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Some of the reasons Apple comes up with for rejecting developers’ apps are such bullshit. Like I can understand trying to stop scams, malware etc. but this gate

Some of the reasons Apple comes up with for rejecting developers’ apps are such bullshit. Like I can understand trying to stop scams, malware etc. but this gatekeeping based on Apple’s subjective evaluation of the quality of your app when you have no other option for shipping on iOS is the reason why I just don’t consider it a serious platform. iPhones and iPads are more like iPods to me at this point; cool toys with overpowered hardware that do a few simple things well. There’s also a lot of irony in Apple judging whether or not your app is good enough. Like does anyone actually think Apple is cool in 2021? To me they’ve just become another boring, stuffy corporation like Dell and HP. The iPhone 13 is so incredibly uninteresting and inconsequential that I couldn’t even remember what number they were on when I was typing this comment. That whole launch just came and went.

cglace 5y ago
I seem to be able to use my toy for quite a bit.
threeseed 5y ago
I have developed over a dozen iOS apps so I am sympathetic to the frustration as a developer. But as a user I fully support Apple for curating the App Store experience. Discoverability is a challenge when you have this many apps and it's simply not fun having to wade through so many low quality, user-hostile apps. You only need to look at the Windows Store to know that curation is an integral part of making a store work.
- hellotomyrars 5y ago
  I agree that there is a lot of good to be done by curating apps but I don’t think Apple is doing a very good job of it in general or in specific regarding this. There is plenty of garbage on the app store and while in this case I’m sure there are a ton of hangman games on iOS, at least this one if offering something the others aren’t. So it’s kind of failing to deliver on the stated premise for the rejection. Also this seems like a pretty bad justification to reject and app update. Nobody benefits from this as part of a curation aspect. The app will still be there, so it’s already cluttering things up if that’s the issue for the rejection. I guess what really bothers me about the App Store review process is that most of the time it feels like the human aspect is ignored despite being enforced (which I think is conceptually good). If you’re going to have people actually review everything, let the people actually act as people instead of rule-detecting machines.
- syshum 5y ago
  Apple would get more of a pass on curation if they allow alternative methods of installation so you were not required to use only their store.
- strange_things 5y ago
  Hi Apple employee. We trust you.
  - dang 5y ago
    Breaking the site guidelines like this will get you banned on HN, especially because you've done it before (https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=28556127 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=28556127). If you'd please review https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html and stick to the rules when posting here, we'd appreciate it.
- heavyset_go 5y ago
  > You only need to look at the Windows Store to know that curation is an integral part of making a store work. The Mac App Store has about a dozen Chinese Bonzi Buddy clones on it.
- saagarjha 5y ago
  > Discoverability is a challenge when you have this many apps and it's simply not fun having to wade through so many low quality, user-hostile apps. Have you ever looked at the App Store? It's already like this…
- nottorp 5y ago
  > I fully support Apple for curating the App Store experience. Except curating is a very strong word. This story looks more like the app reviewers are on minimum wage and just go through a script without trying to understand anything about the app. Probably because they have to review too many submissions per day.
- Mindwipe 5y ago
  > Discoverability is a challenge when you have this many apps and it's simply not fun having to wade through so many low quality, user-hostile apps. We already have to do this.
- veeti 5y ago
  You don't have to look any further than the App Store. https://www.theverge.com/2021/4/21/22385859/apple-app-store-scams-fraud-review-enforcement-top-grossing-kosta-eleftheriou https://www.theverge.com/2021/4/21/22385859/apple-app-store-...
- EricE 5y ago
  Curation on the app store is a failure. I went searching for an app I read about and it would NOT surface in the app store search. I found someone else that had a direct app store link to it and was able to find it. The amount of duplicate/squatting apps out there is simply astonishing. We need alternate app stores. Maybe with some actual competition Apple will pay more than just lip service to many of the issues that keep cropping up over and over and over.... Then again they never have given the macOS app store much love; then again it does no where the volume the iOS stores do.
pornel 5y ago
And the review process is not even good at filtering out spams. I keep hearing about shitty apps with sneaky $199/week subscriptions making to top grossing apps in the Apple App store.

cglace 5y ago

I seem to be able to use my toy for quite a bit.

threeseed 5y ago

I have developed over a dozen iOS apps so I am sympathetic to the frustration as a developer. But as a user I fully support Apple for curating the App Store experience. Discoverability is a challenge when you have this many apps and it's simply not fun having to wade through so many low quality, user-hostile apps. You only need to look at the Windows Store to know that curation is an integral part of making a store work.

hellotomyrars 5y ago
I agree that there is a lot of good to be done by curating apps but I don’t think Apple is doing a very good job of it in general or in specific regarding this. There is plenty of garbage on the app store and while in this case I’m sure there are a ton of hangman games on iOS, at least this one if offering something the others aren’t. So it’s kind of failing to deliver on the stated premise for the rejection. Also this seems like a pretty bad justification to reject and app update. Nobody benefits from this as part of a curation aspect. The app will still be there, so it’s already cluttering things up if that’s the issue for the rejection. I guess what really bothers me about the App Store review process is that most of the time it feels like the human aspect is ignored despite being enforced (which I think is conceptually good). If you’re going to have people actually review everything, let the people actually act as people instead of rule-detecting machines.
syshum 5y ago
Apple would get more of a pass on curation if they allow alternative methods of installation so you were not required to use only their store.
strange_things 5y ago
Hi Apple employee. We trust you.
- dang 5y ago
  Breaking the site guidelines like this will get you banned on HN, especially because you've done it before (https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=28556127 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=28556127). If you'd please review https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html and stick to the rules when posting here, we'd appreciate it.
heavyset_go 5y ago
> You only need to look at the Windows Store to know that curation is an integral part of making a store work. The Mac App Store has about a dozen Chinese Bonzi Buddy clones on it.
saagarjha 5y ago
> Discoverability is a challenge when you have this many apps and it's simply not fun having to wade through so many low quality, user-hostile apps. Have you ever looked at the App Store? It's already like this…
nottorp 5y ago
> I fully support Apple for curating the App Store experience. Except curating is a very strong word. This story looks more like the app reviewers are on minimum wage and just go through a script without trying to understand anything about the app. Probably because they have to review too many submissions per day.
Mindwipe 5y ago
> Discoverability is a challenge when you have this many apps and it's simply not fun having to wade through so many low quality, user-hostile apps. We already have to do this.
veeti 5y ago
You don't have to look any further than the App Store. https://www.theverge.com/2021/4/21/22385859/apple-app-store-scams-fraud-review-enforcement-top-grossing-kosta-eleftheriou https://www.theverge.com/2021/4/21/22385859/apple-app-store-...
EricE 5y ago
Curation on the app store is a failure. I went searching for an app I read about and it would NOT surface in the app store search. I found someone else that had a direct app store link to it and was able to find it. The amount of duplicate/squatting apps out there is simply astonishing. We need alternate app stores. Maybe with some actual competition Apple will pay more than just lip service to many of the issues that keep cropping up over and over and over.... Then again they never have given the macOS app store much love; then again it does no where the volume the iOS stores do.

pornel 5y ago

And the review process is not even good at filtering out spams. I keep hearing about shitty apps with sneaky $199/week subscriptions making to top grossing apps in the Apple App store.