14 DAY TRIAL // Cromulent Labs founder Greg Gardner recently coded a solution that took advantage of iOS 8 to let you put favorite apps in Notification Center’s new widget section. As it turns out, Apple doesn’t want you using your phone that way.
Apple takes the liberty to remove apps without warning when it finds something seriously wrong with them. In this case, they contacted Gardner and told him what to tweak in his app so that it wouldn’t get removed.
Dev had the chance to right his “wrong”
Launcher allowed functionality like calling favorites, setting up routes in Maps that could be accessed with one tap, create a Facebook post instantly, or launch favorite apps.
Gardner seems to be the proud type. Apple instructed him to remove this functionality (essentially beating the purpose of the app), but he refused. The company, therefore, yanked his app from iTunes.
“I regret to inform you that my app, Launcher - Favorites at your Fingertips, is no longer available on the App Store. Apple contacted me on September 23, 2014 and told me that they have decided to disallow any Notification Center widget that lets you launch other apps. Their only reason was that it is a ‘misuse’ of widgets, even though there are no written rules to this effect and the app was originally approved by them,” he reveals.
Apple didn’t like the update
Gardner explains that Apple gave him time to release an update and make do without the Notification Center widget. He actually tried to comply at first, by creating what he calls “a valid compromise where every click on the widget always goes back to the Launcher app first which then redirects you to your target app.” This didn’t cut it.
“This was submitted on Friday, September 26 and within an hour, Apple rejected the fix and then took Launcher down from the App Store.”
He now refuses to code up a new version that completely disables this functionality.
If you own it, you can still use it
The bad news is that anyone who doesn’t have the app installed can’t get it anymore. The good news is that people who do have it installed get to keep it, use it, and even update it with new actions. Also, Gardner plans to support Launcher as long as he can.
However, Apple’s actions have left a bitter taste in his mouth. According to his post, he has no plans to continue developing iOS apps, adding that “this decision shows that they still feel they know what is best for the users.”