14 DAY TRIAL // The bad press surrounding Apple's turning down several iPhone applications has prompted the company to clarify that rejected developers should also not whine about it. This may not be the first time Apple is outlining the principles upon which its iPhone Developer Program is based, although several Mac-based sites regard this as something new.
During the past two months or so, Apple has denied quite a number of applications from entering the App Store, for one reason or another. Podcaster, for instance, allowed users to download and stream podcasts directly from the Internet, instead of having to download them through iTunes, so Apple said this duplicated functionality of its media playing app.
With MailWrangler, the situation wasn't any different. Since it allowed users to stay logged in to multiple GMail accounts at the same time, Apple considered it duplicated the functionality of its own Mail application. It is yet unclear how exactly Apple's Mail would have had to suffer from this (unless Apple is planning to add new functionality to the app).
Some of the first developers rejected openly protested against Apple's criteria of comparing some app features with their own, noting that the Cupertino-based iPhone maker hadn't properly outlined some of the terms of development in the iPhone Developer Program agreement. With this precedent created, more developers started shooting their mouths off, some making a good point, others... not so much. Recently, however, Apple too has decided to speak up, loud enough so everyone can understand that the information contained in its rejection statements falls under the NDA – non disclosure agreement: “THE INFORMATION CONTAINED IN THIS MESSAGE IS UNDER NON-DISCLOSURE,” reads Apple's developer correspondence.
Still, it should be noted that Apple may have already stated this in the past, while frustrated developers probably left it out in their respective posts. Whether or not this is true, it is known for a fact that some developers (Exposure) have ceased their activity solely because of Apple's policies tied to the iPhone Developer Program. “'I'm out' doesn't mean I'm pulling Exposure from the store. All it means is I'm not going to invest time and money into new ideas for the iPhone until this mess is resolved.” this particular dev said.