Apple slaps developer with 'minimal user functionality' rejection.
Another day, another controversy around Apple's App Store approvals policy. This time, though, it's not adult apps causing the hoo-ha. It's a DuckPhone.
Specifically, an app called DuckPhone that was developed by Atlantia Software with one use and one use only - to make your iPhone quack like a duck.
Here's the relevant bit from the rejection letter sent to Atlantia's Nick Bonatsakis:
"We’ve reviewed your application DuckPhone and we have determined that this application contains minimal user functionality and will not be appropriate for the App Store."
It appears to be a new development, given the thousands of apps with just as little user functionality that are already available on the store.
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Needless to say, Bonatsakis isn't happy. "As time goes on, this platform is becoming more of a burden on developers, this will in turn lead to talented people moving on to more open platforms," he writes in an email to CrunchGear.
It's a hugely touchy subject. Some larger app publishers will welcome the news that Apple is being more choosy about what it lets onto the App Store.
However, the problem comes when standards aren't applied across the board. It will be interesting to see if Apple also starts removing apps from the App Store that it deems are as useless as DuckPhone.
