Sam Soffes

So Joel Comm (funny story, he offered me a job awhile back, anyway) who most notably made iFart released a video (watch below) today begging Steve Jobs to let his new app into the App Store.

Like the other apps from his company, the don't do much besides play an entertaining sound. Apple rejected the app because it "contains minimal user functionality". He goes on to show many other apps that also just play a sound.

Here's my take on the whole thing. If Joel or anyone else wants to release a bunch of fun little sound, fine. Personally, I think they are dumb and wouldn't pay for one, but a lot of people have enjoyed iFart and other similar apps, so more power to them. (By the way Joel's company also makes other kinds of apps like this, this, and this. Cool stuff.) My big issue with all of this is the same as Joel's: consistency.

Apple, please be consistent. As a developer that has submitted several apps to the App Store, and experienced this frustration many times before, I really wish they would publish a set of rules and stick to them.

Joe Hewitt

Joe Hewitt was the developer of the Facebook app. He tweeted that he was no longer going to work on it because of his frustration with the App Store.

My decision to stop iPhone development has had everything to do with Apple’s policies.

I understand that Joe and everyone else in the community is frustrated with the process, but I don't like just walking away from iPhone development and the fabulous platform Apple has built is the answer.

As for Joe specifically, I don't understand why he is complaining so much. His app, Facebook, gets approved in days with special attention from Apple. Many, like myself, have waited over a month for an app to get approved.

Sure there are limitations for everyone, including Joe. Getting feedback from Apple in a day or two on what is wrong with your app would make the whole process a lot less painful. It's so frustrating to wait weeks only to find out they didn't like your app's description.