Comments on: Google admits breaking App Store rules

Google Mobile uses undocumented techniques that are supposed to be off-limits to iPhone developers in order to make its verbal search feature work with an iPhone sensor.

[gggg sssss]

turkeys are on vacation this time of year? LOL

[Jim Hubbard]

meh

[Dani210]

nice, and its a real word too now

[TxTom21]

What...Google deny that it is trying to take over the internet?? It's got to be the complete gospel truth!

[kojacked]

Just goes to show you that EVERY tech company has the capacity to do evil especially the bigger they get.

[DarkHawke]

Kinda evil being done to the evil in this case, wouldn't you say? Sure, going off the Apple prescription isn't the best thing for Google to have done, but the whole App Store walled garden thing is pretty heinous itself. I'm no Google fanboy, but in this case, hell yeah! Take 'em down! Storm the Bastille! The sooner Apple sheds (or is forced out of) this authoritarian development model for "third-party" apps on the iPhone, the better.

Time was you could develop for any platform without that platform's company determining if you could or not. However if you didn't develop as they suggested, you were S.O.L. if whatever liberties you took with your code got broken by later OS revisions. It's time everyone, Apple included, stop looking at the iPhone as a phone that can run apps, and start looking at it as a handheld computer with a dedicated phone function. Because that's what it is. If adding simple, reasonable and expected functionality (*cough*cutandpaste*cough*) can cause security or functionality issues, effin' FIX THEM! If just once in a while The Jobs could look at his company as a top-level competitor in an important market, instead of a home for his personal whims and pet projects, Apple and the computing world at large might be in a MUCH better place.

[alan_06]

Closed door environment is Apple's business mantra and it's working for them. I don't think they're going to open any of their doors soon (not even a 'window' ;) ).

'cos if they open, they knew their product will become unsecured and will expose them to security issues and will have to do regular patching/updates (will be no different from Windows then)

I thought Apple users and anyone developing tools for their products are already aware of this limitation. No idea why Google took the decision to break that rule. I would say Google to keep their hopes as low as possible. They'll likely have to redo their coding.

[burkestar]

I agree that Apple's gatekeeper approach works for them as well as for the users of their devices. Besides the security issue, this approach leads to more consistent UIs and higher quality community contributed Apps. Overall the usability of the iPhone is better for it. And based on the sheer size of the App Store, its clear that Apple is not standing in the way of innovation, so what's the big deal?

[iertry]

I hope Apple deals with this the way the would any other app. Sure we could lose some of the features of googles app but it's not fair on developers. Some spend long periods of time developing an app only to get it pulled at the last minute. It is not fair that Google, because it is a big company, doesn't have to abide by the same rules.

[jeffellishobbs]

This is pretty much the most important issue ever.

[AppleSuxLeo]

Boy...just wait till that Syrian Jew finds out !

[ittesi259]

You know it wouldn't surprise me for Apple (or anyone else) to give Google special privelages....but if Google thinks they can admit it and Apple not force a rewrite from the backlash alone....wow Google has got some stones...

[RompStar_420]

Meh is a real word now, Bah is also my favorite, Linux is also doing it's own thing, OS X don't need to do crap, because they are doing good, if the market forces ever change, then maybe :- )

[dcornish]

I blogged about this a few days ago. This just goes a bit further to my thesis that Google held a gun to Apple's head to release their app. With the pre-release video and all of the hype about this app, Apple HAD TO RELEASE IT. This is the reason why it took a few extra days for Apple to approve it. http://blog.cosential.com/?p=104

[Get_Bent]

Here's an idea: Why doesn't Apple document the APIs for using the iPhone's proximity sensor to prompt a verbal search? The APIs exist, and they obviously work, so why aren't they documented for developers to access? Is there some legitimate reason for _not_ using this feature, or is it simply flagged "For Apple's Use Only"?

What Google did was the spirit of hacking. If it works, and it doesn't break anything else in the iPhone, I see nothing wrong with it. If Apple does a future update that breaks Google's app, then it's Google's job to fix their program.

[Vegaman_Dan]

Apple's vetting process is under the microscope now. Unless they ban Google's app from the Apps Store as they have done with others in the past for violating the SDK limitations, then they will make it blatantly clear that they play favorites with some companies and developers and not with others. A nice level playing field for all was the idea, but the reality is that the field has a lot of rocks, hills and sinkholes in it.

I expect it's largely a matter of who you are and what sort of money you have that really determines the treatment you get with Apple. I have no evidence whatsoever to prove this, but that is the impression that Apple is giving with their actions of late.

[RLBrandt]

Tom -- isn't the real question why Apple is hiding these APIs from software developers? Could it be so it can keep all the really cool apps to itself?

[JBSimmons]

The issue is HOW did you find the undocumented APIs in the first place. Apple should have marked all undocumented ones "RESERVED". That was the proper way to do it. MSFT did that in DOS APIs. Just so happens that bad code gets released and as long as it's not used, no problem. But use it and the API is rewritten for something else, there will be hell to be paid. MSFT has done this over and over in the last 25 years. When will today's programmers LEARN from history. It has a bad habit of repeating itself.

[Topspin14]

Why do we care? How about Apple allows good programs that work well to be available in the store, and crappy buggy ones aren't allowed on. Or...they could allow all 3rd party programs and let consumers decide what they like and don't like. Jeez this doesn't have to be that difficult.

P.S. I'm not a developer...just a person with common sense.