"How much of the goodwill Apple once had with programmers have they lost over the App Store? A third? Half? And that's just so far. The App Store is an ongoing karma leak." — Paul Graham.
A programmer's lament on the Apple App Store
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Wonderful essay by Paul.
Interesting that he brought up the 1984 commercial.
"When you look at the famous 1984 ad now, it's easier to imagine Apple as the dictator on the screen than the woman with the hammer. In fact, if you read the dictator's speech it sounds uncannily like a prophecy of the App Store."
I've been saying that for years, and when I mentioned that in a joking fashion on the Apple Discussion board, my comment was deleted, all the comments (help to another user) in the thread the joke was in were deleted as well. Worse still, all references to the comments in that thread were deleted from my posting history as well.
And I was banned from the board.
Welcome to the memory hole.
coop
I've always thought of the relationship between Apple and its developers as a classic abusive relationship. This 'ongoing karma leak' has been going on for over 20 years, in various forms. It's not only the app store that is an affront to programmers. The iPhone development tools are shockingly retro -- it feels like 1985 in there.
"[T]hat's what Apple is trying to be with the App Store: a software publisher. And a particularly overreaching one at that, with fussy tastes and a rigidly enforced house style."
Wouldn't it be easier to just jailbreak the phone? If developers really hate the App Store approval process that much, a mass exodus to Cydia or Rock would probably get some attention.
"My current development machine is a MacBook Air, which I use with an external monitor and keyboard in my office, and by itself when traveling. If there was a version half the size I'd prefer it."
Netbook with hackintosh on it...? Or is the Air smaller than nay netbook out there?
While I agree that Apple is shooting itself in the foot, I think their original intentions were somewhat defensible. The key to the iPhone is all about the user experience. By initial control of that experience, both in term of QA (don't crash the phone), and consistency (the behavior of the apps match the model Apple created), Apple was able to make the iPhone a success.
However, they got very far afield when they started regulating content (e.g. the Kama Sutra fiasco and the recent congresscritter app), and as the essay notes, they're now alienating the people who made the iPhone a success. For once, Ballmer was right: Developers, developers, developers.
Jailbreaking isn't getting any easier, and Apple holds all the cards in the long term. Just ask several million Xbox360 owners how trying to fight the man on his own terms works out for you.
Do people actually buy apps for these devices? I mean, sure, you get the 3-4 apps you can't live without. But I'm guessing that even if the coders are unhappy, I suspect few people are even looking anyway.
Maybe people go a little kooky when they first get a phone, but I suspect this settles down pretty quick.
I'll believe it when you programmers take a principled stand. As long as the money is out there, people will do it.
Cough cough...ANDROID...deep breaths of fresh air...
Fortunately for apple, self-righteous programmers are a VERY small percentage of their customer base.
You must be one of those people who's content to run only the apps provided by Apple, then.
Part of the pull for developers is the huge market they have to sell to. There are over 10 million iPhones sold per year -- that's a huge market for your software. But how many of those people jailbreak? I'm sure it's not insignificant, but it's nowhere near the same size of market. Besides, Cydia only recently started making apps for sale -- everything used to be free. People were releasing apps there, but not the kind of people looking to build a company. Cydia isn't a true alternative to the App Store.
Self-righteous programmers are a small part of the customer base, but a large part of the developer base.
The rest of the customer base uses the apps made by those developers. Without the developers, the iPhone is a lot less appealing. It would sure put an end to the "There's an app for that" commercials.
There's a lot to say on this. First off, Apple has always been like this. I've always told people that they're no better than Microsoft (DRM, vendor lock-in, etc...), but many people tend to bend over and take it with a smile when it's Apple. Apple gets away with the same stuff MS typically gets sued for or we complain about.
Regarding the iPhone, I don't always agree with Graham, but in this case I think he's pretty spot on: Apple really doesn't understand software and they're treating it like hardware.
The 2-4 week turnaround time on releases is really one of the most annoying aspects as a developer. It's a pain when you realize some minor bug slipped through testing, and because of their lame review process users have to wait for the fix while your software sits there with problems.
Apple thinks they're doing users a favor and helping with quality, but it has become the norm for apps to crash all the time across the board. We just can't get the fixes through fast enough to correct things.
It's also a problem with investment. People are less inclined to put larger sums of money into apps or try more experimental stuff because you never truly know if Apple is going to have a problem with it. Their review policies are so ridiculous and arbitrary that I don't even think they truly know what the rules are. I think it's more just luck depending on the whims of the specific reviewer, and they're not consistent.
Having said that, to their credit they tend to get some of the things right, and some of it is exactly due to their controlling nature. Their control makes some of the hardware a known quantity. There isn't as much consistency with other phones in terms of resolution or even specific UI features, including Android, so developing for those comes with other problems.
The best comparison is the iPod. Despite its flaws (I personally hate iTunes), it has still managed to maintain dominance as an mp3 player. Other players haven't caught on that some of the constraints do actually help them keep their control.
I'm sure that was intended as a slight, but it's just so quite accurate. I am content with those, as well as those cleared for sale through the store app within the device.
I'm also content with their design ethic that says amateur programmer/haxxorz do not get to brick my iPod.
I respect that one iPod broken by bad code not cleared by Apple reflects badly on all the working iPods.
Really, it's no more reasonable to assume you should be able to tell apple how to manage their business than it is to tell the Boingers how to run their site.
but many people tend to bend over and take it with a smile when it's Apple.
And now I know where your opinion emanates from.
I wrote a program that is in a top-25 category on the iphone, and has been for about seven months now. It's fun, and Apple has noticed. Like a lot of other companies, we were all thrilled to see our icon in some national ads placed by Apple.
But the review process is maddening and indefensible, and it has turned from a big fan of Apple into a bitter crank on the subject. I have many complaints, but I'll just point out three:
- Apple's "QA" process has not pointed out any bug of any kind. They've complained about icons, but they have done not one thing that would help any one of our customers. Who is being helped by this process? Not me. Not my customers. In fact, I've had releases delayed for weeks by Apple, while customers are complaining about bugs -- which were fixed weeks in the past!
- Because we are monitoring usage closely, we can see that the QA process is actually done inside of a day. They could certainly be doing static analysis, such as looking for private API usage, in the remainder of the time. And I've certainly suspected some things waited on a lawyer's desk until they were good and ready.
- In contrast, we released our application on the Android market recently. A minute to sign up, no charges, no reviews, no bullshit icon reviews. And when we had bugs, we had patches up on the site in minutes. It's as close to web publishing as mobile programming could be.
I was a big fan before I got involved in the iPhone. I look forward to when we can say that we're completely done with Apple.
How does Apple have such a wonderful reputation, and MS such crap? How different are they, really? Is making a nice UI enough to excuse anything they might do?
See this story about how some publishers are pulling back from the Android store. Just because it's open doesn't mean it's better (even if I wish it were). And it's time to face the facts: at this point, at least, the Android market is minuscule. I'm looking forward to seeing it grow, but as of right now, it's almost zero compared to the iPhone (Gameloft is selling 400 times more software on the iPhone).
Look, I have published 15 iPhone apps so far, and not one has been rejected. They're not trivial apps either. The developers who have a nervous breakdown every time Apple points out a problem in their app need to grow up. Sure, the review process is irritating, but you're getting into a unique marketplace, and it's owned by Apple. They make the rules. If you don't want to play by their rules, good luck selling your software somewhere else.
Frankly, the more I look at other mobile platforms, the more I like the iPhone.
Looks like Apple is the China of the digital world
Caveat: I just bought a new MacBook Pro which is Truly Awesome so I might be swayed. Though I have had both good and bad experiences.
They could be asking people to test it and get back to them. Whatever, all Apple needs to do is realize they have reached a threshold and need to at least communicate what the issue is. If they make a fast track for developers who already have stuff in the store they could solve this problem quickly. Apple can't afford to alienate its developers.
Currently I am considering whether or not to buy an iPhone too. If I do I might program for the iPhone. This recent bitching about how the App Store sucks is starting to turn me away from Apple which sucks since I love their products. If they need time, they should explain in detail WHY. If they are doing very good QA and must also submit to AT&T so they can be sure it won't break their network, well say so. LEAK IT, Apple! I find it hard to believe Apple would let this simmering pot boil over any further.
Nice article from Paul and great comments too. Android has been stroking my curiosity lately and I'm looking forward to learning more. What unnerves me about this discussion is the manner that brought me to this article- an online Droid ad specifically pointing out Apple's shortcomings. Genius or just dirty or are they just taking notes from Apple?
There are very few industry leaders but many followers. Seldom do followers really turn out into leaders. It will be good for all of us if Android is successful.