Replies

"Apple's policies on what software you can have on your iPhone is really not a company degrading your experience, is it?"

They kept the corral tight for a reason. There had never been anything like the App Store for a cell phone, and the potential for trouble was significant. Security issues, privacy issues, support issues, user-experience issues, network issues, battery issues, legal issues, regulatory issues, partner issues, interoperability issues, compatibility issues, even social issues like porn... all these things had to be watched very carefully.

An example of how things can go bad in a hurry due to software on a cell phone was on display immediately after the iPhone 3G's introduction. An oversight in the phone's networking software resulted in it requesting full bandwidth from 3G towers. It had not been an issue before, nor had it been an issue in testing, because nothing like the iPhone 3G had been seen in any numbers in the field before. But with its big launch and the sudden upsurge in network usage, the 3G network was overwhelmed, and the towers would summarily drop calls. A software revision was quickly issued, but this serves to underscore the importance and risk of software in a cell phone, especially a popular one. It is entirely possible to bring a whole cell network to its knees. It's why AT&T is taking its time with tethering support-- they need to be sure they can handle the flood of new usage.

Bottom line: the policies you speak of were put in place for very sound reasons. Some will ease with time (already have, in fact), others will remain iron-clad, and thank goodness for that.

An article on that... :-)

Apple’s App submissions process important, necessary says developer
"The second review takes as long as the first. No cutting in line"
Wed, 26 Aug 2009
by Nick Spence

While the Apple iTunes App Store approval process may be long and hard on many would be developers, the hair-pulling and tears is worth it according to one iPhone developer.

Bottle Rocket's Calvin Carter told Macworld the process is important and necessary and not simply Apple needlessly nitpicking.

"The review process has changed dramatically over the last year. We have a good track record of approvals, but that's only because we learned the hard way what will get your app rejected," Carter told Macworld.

"Apple really focuses on user experience. Make something difficult to understand, mislead the user or don't take care of the zillions of use-cases dealing with internet connectivity and you're sure to get rejected. And, frankly you should get rejected."

Carter believes Apple is keen to ensure iPhone applications are fit for purpose and do not reflect badly on Apple if they are revealed to be buggy or overly complex.

"The app review process is long and hard on all developers. And it's certainly not perfect. But it's important and very necessary. Most issues are black and white. You'll get a pleasant email from Apple kindly informing you of a bug. You'll say to yourself "no way, that's not possible!". So, you open the zipped screen shot and, DOH!"

"There it is... Your bug in lights. You stop denying, fix that one line of code and resubmit. But the second review takes as long as the first. No cutting in line... The real pain felt by developers is the time lost when having to resubmit. We have felt that pain. It hurts... "

the above UK MacWorld Article link

And there you have it, from another viewpoint..., and why it works for the consumer... :-)