DailyTech - IPhone Facebook App Developer Quits Over Apple Policies

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Gadgets IPhone Facebook App Developer Quits Over Apple Policies
Shane McGlaun (Blog) - November 12, 2009 10:01 AM

54 comment(s) - last by pkoi.. on Nov 15 at 10:49 AM

“My decision to stop iPhone development has had everything to do with Apple’s policies.” – Joe Hewitt

In the early days of social networking, the dominant player was MySpace. As time went by, MySpace was joined by other players like Facebook and Twitter. MySpace has since lost the top position in the social networking world to Facebook.

In October, traffic numbers for September 2009 for social networking sites came in and Facebook had over 300 million users, pushing MySpace to second place in user numbers. One of the things that Facebook users on the iPhone enjoy and that contributed to the user numbers is the Facebook iPhone app, which is the most popular app on the App Store.

The developer that built the Facebook app for the iPhone has quit development for the iPhone and passed the app off to another engineer at Facebook. TechCrunch reports that Facebook App developer Joe Hewitt is still at Facebook and is simply working on new projects.

Exactly what projects the Hewitt is working on are unknown. As for the reason why the developer stopped developing for the iPhone, the reason is clear. Hewitt said, "My decision to stop iPhone development has had everything to do with Apple’s policies." Hewitt says that he is "philosophically opposed" to the existence of a review process and that he is worried Apple's policy might be implemented by other companies seeking to mimic Apple's App store success.

Apple has been under increasing scrutiny for its practices of approving and disapproving apps that are seemingly haphazardly enforced. Apple has found itself in hot water with the FCC after the FCC asked AT&T and Apple to explain why they rejected Google Voice from the App Store.

One particularly tough question the FCC posed to the AT&T and Apple was, "Do any devices that operate on AT&T’s network allow use of the Google Voice application? Do any devices that operate on AT&T’s network allow use of other applications that have been rejected for the iPhone."

Despite Hewitt's stepping away form iPhone development for Facebook, the social networking giant still has people working on its iPhone application. Perhaps the action by a high profile developer will spur others to speak out about the Apple app approval process.

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RE: If you don't like Ts & Cs...

By Bateluer on 11/12/2009 11:41:21 AM , Rating: 2

When I explain the benefits of free software to an individual and clear and simple terms, they understand fully and agree with me. And then they fall for marketing and buy the proprietary product regardless.

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RE: If you don't like Ts & Cs...

By ebakke on 11/12/2009 11:44:50 AM , Rating: 5

Alternatively, it could be that they value things differently than you do.

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RE: If you don't like Ts & Cs...

By invidious on 11/12/2009 1:01:25 PM , Rating: 2

Acting on priciple usually causes more greef than acting based on pleasure/pain. Stupidity has nothing to do with it. Either path of reasoning can result in a stupid decision.

Judging people's inteligence based solely upon their actions is what is stupid.

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RE: If you don't like Ts & Cs...

By inighthawki on 11/12/2009 12:53:49 PM , Rating: 4

Free software mostcertainly has its advantages, but surely you cannot always believe that every single person values that product more, can you? People explain open office to me all the time, and I completely agree that it's awesome and, in fact, very useful, productive, and is a great suite of tools. I, on the other hand, still prefer MS Office. Sure it costs more than free, and for what I use it for, I barely make use of the special advantages of what Office offers, but I like MS Office better. I find the quality of the product superior and am willing to pay more, despite the fact that Open Office meets my needs. You cannot say that these people are falling for marketing. some people prefer MACs despite being very closed to software development and as such has fewer applications, and some people prefer Windows, or even Linux for the matter.

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RE: If you don't like Ts & Cs...

By damianrobertjones on 11/12/2009 4:29:11 PM , Rating: 1

Nope. Falling for marketing, especially the younger generations.

When I was young you weren't cool unless you had the £120 trainers of the latest track suit. We bugged parents and they gave in, at times. I never had the £120 trainers or the fancy track suits but I did have cheaper versions

Now, Jimmy, the complete rich kid has the latest iPhone/iPod and thus you're not cool if you don't own an iPod/iPhone. In the last two weeks alone, 5 parents have asked me about ipods and I've suggested different manufacturers etc. The next day, "Nope, he won't budge"

Marketing and social order win over COMMON SENSE.

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RE: If you don't like Ts & Cs...

By Spuke on 11/12/2009 7:16:23 PM , Rating: 2

quote:
Marketing and social order win over COMMON SENSE.

Not saying it's right but this is the way it is. Children especially need to "fit in". A free thinking child is an oxymoron.

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RE: If you don't like Ts & Cs...

By kmmatney on 11/12/2009 10:58:26 PM , Rating: 2

I recommend iPods over other brands, because I know it is a quality product that will last. I've tried other brands of MP3 players (Sansa and Cowon) and they both had their issues. The Sansa died in less than a year, and the Cowon was buggy and a pain to use. So I sold the Cowon and bought an Ipod nano (2nd gen) which was taken a lot of abuse and still works great. AT least you know you are getting a quality product with the iPod.

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RE: If you don't like Ts & Cs...

By AshT on 11/13/2009 2:29:28 AM , Rating: 2

This is a funny post.

When I was young trainers cost a top whack of £20, it was cool to slag off Apple computers and buy PCs.

Oh wait ... how the debates grow old and never get settled.

Now I have experience, money and intelligence I am apparently one of the zombie crowd for owning Apple products?

lol you fkers crack me up!

Incidentally I own WinXP, Vista and Win7 on laptops and desktops as well. All, including the Mac have their own uses. One day you may see through the BS mist as well.

Finally: iPod is the best MP3 player on the market, if you recommended other brands then I do wonder if you are as clued up as you think ...

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RE: If you don't like Ts & Cs...

By someguy123 on 11/13/2009 4:41:23 AM , Rating: 2

I wouldn't say the Ipod is the best mp3 player on the market. Cowon and Iriver make better quality (sound wise) mp3 players, although I'm not sure if they can match ipod's hard drive capacities. If you need small size, the ipod nanos probably are the best on the market, but for the regular sized ipods there do exist better alternatives.

Anyway, I do have to agree somewhat with the other poster. Apple's marketing has worked incredibly well and they're "perceived" as high quality due to this, regardless of actual build quality or parts. There is the case of different strokes for different folks, but so many people purchase apple just for the logo. In college so many people walk around with huge, expensive apple laptops and use it for basic tasks like surfing the internet.

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RE: If you don't like Ts & Cs...

By AshT on 11/13/2009 5:52:24 AM , Rating: 2

Apples market cap went from (roughly) $25billion in 2003 to $181.93billion today.

That's not marketing, that's a hugely successful business and brand that easily compete with Google and Microsoft in the tech sector and is gaining more ground with more innovative products. Let's see what happens when the new tablet comes out. I wish them all the luck because I love it when companies push boundaries.

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RE: If you don't like Ts & Cs...

By seamonkey79 on 11/13/2009 8:32:14 AM , Rating: 2

...through marketing... You can't sell a product without marketing it, and Apple managed to market their standard (for the most part) stuff as cool. Combine that with the first real online music/video distribution method and they've cornered the market, even though they have melting batteries, guest accounts that wipe accounts, and relatively poor sound quality. While Apple certainly does not have the BEST products on the market, they do have the COOLEST on the market, and that's more important than quality.

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RE: If you don't like Ts & Cs...

By B3an on 11/13/2009 8:53:53 AM , Rating: 2

No, it's marketing. Any remotely intelligent person knows the best thing Apple is good at, is marketing, and this is the biggest reason they sell products.

If you dont market your products well they will not sell no matter how good they are (i can list TONS of other companies with great products that sell poorly because of bad marketing).

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