I had a client reach out a little over two weeks ago ready to release their new app. I submitted it on a Monday, on Tuesday it was rejected. App Store asked for a video of the app working (showing all screens including account deletion flow, never been asked for this before) and a bunch of other information, including what back end services I used, never had that happen before either, but OK, I answered all the questions even the ones that I thought Apple had no business knowing. I resubmitted it within four hours after the rejection.

That app was still waiting for review over a week later. I filed two different expedite requests (despite getting a success screen both times, I never got an email from Apple, so I wasn’t sure if it went through) and I filed a developer support ticket. All of that resulted in absolutely nothing, and I’m still waiting now on the app to be reviewed over a week and a half later.

And that client? Yeah the app was for a Pizza Week event in their town, which is ending tomorrow, the app never launched. Thankfully I also had a mobile-friendly website but they are, obviously, not happy. Yes, a week was short notice and they should have reached out sooner to get the ball rolling but also I’m not at all accustomed to app review taking that long. A week was the worst I had seen in the last few months so 10 days of silence is a new record.

Expedited review is just a joke I guess.

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officeplant 9 hours ago | parent | next [-]

>Yeah the app was for a Pizza Week event in their town

Really begs the question of why this ever had to be an app in the first place. Even if we already have app platforms for events to use.

This could have been a single pdf download from the towns event page on a website.

I won't even install an app for a well known company, let alone some single event. The world has gone insane.

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preg_match 9 hours ago | parent [-]

It didn’t have to be an app, but Apple and Google heavily push apps as “the way” to do things on their platforms. They purposefully nerf their browsers and make in-browser applications harder to use.

It’s obvious why, they get much more control over apps and they like that. They also get to siphon off more money this way through in-app purchases and subscriptions.

Many, maybe even most, apps don’t require very many native features. Even something like notifications can be done in a browser and they are on desktop. But they’re still turned into apps, because apps are easier to use. You get a nice icon you can click.

You also get this strange phenomenon where a lot of apps are literally just web views + maybe a couple native APIs for things like notifications. It’s a complete waste of time.

One solution would be a platform where users can share little apps with each other. One that provides a programming environment and useful APIs. But, this is strictly against App Store policy! Which is why it doesn’t exist. The closest thing is the browser, which is nerfed.

	▲	thisislife2 8 hours ago \| parent [-]
		Apple also spies on what website you visit, and especially if you make any online payment on it. I used an online service on someone's iPhone, through the browser, and since then, the App Store on their phone is now pushing them to download the App for it.

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m4rtink 12 hours ago | parent | prev [-]

Demonstrates the dangers of a closed garden quite plainly - you are not running the garden & it might be closed for business when your long scheduled garden festival takes place!