Apple publicly posted official answers to queries from the Federal Communications Commission, stating that, contrary to media reports, Google Voice was not rejected from the App Store, but rather held off for further reviewing by the approval team. Additionally, Apple confirmed it was the sole decision maker in the move.

As usual, the company behind the Mac operating system made its statements sound as sincere as possible by beginning with a few important notes about its App Store, the application review and approval process, as well as the company’s policies and practices.

Apple then proceeded to systematically responding to questions like, “Why did Apple reject the Google Voice application for iPhone and remove related third-party applications from its App Store?;” “Which [other] related third-party applications were removed or have been rejected?;” “Did Apple act alone, or in consultation with AT&T, in deciding to reject the Google Voice application and related applications?,” and so on. For our readers, we have posted a portion of the published report below.

Contrary to published reports, Apple has not rejected the Google Voice application, and continues to study it. The application has not been approved because, as submitted for review, it appears to alter the iPhone’s distinctive user experience by replacing the iPhone’s core mobile telephone functionality and Apple user interface with its own user interface for telephone calls, text messaging and voicemail. Apple spent a lot of time and effort developing this distinct and innovative way to seamlessly deliver core functionality of the iPhone. For example, on an iPhone, the “Phone” icon that is always shown at the bottom of the Home Screen launches Apple’s mobile telephone application, providing access to Favorites, Recents, Contacts, a Keypad, and Visual Voicemail. The Google Voice application replaces Apple’s Visual Voicemail by routing calls through a separate Google Voice telephone number that stores any voicemail, preventing voicemail from being stored on the iPhone, i.e., disabling Apple’s Visual Voicemail. Similarly, SMS text messages are managed through the Google hub—replacing the iPhone’s text messaging feature. In addition, the iPhone user’s entire Contacts database is transferred to Google’s servers, and we have yet to obtain any assurances from Google that this data will only be used in appropriate ways. These factors present several new issues and questions to us that we are still pondering at this time.

The following applications also fall into this category.
Name: GVDialer / GVDialer Lite
Developer: MobileMax
info@mobile-mx.com
Name: VoiceCentral
Developer: Riverturn, Inc.
4819 Emperor Blvd., Suite 400
Durham, NC 27703
Name: GV Mobile / GV Mobile Free
Developer: Sean Kovacs
sean@seankovacs.com

We are continuing to study the Google Voice application and its potential impact on the iPhone user experience. Google is of course free to provide Google Voice on the iPhone as a web application through Apple’s Safari browser, just as they do for desktop PCs, or to provide its “Google-branded” user experience on other phones, including Android-based phones, and let consumers make their choices.

Apple also pointed out to the FCC that it had not consulted with AT&T about whether or not to approve the Google Voice application, thus revealing it had acted alone in holding off the app. “No contractual conditions or non-contractual understandings with AT&T have been a factor in Apple’s decision-making process in this matter,” the company added. The full story can be found here, on Apple’s website.