touch/iPad/iPad 3G and across generations of these devices. Certainly there should be a way to provide this sort of information to developers without providing information on unannounced products.
This is good hardball.
.... He said Apple isn't looking to make money off of iAd, but to help its developers profit from their applications for the iPhone and iPad.
Why they take the 40% share from what the developer earns from the ads ? Steve, I really tried, but you make it extremely difficult for other to believe your lies.
> Flurry responded by stating that it has been taking steps to address privacy concerns
No Flurry, your analytics are already dead.