Awhile back, I wrote that developers that wanted to write iPhone apps should just deal with Apple and the AppStore approval process as the upside of getting an app in the AppStore could be huge. Well, I’ve read lots of stories about the AppStore approval process and my views have changed a bit. Apple rejecting Google’s Google Voice app and pulling other Google Voice apps really would have ticked me off as it could easily have happened to me. When I created GrandDialer last summer (GrandCentral turned into Google Voice and GrandDialer was basically the first Google Voice app), my only problem getting it in the AppStore was that I had to change the color of the dialpad so it didn’t look like the iPhone’s dialpad. Then the stories about dictionary apps having to get a 17+ rating because you can find bad words in it is just baffling.
I’m not sure I’d want to create an app for the iPhone now without some financial backing as the risk is too great for me to go at it alone. I could spend a lot of time on an app and only have it rejected by Apple with little to no explanation why. Maybe Apple could review the ideas first (yes, I realize that is a huge undertaking), but it could help out developers that want to invest time. Even if developers had to pay some amount for this, it would definitely be worth it.
Am I going to develop for another platform? For better or worse, I really don’t write code anymore. The iPhone platform is great for developing, but the closed nature of the AppStore makes it a crapshoot to develop applications that will see the light of day. Is the Pre or Android any better? I have no idea. The huge success of the iPhone has caused a huge following and lots of applications; if the other platforms were this successful, would they see problems with their stores? Maybe. There must be a better way to not tick off developers as people acknowledge that the availability of apps makes or breaks a smartphone.