Apple removes iOS app chronicling victims of US drone strikes

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Comments

  • Reply 41 of 84
    thedbathedba Posts: 762member
    apple ][ wrote: »
    That's a bunch of baloney. This app wasn't pulled for a random reason, just because somebody felt like it. Apple has their specific reasons for denying and pulling certain apps.

    If an app developer chooses to make an app that might be controversial, or politically controversial, then they are probably taking a risk. If somebody wishes to gamble on something, then they would be wise to choose something that gives them decent odds. I would venture to guess that apps of this nature does not give a gambler decent odds. :)

    I'm not an app developer, but if I were, I wouldn't have wasted my time making such an app, because I am smart enough to know that there might be issues with it, due to its highly political and controversial nature, and because of Apple's past history when it comes to controversial topics and apps.:smokey:
    Everything you say, screams "thought police".
  • Reply 42 of 84

    There is a slippery slope here, in that the information presented as the truth may or may not actually be true. In this case, yes, the people behind it seem to be acting like journalists and are likely adhering to some kind of ethical standard. But the case could easily be otherwise.

     

    Things like this can be manipulated to become something far from the truth -- Apple cannot allow itself to be put into a position where it is basically vetting news organizations. The risk of damage from being drawn into political storms is too great.

     

    People will bring up Fox News, which I'm sure must have an app, right? I guess I'd respond that a line has to be drawn somewhere. Fox News is at least under scrutiny as "mainstream media" -- regardless of how little they care about actual journalistic standards and what the watchdogs think.

     

    Is there a solution? Maybe some kind of independent, international journalistic standards group could be used to vet things like this and serve as a gatekeeper. At this point, however, I don't think such an organization exists. But maybe an existing institution could take on the role? I don't know.

     

    That said, only a complete fool would deny that this is part of the future of news and journalism. This kind of focused reporting and news aggregation is not going away, and can't be ignored. Solutions need to be found. Apple could contribute by leading the way here.

  • Reply 43 of 84
    And yet I can't delete the Apple Watch app from my phone.
  • Reply 44 of 84
    slurpyslurpy Posts: 5,382member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by iGroucho View Post



    Yep, many things in life are "objectionable" but I sure don't want Apple to big brother me. Apples policy in this respect is very "objectionable" and offensive.

     

    I don't agree with the removal of this specific app, but their store, their rules, regardless.  There's nothing objectionable about that. Just make it a mobile site, since there's a good chance of stuff like this being pulled. 

  • Reply 45 of 84
    slurpyslurpy Posts: 5,382member
    Quote:

    Originally Posted by bcode View Post

     

    Wow.  Everyone seems to be completely missing the point here...

     

    This isn't about Censorship, or Terrorists or "Those people" (as 'troll-boy' over here so eloquently put it).

     

    This is about a Developer who spent countless hours/days/weeks/months building an App -- an App that Apple could have rejected but instead APPROVED FOR SALE, only to reverse course sometime later citing completely ambiguous rules.  This is about the inability to create an App that Apple can't remove, because the rules are so incredibly loose, that literally anything you create can be yanked, for any reason, at any time.

     

    It's incredibly arrogant of Apple to expect developers to continue to invest in an eco-system that can change it's mind anytime it likes -- and render months of hard work moot.  As an App Developer, this kind of news is incredibly disheartening.


     

    1. Eh, no. You're exaggerating quite a bit there. Anyone with an ounce of rationality could predict that an app like this has a GOOD chance of being yanked. Your "literally anything" is pushing it, and is pretty much bullshit. Every single story I've read of an app being pulled, I could at least understand Apple's logic, nothing has seemed completely "random" to me, even if the rules obviously can't be consistently applied to millions of apps. 

     

    2. No, it's not arrogant of Apple, since the iOS appstore is by FAR the healthiest and most successful digital appstore and ecosystem on the planet, with the most payout to devs, the most users, and the most usage. What the hell are the alternatives? Android? Windows phone? Stop pretending as if devs can eschew iOS at any time. They invest in it because it benefits THEM, not because of some sense of altruism towards Apple. Devs are not going anywhere, cause there's nowhere else to go, and won't be for the forseeable future. Apple has built an unbelievable platform for developers, democratizing the concept, and an app being pulled is not going to change that. 

  • Reply 46 of 84
    Quote:

    Originally Posted by SpamSandwich View Post

     
    Quote:

    Originally Posted by libertyforall View Post



    Apple is going over the top with app restrictions!  




    Sorry, but Apple is a privately owned company and it's completely up to them to decide which apps are allowed or not allowed. People are free to choose or not choose Apple products if this is important to them.

    Apple is a public company. It's shares are publicly owned by many shareholders and any member of the public is free to purchase shares of Apple on the stock exchange.

     

    A privately owned company has it's shares held by relatively few people. Examples of privately owned companies are Koch Industries and Cargill.

  • Reply 47 of 84
    moxommoxom Posts: 326member
    Quote:

    Originally Posted by jungmark View Post



    Is there app that counts up all the victims killed by terrorists?

     

    Yes.

     

    It is called Metadata+, the very App Apple removed! :) 

  • Reply 48 of 84
    dasanman69dasanman69 Posts: 13,002member
    slurpy wrote: »
    igroucho wrote: »
    Yep, many things in life are "objectionable" but I sure don't want Apple to big brother me. Apples policy in this respect is very "objectionable" and offensive.

    I don't agree with the removal of this specific app, but their store, their rules, regardless.  There's nothing objectionable about that. Just make it a mobile site, since there's a good chance of stuff like this being pulled. 

    It won't get pulled from the Web but it'll get killed from everyone using ad blockers. Either way Apple effectively shuts this guy down.
  • Reply 49 of 84
    SpamSandwichSpamSandwich Posts: 33,407member
    techlover wrote: »
    Apple is a public company. It's shares are publicly owned by many shareholders and any member of the public is free to purchase shares of Apple on the stock exchange.

    A privately owned company has it's shares held by relatively few people. Examples of privately owned companies are Koch Industries and Cargill.

    It's not a propaganda arm of the government. That is the main point.
  • Reply 50 of 84
    SpamSandwichSpamSandwich Posts: 33,407member
    dasanman69 wrote: »
    It won't get pulled from the Web but it'll get killed from everyone using ad blockers. Either way Apple effectively shuts this guy down.

    Not "everyone" is using some kind of ad blocker. The hysteria over this is ludicrous.

    People should also consider that Apple may have received complaints from members of our own military, causing them to repeatedly pull this dev's apps.
  • Reply 51 of 84
    dasanman69dasanman69 Posts: 13,002member
    dasanman69 wrote: »
    It won't get pulled from the Web but it'll get killed from everyone using ad blockers. Either way Apple effectively shuts this guy down.

    Not "everyone" is using some kind of ad blocker. The hysteria over this is ludicrous.

    Not everyone has an iPhone, but Apple makes over 90% of the profits, and iOS users are routinely the highest Web visitors. It doesn't have to be everyone to have a profound effect.
  • Reply 52 of 84
    Thank you Apple for not supporting the professional victims.. the mullahs and their supporters that have learnt to play the west. More people are killed by their senseless suicide bombings, rape, crucifictions, lynchings, etc. than by drone strikes.
  • Reply 53 of 84
    zoetmbzoetmb Posts: 2,654member
    Quote:

    Originally Posted by lkrupp View Post

     



    It’s an app store, not a political venue. There are plenty of political websites and venues other than the App Store to disseminate political statements, opinions, and propaganda of all political spectrums. I applaud Apple keeping politics out of the App Store as much as possible. 




    If this exact same information had appeared in the app version of the NY Times, would Apple have censored it?    They wouldn't have and as such, there's absolutely no reason why they should have objections to this.   If it had been a satirical game, I could understand objections.   But if it's based upon facts, there's absolutely no logic to keeping this out of the store.  It's valid information and Apple shouldn't be censoring it.   

     

    Since there are plenty of publication apps that can be purchased in the app store, Apple should absolutely NOT be trying to keep politics out of the App Store.   Let's say someone came up with an app that showed the corporate contributions to each political candidate or an app that showed how districts are gerrymandered by the political parties.   Should that be kept out of the app store as well?   How about one that shows incidence of crime compared to unemployment numbers?   Again, all valid and far more useful and informative than 90% of the trivial crap in the store.  

     

    Now that this is public, I bet the decision gets reversed.    

  • Reply 54 of 84
    Quote:

    Originally Posted by SpamSandwich View Post

     
    Quote:

    Originally Posted by TechLover View Post



    Apple is a public company. It's shares are publicly owned by many shareholders and any member of the public is free to purchase shares of Apple on the stock exchange.



    A privately owned company has it's shares held by relatively few people. Examples of privately owned companies are Koch Industries and Cargill.




    It's not a propaganda arm of the government. That is the main point.

    Just pointing out the difference between privately owned and publicly owned.

     

    As you say in your signature "Proud AAPL stock owner". If AAPL was a privately held company it would be unlikely you or anyone else here would be a proud stock holder of AAPL. 

     

    That was the main point.

  • Reply 55 of 84

    I knew Apple was part of the MIC (military industrial complex) the minute Steve Jobs pulled the Wikileaks app. A group reporting the shooting of unarmed journalists is unacceptable but reporting the shooting is a crime. Search Top Whisleblowers to see what happens to those who tell the truth. Then see what happens to the criminals: either nothing or they get rewarded and promoted. Not one military official responsible for the safety of America got reprimanded after 9/11 and several were accused of blatant lies by the commission that looked into it. That's the world we live in.

  • Reply 56 of 84
    I find the removal of this app to be objectionable. The content was not objectionable in the slightest. It sounds informative. The media almost never covers drone strikes any more. Somehow the idea that a person sitting thousands of miles away making life and death decisions about tiny human shaped dots on a screen has become ordinary rather than the war crime it truly is.
  • Reply 57 of 84
    Quote:

    Originally Posted by bcode View Post

     

    This is about a Developer who spent countless hours/days/weeks/months building an App -- an App that Apple could have rejected but instead APPROVED FOR SALE, only to reverse course sometime later citing completely ambiguous rules.  This is about the inability to create an App that Apple can't remove, because the rules are so incredibly loose, that literally anything you create can be yanked, for any reason, at any time.


     

    As a developer with a dozen apps in the App Store, I would say that it is not literally this bad, but it sure feels this bad. I've had 20 versions of an app approved, then suddenly rejected, then I submitted another version and it was approved again. The rules used to reject it were ambiguous and when I asked Apple for clarification, they didn't provide any. It is nerve-wracking every time I submit an app update to Apple because I know they could suddenly decide to reject it for any small reason. This feeling of anxiety is strongest when I'm trying to release an important bug fix. I have had bug fixes held up for weeks because of some weird rejection that was later overturned with no explanation. This is the main reason I expanded into Android development a couple years ago. It's less profitable, but trusting my entire business to an opaque and unpredictable review process is too much of a risk.

     

    BTW, in my case Apple has never pulled my current version from the store, but has rejected a new update, even if the issue they flagged in the new update also existed in the current for-sale version. It would be more logical to pull the current version from the store as well. I guess I should feel lucky, but those kinds of contradictions in the process just reduce my trust in the system further.

  • Reply 58 of 84
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by GrangerFX View Post



    I find the removal of this app to be objectionable. The content was not objectionable in the slightest. It sounds informative. The media almost never covers drone strikes any more. Somehow the idea that a person sitting thousands of miles away making life and death decisions about tiny human shaped dots on a screen has become ordinary rather than the war crime it truly is.

     

    Yeah, because there was never collateral damage from bunker busters or daisy cutters being dropped by manned aircraft on the human-shaped dots. That tragedy only started when UASs started buzzing around /s

  • Reply 59 of 84
    dysamoriadysamoria Posts: 3,430member
    The attitudes of certain people here are wholly unshocking.

    Anyway, the comparison of this app with news apps is excellent. If Apple steps in here, there's a slippery slope and I would wonder about their policies everywhere else that information is reported. Such as Apple's newly hyped News app...
  • Reply 60 of 84
    arlomedia wrote: »
    As a developer with a dozen apps in the App Store, I would say that it is not literally this bad, but it sure feels this bad. I've had 20 versions of an app approved, then suddenly rejected, then I submitted another version and it was approved again. The rules used to reject it were ambiguous and when I asked Apple for clarification, they didn't provide any. It is nerve-wracking every time I submit an app update to Apple because I know they could suddenly decide to reject it for any small reason. This feeling of anxiety is strongest when I'm trying to release an important bug fix. I have had bug fixes held up for weeks because of some weird rejection that was later overturned with no explanation. This is the main reason I expanded into Android development a couple years ago. It's less profitable, but trusting my entire business to an opaque and unpredictable review process is too much of a risk.

    BTW, in my case Apple has never pulled my current version from the store, but has rejected a new update, even if the issue they flagged in the new update also existed in the current for-sale version. It would be more logical to pull the current version from the store as well. I guess I should feel lucky, but those kinds of contradictions in the process just reduce my trust in the system further.

    Out of curiosity, I have a question for you.

    Are you a full-time developer and do you make most or all of your living from your app sales?
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