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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."

As a heavy duty user of Gmail, I've wished for MailWrangler from the beginning. Sure you can use Gmail through Mobile Safari -- as you can use Google Voice -- but as Apple soon learned after trying to convince users and developers that web apps were all we needed, there are certain things which a native application makes much easier.

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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Update: The official Google app is apparently not going to be released either. Earlier today, iPhone developer Sean Kovacs posted on his...
 

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HappyKid

So Apple is saying that all there user are dumb and stupid and get confused all the time and can't understand one thing or another or one APP from another

so that's what they should advertise , "If your to stupid Buy a MAC or IPHONE or ....) "

or " we charge more money for our stuff since stupid cant understand it"

August 05 2009 at 4:51 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
rjsec4ever

Then it makes you wonder if GV would go to Cydia...

July 30 2009 at 1:50 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
Troy Angrignon

I wrote a blistering post to Apple here in case anybody needs to see more venting!

http://www.troyangrignon.com/2009/07/28/apple-put-gv-mobile-back-youre-becoming-more-like-atfuckingt-all-the-time/

July 28 2009 at 10:53 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
zergworld

Apple + AT&T is anti-competitive, and they shouldn't be blocking this app. Just to be sure, the competition seems to be for long-distance minutes. With GV, we pay google. Without GV, you pay AT&T.

July 28 2009 at 3:22 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
macrhino

Well I would be a lot more upset of Google Voice actually worked. I have two accounts neither work. Neither forward phone calls neither direct calls to custom greetings. I would love to have apps to control GV if I could control it at all.

Apple has contracts with the carriers that limit their abilities. I ust can't beilieve that google can't get its sh*t together on GV.

July 28 2009 at 3:11 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
M Lim

According to Lifehacker, GV Mobile is available for free in Cydia.

http://lifehacker.com/5324596/gv-mobile-available-for-free-on-cydia

July 28 2009 at 2:26 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
Bob Jacobson

Imagine if in the early days computer companies restricted the use of third-party applications that didn't complement their business plans. Oh wait, wasn't that the case with Office and even Mac OS? So why are we surprised. We remain but lowly consumers in the eyes of the information and telecom business owners and shareholders. Ours but to do or buy.

Someday there will be a genuinely open market for products, but probably not in our lifetimes or those of our children or our children's. Once a firm is in a powerful position, restricting choice, not facilitating it, is what business becomes all about. All the suger-coating and bling doesn't change a thing.

July 28 2009 at 12:32 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
P

Google - I hope you see this!

Please consider open sourcing your code and allow some bright developer to recompile it and issue it via Cydia.

This is ridiculous and it infringes on my right to use the device I paid dearly for (and continue to). What's more, I-like many others I imagine-have no interest in evading tolls and will route my call through my cell phone, just to a different number.

Please release the sucker!

July 28 2009 at 10:40 AM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
1 reply to P's comment
homan2

GV Mobile is already being prepped for Cydia.

July 28 2009 at 1:46 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
Mike

I hope Apple is reading this: WE WANT NATIVE APPS FOR GOOGLE SERVICES. Gmail via Mail.app or the Safari web interface is not the same thing. want threaded conversations, starred apps, and archiving. I want full access to my labels, and integrated search, and I want it offline too. I want Google Voice as a direct alternative - GV Mobile is good, but I expect the 'official' Version to be even better. There's no confusion with the Apple apps or functionality- they are fine, but I want the real, no-kidding Google versions. I can tell the difference. Some come with the phone and can't ever be removed (but can be banished to a back page on the home screen) and some have to be sought out from the App store and downloaded. No confusion there. These are for power users of Gmail and Google voice - the folks least likely to be confused, and the most likely to be pissed off at Apple for preventing this.

July 28 2009 at 10:06 AM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
Jim Barr

Using Google apps through Safari would be just fine if Apple didn't restrict Safari as it does. The problem is that Safari doesn't adequately cache page content among pages and between sessions. All you have to do is load up more than one Web page, and it's completely hit-or-miss if the content in your pages remain intact. More often than not, Safari forces a page reload which, in most cases, is completely unnecessary. This has been an issue from day one.

As an iPod Touch user, offline access is absolutely essential, but Safari's horrible cache management forces me to turn to AppStore applications over Web apps in most cases.

July 28 2009 at 8:32 AM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
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