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Apple Rejects Drone Strike App
eldavojohn writes "Developer Josh Begley, a student at Clay Shirky's NYU Media Lab, created an application called Drones+ that allows users to track U.S. drone strikes on a map of Pakistan, Yemen and Somalia. Far from innovative, the app in question merely relays and positions strikes as available from the U.K.'s Bureau of Investigative Journalism. First Apple rejected the application claiming it was 'not useful or entertaining enough,' then it was rejected for hiding a corporate logo. And the latest reason for objection is that Begley's content is 'objectionable and crude' and 'that many audiences would find [it] objectionable." Begley's at a loss for how to change information on a map. He's not showing images of the drone strikes nor even graphically describing the strikes. From the end of the article, 'The basic idea was to see if he could get App Store denizens a bit more interested in the U.S.' secretive, robotic wars, with information on those wars popping up on their phones the same way an Instagram comment or retweet might. Instead, Begley's thinking about whether he'd have a better shot making the same point in the Android Market.'"
Apple is, and should be, free to prohibit any content they want on their store. It's their store, we shouldn't force them to add stuff they don't want.
The problem here is the locked down devices. You have no other way of installing things on an iPhone. Which is precisely why I don't own one.
Solution: Use Safari Mobile.
Jesus was a compassionate social conservative who called individuals to sin no more.
to question or challenge US authority. He should be grateful his house isn't on the map.
“He’s not deformed, he’s just drunk!”
Does iOS or Android even have the native ability to add website shortcuts to the home screens or application menu?
I can't speak for Android, but in Safari you tap the icon next to bookmarks then "Add to Home Screen".
If God forks the Universe every time you roll a die, he'd better have a damned good memory.
I've yet to see anything resembling a usable map interface implemented in Safari Mobile. Even Google's is clunky and painful to use vs a native app, so suggesting "Just use Safari" doesn't really scale until it can create as functional an interface as what native apps can do.
Give a man a fish, he'll eat for a day, but teach a man to phish...
Works fine on Android too. Just hold and select bookmark. Like any other App shortcut or widget.