Developers fuming as Apple rejects competitive App Store software

by Stevie Smith - Sep 15 2008, 12:21

With the iPhone App Store already in the media spotlight after it emerged that owner Apple Inc. is removing third-party software submissions for no apparent reason, developer unrest has ramped this week following news that Apple has rejected an application because it improves and expands on one of its own features.

Specifically, community hackles have begun to rise after Cupertino-based Apple refused App Store admittance to a handy application called Podcaster.

According to Podcaster’s creators, the reasoning behind Apple’s decision is that: “Since podcaster assists in the distribution of podcasts, it duplicates the functionality of the Podcast section of iTunes.”

However, industry watchers are not convinced by Apple’s explanation, offering that Podcaster gives iPhone users a dimension of access not apparent in the desktop version of iTunes.

For example, Apple’s iTunes software requires that users connect their iPhone handset to their computers to perform a content sync and access the newest available podcast downloads, while Podcaster enables users to wirelessly get their latest podcasts through the iPhone’s onboard Wi-Fi receiver.

Focused developer anger is subsequently heading in Apple’s direction with many pointing to existing approved third-party applications that use calendar, clock, or weather functions -- all of which are built in to the iPhone as default features.

“Apple has gone too far,” writes Paul Kafasis of O‘Reilly Digital Media in a CNNMoney article. “Rejecting an application because it might compete with Apple is simply indefensible.”

And Kafasis isn’t alone in that belief, with Fraser Speirs, developer of popular iPhone application Exposure, claiming that he will never write another iPhone application unless the App Store’s submission guidelines are improved and clarified.

“I’d buy that app in a minute,” commented Speirs with regard to the emergence of Podcaster.

Of course, one of the main problems for App Store developers, beyond the lack of clear explanation as to what can and cannot be created alongside Apple’s own features, is that they can’t garner exposure for their iPhone applications unless they're offered up as freeware on unlocked handsets, which leaves them between an Apple-shaped rock and a distinctly non-profit hard place.

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