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Apple Bans iPhone App For Competing With Mail.app

Posted by Soulskill on from the forbidden-fruit dept.

recoiledsnake writes "Another submission has been rejected from the iPhone App Store, this time for 'duplicating the functionality of the iPhone Mail application.' The author claims that his application allows the user to log into their multiple web email accounts and that Apple seems to be confusing Gmail and Mail.app. This comes on the heels of Apple rejecting an application for competing with iTunes and rejecting other silly but harmless apps as being of 'limited utility.'" ComputerWorld has an update to the rejected Podcaster app mentioned above. It seems the developer has used Apple's "Ad Hoc" service to begin distributing the software despite the fact that they blocked it from the App Store.

3 of 464 comments (clear)

  1. Re:iphone is a police state by Flynsarmy · · Score: 5, Informative

    http://code.google.com/android/

  2. From TFA by PainMeds · · Score: 5, Informative

    ⦠Your application duplicates the functionality of the built-in iPhone application Mail without providing sufficient differentiation or added functionality, which will lead to user confusion. â¦

    So the 30 different versions of Voice Notes is acceptable, since it doesn't compete with Apple, but having two versions of mail applications are unacceptable?

    What bothers me more than this is that the AppStore restricts any frameworks that one _could_ use to write good applications, like movie players (CoreSurface) and programs that interact with iTunes. If you look at older versions of the firmware, these were all public frameworks until the AppStore rolled out.

  3. Re:iphone is a police state by krenaud · · Score: 5, Informative

    On shazam - Well, Sony Ericsson Walkman phones have had TrackID for years. That's not a unique feature for iPhone.

    Useful stuff NOT available on iPhone:

    1. Multitasking? This is 2008, all other phones can download stuff while the user talks and surfs. Not iPhone.

    2. Bluetooth file transfers? Want to share files with your friends over BT? Forget it - Apple doesn't want you to.

    3. Wireless headphones (BT)? - Forget it.

    4. Memory card slot? - forget it.

    5. MMS? - forget it unless you buy an MMS app.

    6. Install free java apps? - forget it.

    7. Really good signal reception? - forget it. iPhone is on par with 1st gen 3G-phones from 4 or 5 years ago.

    8. Want to use your phone as a wireless modem for your computer? Forget it.

    9. Sync with other calendars using industry standard OMA DS / SyncML? Forget it unless you are willing to pay for a third party app which is buggy.

    10. Want to transfer files to/from iPhone without installing special software? - Forget it.

    As much as the iPhone has a cool UI for some things it still lacks a lot of features that other phones have had for ages. For me the disadvantages are too many for me to choose an iPhone over a SE Walkman or one of the Nokia N-series phones.