Comments on: LIVE: iCall (VoIP on 3G) http://apprejections.com/index.php/post/140 Send app-rejection news to @redglassesapps on twitter Thu, 22 Jul 2010 18:02:25 +0100 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.8.5 hourly 1 By: adam http://apprejections.com/index.php/post/140/comment-page-1#comment-710 adam Sat, 30 Jan 2010 18:02:42 +0000 http://apprejections.com/?p=140#comment-710 (NB: I'm not trying to say that iCall's setup is "nefarious"; I thought that the details of what I said, along with the sarcastic "sooper sekrit" terminology, would make that clear. There *are* nefarious apps out there that have used exactly this same approach, but I do not believe iCall is one of them) @Arlo "There was nothing nefarious and the functionality of the application did not change, only a setting changed." Quoting from your own iTunes page: "3G 3G 3G 3G! You can now use iCall over 3G networks!!!" I have nothing against what you did, personally. But please don't claim things that are clearly not true: adding 3G is a major change to the functionality of your application. According to Apple's datestamp (last updated 30th November 2009), you did this without updating the application. iTunes currently allows you to change your iTunes description whenever you wish, so this was an easy change to make. (NB: I’m not trying to say that iCall’s setup is “nefarious”; I thought that the details of what I said, along with the sarcastic “sooper sekrit” terminology, would make that clear. There *are* nefarious apps out there that have used exactly this same approach, but I do not believe iCall is one of them)

@Arlo

“There was nothing nefarious and the functionality of the application did not change, only a setting changed.”

Quoting from your own iTunes page:

“3G 3G 3G 3G! You can now use iCall over 3G networks!!!”

I have nothing against what you did, personally. But please don’t claim things that are clearly not true: adding 3G is a major change to the functionality of your application.

According to Apple’s datestamp (last updated 30th November 2009), you did this without updating the application. iTunes currently allows you to change your iTunes description whenever you wish, so this was an easy change to make.

]]> By: Arlo Gilbert http://apprejections.com/index.php/post/140/comment-page-1#comment-709 Arlo Gilbert Sat, 30 Jan 2010 17:39:35 +0000 http://apprejections.com/?p=140#comment-709 Thanks for keeping up with our application development but I would like to take a brief moment to clarify that we have not done anything "sekrit" or "back door". Our application is a VoIP application, no "be good" versus "be bad"... every time iCall starts it checks in with our central servers to determine lots of things such as whether you are a paying customer or a free customer, to register with the VoIP gateway to receive calls and a handful of other things. Many of the settings relating to iCall are not stored permanently on the software itself but rather are returned to the application each time it starts up, one of these many settings was the "can I talk over 3g" setting. When Apple modified their terms regarding 3G, we only had to change a switch on our servers. There was nothing nefarious and the functionality of the application did not change, only a setting changed. While I can appreciate that there is a concern about applications changing their behavior after approval, from a practical standpoint I have never seen it happen. If a developer really turned on a "be bad" button they would quickly be banished from the development process for eternity ( I assume ). Again, thanks for writing a nice blog, we enjoy your site. -Arlo Gilbert, CEO iCall, Inc. Thanks for keeping up with our application development but I would like to take a brief moment to clarify that we have not done anything “sekrit” or “back door”.

Our application is a VoIP application, no “be good” versus “be bad”… every time iCall starts it checks in with our central servers to determine lots of things such as whether you are a paying customer or a free customer, to register with the VoIP gateway to receive calls and a handful of other things.

Many of the settings relating to iCall are not stored permanently on the software itself but rather are returned to the application each time it starts up, one of these many settings was the “can I talk over 3g” setting.

When Apple modified their terms regarding 3G, we only had to change a switch on our servers.

There was nothing nefarious and the functionality of the application did not change, only a setting changed.

While I can appreciate that there is a concern about applications changing their behavior after approval, from a practical standpoint I have never seen it happen. If a developer really turned on a “be bad” button they would quickly be banished from the development process for eternity ( I assume ).

Again, thanks for writing a nice blog, we enjoy your site.

-Arlo Gilbert, CEO
iCall, Inc.

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