14 DAY TRIAL // iOS developer Sparkling Apps has seen its “Voice Answer” application rejected by Apple because, as the iPhone makers themselves put it, “the app is too similar to Siri.”
Cupertino sent Sparkling Apps an email, to justify the rejection.
The computer giant said (via 9to5mac) “We found that your app does not comply with the Guidelines for Using Apple’s Trademarks and Copyrights, as required by the App Store Review Guidelines.”
“Apps that relate to Siri are not in compliance with the App Store Review Guidelines as Siri is an Apple product, and therefore covered by our Trademarks and Copyrights guidelines.”
Apple advised Sparkling Apps to revise their app concept, application name, and even the marketing text to address the trademark issues, seemingly giving them another chance to have Voice Answer approved in the App Store.
Apple further offered links and instructions for proper app design, and added “Also, we found that your app includes a feature, or features, that mimic an iOS interface or behavior, which is not in compliance with the App Store Review Guidelines.”
“Specifically, the app is too similar to Siri,” the company outright said.
Unlike Siri on the iPhone 4S, Voice Answer actually features a real character named Eve, who looks strikingly similar to the main character in the movie i-Robot. However, Eve does seem to have a similar voice to that of Siri (video embedded below).
“It would be appropriate to remove or revise these features to make them distinctly different from the iOS behaviors and interfaces to avoid causing user confusion,” Apple stressed. “While the guideline specifies iPod interfaces, the spirit of the guideline includes all iOS interfaces and behaviors.”
There are quite a few Siri clones in the App Store today, and Apple seems fine with having all iDevice owners try them out.
In fact, Sparkling apps has another assistant-app called Voice Ask, which uses Evi’s True Knowledge database. That one’s fine, as far as Apple is concerned.
However, it seems that Apple will reject any apps using Siri’s Wolfram Alpha database - the same one used by Siri.
Voice Answer is currently available in the Android Marketplace for smartphones powered by Google's popular mobile operating system.
