Kincaid reports, “We reached out to Hewitt for more details, and he attributed his decision to quit the project entirely on Apple’s tyrannical App Store approval policies:”
My decision to stop iPhone development has had everything to do with Apple’s policies. I respect their right to manage their platform however they want, however I am philosophically opposed to the existence of their review process. I am very concerned that they are setting a horrible precedent for other software platforms, and soon gatekeepers will start infesting the lives of every software developer.
The web is still unrestricted and free, and so I am returning to my roots as a web developer. In the long term, I would like to be able to say that I helped to make the web the best mobile platform available, rather than being part of the transition to a world where every developer must go through a middleman to get their software in the hands of users.
Kincaid writes, “I couldn’t agree with Hewitt’s sentiments more, and it’s a breath of fresh air to see such a prominent developer quit the App Store… He has essentially been the one-man show behind the iPhone’s most popular application of all time… Apple has built some truly fantastic products, but their approach to the App Store is frightening — especially given the fact that other platforms may see the iPhone’s success and start adopting a similar model.”
Full article here.
MacDailyNews Take: We disagree with Hewitt as we do believe that Apple is right to have an approval process for App Store inclusion, it’s just that they seem to have arbitrary criteria. As we we stated in the previous article (please read our full Take here): Apple should make sure that apps are safe to run on iPhone OS and leave taste, or lack thereof, out of the approval equation. Apple’s only considerations should be to make sure apps do not harm the device and/or encourage physically harming others, directly or indirectly.
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