Dear Auntie TUAW: AppStore Rejection

"an app that was rejected because its use of vibration in game play did not adhere to the (unwritten) understanding that vibration is meant to be an alert feature, not a game enhancement"

Texas Hold'Em has a vibration option - though whether it is a game enhancement or not, I'm not sure, as I played it on a colleague's iPod Touch

What do you expect? It is a proprietary platform, run by a wannabe monopolist. Stop using the iPhone. You don't even own, you don't have freedom.

I wish Erica would just give up on the iPhone and buy an OpenMoko. We all purchased the iPhone knowing up front it was a device that is highly controlled by Apple. EVERY DEVELOPER THAT PAID $99 to publish Apps on the iTunes store agreed to the various guidelines for developing said iTunes Apps.

This is about as stupid as all the people who agreed to adjustable rate mortgages and then were surprised that their rates went up. It's no one's fault but your own if you either are too lazy to read or too stupid to comprehend the things you agree to.

Yet another whiney Erica post.

Goodbye TUAW. I'm tired of reading these kinds of posts. Maybe I'll come back when you've straightened yourselves out.

Another Friday night, another awful writing job by Erica.

What has happened to you TUAW? "Auntie TUAW"? I am sorry, but the majority of the posts by Erica have been pointless at best. Erica: you're a good iPhone developer but please stop wasting my time with meaningless posts.

I started reading TUAW because I was tired of stuff like this from other sites. And now I'm getting these pointless posts all the time and tons of iPhone app reviews instead of *APPLE NEWS!* Very sad times indeed as my favourite Apple blog goes the way of all the rest.

belden,
This is not a political forum. Please do not use it to criticize Republicans.

--al

Hey guys I'm the one that sent in the tip. First off it was a typo saying it was my app. And yes I'm talking about flying rider. It only makes me mad that half the other apps on the appstore dont have the regular "apple" looks on them? Why let many other apps through but not this one because the bars misplaced? It feels more "correct" that way if youve ever reallyed played linerider. May not seem liek much but it makes me any many others angry when youve been waiting for an app for over 2 weeks and then when its supposed to be released it gets denied all because the bars at the top =/

dear travis,

read and respect the UI guidelines you moron !

I think Apple was right to ask for some restraint with the vibrate feature, actually — not just because of battery life concerns, but for the reason they stated. It's pretty much the same as when they ask you in the Human Interface Guidelines to be careful about using too many alert icons:

"Don’t use a caution icon for tasks whose only purpose is to overwrite or remove data, such as Save or Empty Trash; too-frequent use of the caution icon dilutes its significance."

"too-frequent use...dilutes its significance."

Much like how the vibrator going off all the time in a game would make it less (necessarily) startling when it actually needs to call the user's attention to something important. If the iPhone were primarily a gaming device, it'd make more sense to let loose with the vibes, but it's first and foremost a personal computer and phone.