Update: Though in-app purchases were problematic for some developers for a week now, the issues in the system have reportedly been addressed, suggesting that any holdup was not related to the patent infringement suit.
News that App Store approvals from Apple were frozen was reported Wednesday by TUAW. It's was not known whether the suspension was related to legal threats that were recently sent by Lodsys to a number of iOS developers, or if it is a separate technical issue.
"As a matter of policy, Apple requires developers to test in-app purchases (IAP) with a test user account before the application in question can be approved," Victor Agreda, Jr., wrote. "Unfortunately, this test account has been offline for a week now with no word as to why."
The downtime associated with the App Store led to speculation that Apple suspended approval of new and updated applications that utilize in-app purchases. Apple has yet to respond to the legal threats toward iOS developers by patent holder Lodsys, but a report from earlier this week claimed that the iPhone maker's legal department is "actively investigating" the matter.
Last week, iOS developers first began receiving letters from Lodsys, accusing them of patent infringement for utilizing Apple's own in-app purchasing system for iOS software. Apple controls all transactions made through the App Store and native software for the iPhone and iPad, and takes a 30 percent cut.
In public comments on the situation, Lodsys revealed that Apple has obtained a license related to in-app purchases. But Lodsys believes that Apple's agreement does not extend to individual developers that create software for iOS devices.
Lodsys seeks 0.575 percent of U.S. revenue covering the period of the notice letter to the expiration of the patent, plus applicable usage. The company noted that would amount to $5,750 per year for an application that makes $1 million in annual sales.
No lawsuit has been filed, though developers were given 21 days by Lodsys to license the technology related to in-app purchases. The legal threats cite U.S. Patent No. 7222078, entitled "Methods and Systems for Gathering Information from Units of a Commodity Across a Network."
22 Comments
Wow. . .
If this is actually in response to the patent infringement claims rather than some other issue, I'm pretty damned surprised.
I have had trouble in the past with getting test accounts activated. There's actually a ticket opened up regarding this issue. It may simply be that iTunes Connect continues to suck.
Huh. If there is a correlation, I'm surprised. I would have expected Apple to issue some kind of statement to the effect of, "Hold off for a few days while we investigate..." vs. simply turning off the ability to submit/test.
That said, if Lodsys is, in fact, found to be trolling, Thor's hammer will soon fall upon their head. And, it ain't gonna be pretty.
this isnt just a Test Account issue I get the same error when I go to create a "Itunes connect" user... and then also one of my apps that does not have a in-app purchase has been "In Review" for quiet a while...
Wow. . .
If this is actually in response to the patent infringement claims rather than some other issue, I'm pretty damned surprised.
Actually it could be connected. They could be holding on approvals for apps that could be hit with suits to avoid making matters worse (in effect protecting the developers). Once they know the score from their lawyers about the validity of the claims then they can hit the switch on these apps which probably passed everything else.
Or it could be that whatever was making MobileMe and itunes wonky over the weekend is the issue and it hasn't been cleared up completely.