As frustration mounts, Apple lifts veil on iPhone app approvals

Apple is updating its Developer Center website to enable iPhone and iPod touch application developers to track the status of their software as it makes its way through the App Store approval process. Citing reports from iPhone developers, AppleInsider notes Apple has broken down App Store approvals into nine status levels, including "In Review," "Ready for Sale" and "Rejected," indicating to programmers where in the process their software presently stands. Developers were previously kept in the dark until their iPhone app was either approved and added to the App Store or rejected.

The App Store policy update arrives concurrent with Facebook developer Joe Hewitt's public vow to quit developing for the iPhone, blaming Apple's approval policies. "Time for me to try something new," Hewitt writes [1] on his Twitter page. "I've handed the Facebook iPhone app off to another engineer, and I'm onto a new project." TechCrunch reached out [2] to Hewitt to clarify his comments, and he said "My decision to stop iPhone development has had everything to do with Apple's policies. I respect their right to manage their platform however they want, however I am philosophically opposed to the existence of their review process. I am very concerned that they are setting a horrible precedent for other software platforms, and soon gatekeepers will start infesting the lives of every software developer." The Facebook application remains one of the most downloaded in App Store history.

Developer frustration over Apple's often mysterious and inconsistent decision-making processes has been a constant of the App Store ecosystem since the virtual storefront first launched--this summer, Apple senior vice president Phil Schiller finally responded [3] to the controversies when he contacted Matchstick Software, the startup behind digital dictionary Ninjawords, to explain why its iPhone app failed the review process. Schiller also emailed [4] Steven Frank, co-founder of development firm Panic, after Frank threatened to boycott the App Store following rejection of his ereader application.

For more on the App Store approval update:
- read this AppleInsider article [5]