Filed under: App Store
GV Mobile and Voice Central pulled from App Store
Update: The official Google app is apparently not going to be released either.
Earlier today, iPhone developer Sean Kovacs posted on his blog that his Google Voice client, GV Mobile, is getting pulled from the App Store due to "duplicating features that the iPhone comes with (Dialer, SMS, etc)." Kovacs says he received a call from an Apple staffer, who "wouldn't send a confirmation email either - too scared I would post it."
The app still appears in the App Store, but when you attempt to purchase it you will be told "The item you tried to buy is no longer available." We've also heard that Voice Central (another Google Voice application) is similarly no longer available for purchase.
There has been speculation that Google is preparing its own iPhone app for Google Voice, however, in light of the news that Apple 'requested' that Google make Latitude a web app instead of a native app "in order to avoid confusion with Maps on the iPhone," I wonder if we are unlikely to see such an application from Google.
MailWrangler, a native Gmail client for the iPhone was also rejected from the App Store because the "application duplicates the functionality of the built-in iPhone application Mail without providing sufficient differentiation or added functionality, which will lead to user confusion."
GV Mobile is a very popular application for using Google Voice on the iPhone. Apple's own phone application is great, but for Google Voice users, a native application was a nice thing to have.
I'm not sure why Apple keeps insisting that users would be confused by apps which do similar things (How many different applications are there which duplicate "Notes" functionality?), but a greater concern is the idea that a developer can work on an application, have it released to huge success, and then have Apple turn around and yank it from the App Store.
This in loco parentis attitude from Apple hurts iPhone users and developers alike. Developers like Fraser Speirs have stopped developing new applications for the iPhone and he's not the only one. (Fraser's post on Twitter was how I heard how I heard about GV Mobile being pulled from the App Store.)
I hope these are growing pains that Apple and the App Store will leave behind. Users who seek out, find, download, and install 3rd party applications are unlikely to be "confused" by the "duplication" of functionality. The fact that they sought them out is evidence that they found something lacking from the applications that Apple offers.
The App Store is wonderful, except for the parts of it which are terrible; namely, the review process (which takes too long and rejects too many apps) and the removal of applications which do no harm and which have been released for some time to great success.
UPDATE: The developers of Voice Central had an interesting conversation with Apple. Mostly involving the word "can't."
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 3)
Wes said 7:14PM on 7-27-2009
I imagine this is due to GV's ability to make free calls over internet. Doubt AT&T likes that.
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Dorv said 7:20PM on 7-27-2009
Sorry, that's not what Google Voice does. Its what Skype does, which is still a App on sale in the App Store.
Wes said 7:25PM on 7-27-2009
Uh, yes it one of the things GV does. I have a GV account. Maybe know what you're talking about before telling someone they're wrong:
http://www.google.com/googlevoice/about.htm
Carina K said 7:28PM on 7-27-2009
Wes,
GV doesn't allow you to make calls over the internet, it uses regular air time for calls. It simply re-routes your calls so they show up (or are incoming) from a different number.
I use GV Mobile and am bummed there won't be any updates. Still crossing my finger for a google app...
-Carina
http://carinak.com
Brad said 7:30PM on 7-27-2009
Nope, Dorv is correct. Calling through Google Voice on the iPhone still uses ATT minutes. Skype does not. "Maybe know what you're talking about before telling someone they're wrong:" ... Guess you will feel pretty silly about that comment once you learn YOU were wrong.
Yuusharo said 7:31PM on 7-27-2009
Um.... Wes? "Free calls" pertains to Google not charging you for making in-country calls within the United States from your Google Voice number. It doesn't make the call over the internet. You still have to have a working cell phone or landline in order to use it. The only time Google Voice charges you is if you make an international call. When that happens, you pay Google a small per-minute fee, and the call shows up on your phone bill as a "local call," still using your minutes.
Google Voice is NOT voice-over-IP.
MC said 7:35PM on 7-27-2009
Let's all calm down a bit. Google Voice (and yes, I have an account too, like the other thousands of geeks) is "Free" to sign up, but as we know, it's not "Free" for AT&T to call your new GV number. It costs you daytime minutes if you call from your iPhone. Unless of course AT&T offered "5 friends you call the most" feature (like other carriers do), and then you could just make your Google Voice number one of the numbers "you call the most". Then it would be "free" not costing you ANY minutes. But let's be clear; GV isn't VoIP.
Can't we all get along?
Sorry for the overuse of quotes.
Adam said 7:44PM on 7-27-2009
I'm going to love when you open your bill next month... Unless you have one of those nifty plans to add numbers to your favorites. Then just add you GV number to that and I think you'd be golden. ;-)
Dorv said 7:52PM on 7-27-2009
I especially appreciate the irony of being told I was wrong by using a web address that doesn't work.
Sparks said 7:56PM on 7-27-2009
@Adam -- That's how you can use GV through T-Mobile. Put your GV number into MyFaves and, tada, now you DO have free calling.
Stephen Antonucci said 9:01PM on 7-27-2009
@Wes:
Get a clue! GV Mobile DOES NOT MAKE CALLS OVER THE INTERNET! It uses AT&T air minutes. The app has been in the App Store since May! NOW, Apple decides it shouldn't be, after it was sold and gets used daily for a front end to Google Voice! Google, I doubt got it pulled since they are claimed to bringing an iPhone app for FREE as they have done for BB and Android.
I doubt AT&T cares as the calls ARE made using air minutes you are paying them for! GV Mobile does not compete with cell minutes.
Apple IS alone on this blunder. WHY would a developer waste his time and effort to build apps to be treated like this? Why would iPhone users continue to pay for apps that Apple can pull depending on how tight their T-Shirt is on any given day? Great reason to jailbreak!
Buy and app from the App Store at your OWN risk as Apple may pull it and leave you with an orphan that can no longer be updated. As they update the iPhone OS, you may end up with an app you paid for that is useless!
No difference than Amazon pulling ebooks from Kindle owners!
James Donevan said 7:23PM on 7-27-2009
There is one simple way to solve these problems with so-called duplicated service apps: The developer uses his brainpower to create something truly innovative, not wholly derivative. No app has ever been rejected for being too new, too innovative or too different... delayed maybe (as in the case of the augmented reality submissions) but not rejected. 'Think Different' is more than a hackneyed Apple slogan, it's a route to success for aspiring App Store developers.
It's certainly no surprise to see apps being pulled or rejected due duplication - the surprise is that it's still being treated with such righteous indignation by all concerned.
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Yuusharo said 7:35PM on 7-27-2009
But the thing is, GV mobile doesn't duplicate any functionality of the phone. It has a dialer interface, but instead of making a phone call it merely pings Google's servers to let them know you want to make a call, at which point Google calls your phone and you connect using your Google Voice number.
If I dial using my iPhone's built-in dialer, the caller-ID shows up as my iPhone's number. But by using an application like GV Mobile (or Google's webpage through Mobile Safari, I might add), the caller-ID shows up as my Google Voice number.
TJ from TUAW said 7:42PM on 7-27-2009
James, the App Store policy is actively harming innovation.
Developers won't risk development costs because they don't know if it will be accepted or not, so they duplicate what has already been accepted or what seems "safe".
It is certainly a surprise to the developer that their applications are yanked out from underneath their feet, and to users who paid for applications which suddenly cannot be updated (bug fixes, etc) or re-downloaded.
If you'd like to see more unique applications, then you'd like to see Apple not mistreating their users and developers, which is what these rejections and removals do.
Look again at the picture of Steve Jobs announcing the SDK: the limitations are: illegal, malicious, unforeseen, privacy, porn, bandwidth hog
While "unforeseen" is the "wiggle room" word, "duplication" is certainly not unforeseen, and as I mentioned, there are lots of "Notes" applications. So unless Apple is going to yank all those applications, this "duplication" standard is being unequally applied.
I appreciate your point, and I too would like see more "original" applications. But I still maintain the best way to get more original applications is to get developers to trust the App Store process from start to finish. Many of them don't, and incidents like this certainly don't help.
Whittaker McReynolds said 7:57PM on 7-27-2009
James:
This app wasn't rejected, it was REMOVED. I think if there was full disclosure, we would find that this was a provider decision. Think different often means think about something that doesn't compete with a service we provide.
puhsitch said 8:04PM on 7-27-2009
But there's certainly something to be said for taking an existing product or service and making it better/more functional. Some of these "derivative" apps come from looking at what is already there and thinking about it differently.
Steven Fisher said 8:17PM on 7-27-2009
I'm working on an entirely new idea for the App Store, and these rejections definitely affect me. The idea that Apple will reject my application because some low-level employee (or, perhaps, contractor) thinks it isn't valuable, duplicates something else, or just is the wrong shade of pink scares me utterly shitless.
kim.hannemann said 9:33PM on 7-27-2009
"Duplicated service" ? Please.
So why do we need OSX? Vista does the same thing!
Just because Apple makes an app doesn't mean it is automatically the be-all and end-all. I'm a big fan, but I am a big fan of having a choice as well. I don't like what Apple is doing with the App Store, not one bit.
"Confused"? Yeah, I'm confused.
Yuusharo said 7:27PM on 7-27-2009
@Wes Google Voice and GV Mobile doesn't make free calls over the internet. It uses your current phone, either cell or landline, to make the call, thus using your minutes.
Folks, I'm getting really sick of this game Apple is playing with the App store. Yes, I know developers sign away allowing Cupertino to make the final call, but this is getting out of hand! GV Mobile has been out for months, along with many other Google Voice and Grand Central dialers out there. Sean has even released several updates to the application, all of which had to be approved before being thrown onto the store. It was a steady stream on income for the developer that has been arbitrarily interrupted by Apple's unfocused and inconsistent approval process.
I love my iPhone, and I love the applications I buy. What I don't love is this constant changing of attitude Apple has towards iPhone developers. Forgetting the anti-competitive argument, its just plain stupid. You can't approve an application for months, only to say later on that you're pulling it for "duplicating functionality" of the phone.
Which by the way, it *DOESN'T* duplicate functionality -- it enhances it. If the HTC Hero is any indication as to where Android will be in a year or so, I may be looking for a new phone very soon...
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ski.the.selkirks said 7:28PM on 7-27-2009
If it "duplicates the functionality of the iPhone's phone," then why can't just reduce the availability to "exclusively for iPod touch owners" or something along those lines? GV Mobile was one of the most useful apps on the App Store to iPod touch owners. It allowed them to make calls and text using their current phone - literally, it turned the iPod touch into an iPhone. Which brings us back to the fact that it was pulled.
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