From MacRumors:
“Hello Developer,
We’ve reviewed your application Pull My Finger. We have determined that this application is of limited utility to the broad iPhone and iPod touch user community, and will not be published to the App Store.
It may be very appropriate to share with friends and family, and we recommend you review the Ad Hoc method on the Distribution tab of the iPhone Developer Portal for details on distributing this application among a small group of people of your choosing.
Regards,
Victor Wang
Worldwide Developer Relations
Apple, Inc.”
Victor Wang, the name behind the callous rejection of the excellent MURDERDROME from the App Store, strikes again. Apple don’t have consistent rules for what applications do go onto the store. Seems they’re issuing takedowns based on whether anyone complains.
And “Limited Utility”? They have room for half a dozen tip calculators but not a Fart machine?
Anyway.
Note the recommendation.
Ad-Hoc Distribution allows you to distribute 100 copies of your app to 100 iPhones. Enterprise distribution allows you to distribute to 1000 iPhones. Neither method involves the App Store at all.
Can you see the silver lining here?
At 100 fans (for the $99 certificate), you could sell an extremely useful application on a subscription basis. Say, for instance, NetShare. And I bet you could find 100 people to pay $100 for it. Apple wouldn’t see it and you’d end up with the FULL $10,000 rather than Apple taking 30% and risking it being removed. How about $20 a month? That’s $2000 in income every month and if someone doesn’t pay up, you remove their iPhone ID from your certificate and *boom*.
At 1000 fans, things start getting interesting. Same situation – create an application that is worth $100 and distribute to 1000 fans using Enterprise Distribution ($299 certificate). You’ve now got $100,000. That’s not a bad rate and again Apple doesn’t see it at all and they certainly don’t get their 30%. The irony here is that distribution to 1000 iPhones isn’t likely to be enough for large companies.
So, you want independent application development for the iPhone? Time to lobby Apple. If you can get them to extend the Ad-Hoc distribution to 1000 iPhones and the Enterprise Distribution to 100 000, then you’ve got a real business to build. It requires constant excellence but then that’s what it’s all about.
Time to stop complaining and start talking.
Whoah! Hang on a moment. Is this the same store that has the “I Am Rich” application? The application which shows nothing but a shiney red diamond? The application which has sold 8 copies?
If I’d an iPhone, I’d definitely buy a Fart Machine!
Well, they pulled “I am rich”
It’s evident that while they might be clever and able to predict parts of the market, but they completely missed the boat with their own store. They didn’t foresee books, nor comics, nor rating of materials other than games.
Do it, I’d buy the comic.
Told a friend who is really into graphic novels and the like, he was very excited by the idea.