Multitaskers Gets Approved

Today was a breakthrough in our process with Apple.  After resubmitting on June 19th the same version that we originally created to meet Apple’s requests on April 19th, 2010, Multitaskers was approved earlier this afternoon. It should be available worldwide on iTunes by tomorrow, and when it goes on sale, you’ll be able to click here to purchase a copy.  

While this is obviously progress, and while we can now offer users a useful toolkit of simple functions missing from the iPad’s suite of system apps, we hope that in the future we can release Multitaskers in its originally intended form.  

The approved version of Multitaskers is only allowed to show one function at a time, rather than being able to display and move many around the screen at once in order to create a personalized work environment.  We still believe that our original vision would better serve iPad users across the world, but that in the meantime, something is better than nothing.

We’d like to thank the many friends, colleagues, partners and clients that have stood by us while this story has unfolded around us.  Although it’s taken a while, we’re proud to finally bring our first iPad app to the world. Despite this bumpy start, we know that great things are to come, and look forward to bringing our vision for quality app experiences to users across the world.

The Low Point of the Keynote

John Gruber hits the nail on the head in his WWDC wrapup piece.

It’s not the control, it’s the secrecy — that there clearly exist rules which are not written. The latest batch: “widget” apps for the iPad and iPhone. The written rules state that you must stick to the Cocoa Touch APIs and WebKit. So several developers created apps that let you display multiple simultaneous “widgets” on screen at once. Sort of like Mac OS X’s Dashboard, and sort of like multitasking, but using nothing more than WebKit — HTML, JavaScript, and CSS.
There’s nothing in the developer agreement guidelines to suggest these apps wouldn’t be allowed. But, they’re not. And the problem is that the developers who made these apps only found out after they had created the apps and submitted them to the store. Obviously Apple can’t write guidelines that cover scenarios it hasn’t foreseen; but once something new comes up, their policies to handle it should be documented publicly.

It’s worth pointing out that Multitaskers is actually 100% written in Cocoa, which is considered even more native and even more “kosher” than the web languages. We made that decision consciously as part of our pursuit to comply with every written guideline, which is the only thing a developer can do. We do take issue with one part of Gruber’s piece, that being the idea that Apple couldn’t account for this scenario. Dashboard-style apps and functionality were being openly discussed in a wide variety of outlets from the moment the iPad was announced, and had been available for sale for iPhone for more than a year prior to the unjustified decision to pull and obstruct the release of widget-style apps. One sentence in either the Human Interface Guidelines or the Developer Agreement documents would have been enough to keep us– and, we’re sure, many of our competitive colleagues– from beginning production on apps like Multitaskers in the first place.

Our Letter to Steve

Following yesterday’s keynote at WWDC, we reached out this morning to Apple CEO Steve Jobs with our story, in the hopes that he might personally take action to ensure that Apple plays by its own rules. Our letter follows below:

To: steve@apple.com

From: casey@megatonapps.com

Subject: Stuck in App Purgatory

Dear Steve,

We created an iPad app called “MultiTaskers”, a toolkit of widget-like functions such as a calculator, weather, timer and more.  Almost two months after our original submission, Apple has still failed to either approve or reject our app.  Even after making changes the review team told us would result in an “acceptable” app, the rug was once again pulled out from under us when they changed their mind.

We reached out to Phil Schiller, Eddy Cue and Scott Forstall personally about this but received no reply after waiting several weeks.

Steve, we are in full compliance with every written guideline that Apple has made available. On what grounds are widget-style apps being rejected, pulled, or in our case, simply being held in review purgatory?  If Apple wanted people to only use the 10-inch Calculator apps out there instead of being able to add and check the weather at the same time, then a simple statement against “widget” apps in the HIG or other guidelines would have stopped our development before we started.

We made our app in good faith, with the hope that Apple would welcome it.  We’ve spent so much time trying to make these simple tools as beautiful and self-evident as possible, and don’t believe that iPad users are best served by the 10-inch calculator and sticky note apps out there.

You said yesterday that apps are rejected for crashing, not working as advertised, or for using private APIs. We do none of these.

Please stand by the rules that Apple has the luxury of writing.  We believe that the guidelines make the App Store healthier, but when Apple rejects, pulls and fails to complete the review of apps for no particular reason, that results in a breach of trust from which all of us lose.

You can see some screenshots of our app here: http://megatonapps.com/multitaskers

You can download the letter we sent to Mr. Schiller, Mr. Cue and Mr. Forstall here: http://MegatonApps.com/AppleLetter (PDF)

Our Apple ID for the app is 365525865

Please take a moment to look into this and restore our confidence in working with Apple.  We’re not looking for 15 minutes of fame from calling Apple names.  We just want to make cool stuff for iOS devices. We want to work with you because Apple is the best of the best, but we’re simply too small to roll the dice on a platform that doesn’t play by its own rules.  

Thanks for your time,

Casey

Casey Ayers
President, MegatonApps LLC
casey@megatonapps.com
+1.904.422.2372

What Jobs Says, What Apple Does

How We Got Here

While Casey shared the facts about the Multitaskers saga in an earlier post, Megaton’s other founder, Sean O’Neill, took a few minutes to focus on the human element behind the app.  Sean talks about how Megaton got started, how we began the Multitaskers project in the first place, and what it means for us as such a small development studio to be placed in app purgatory.

How You Can Help

We hope that sharing our story with the world will, in some small way, lead to a better tomorrow for iPhone OS users and developers alike.  We believe in guidelines; we think that they can lead to a strong platform that provides a level of consistent quality to the end user. What’s most important is that all guidelines be made readily available to developers, that they be enforced consistently by Apple, and that Apple abides by the very rules that they have the luxury of writing.

If you’re an iPad or iPhone owner, it’s time to tell Apple that a culture of fear and mystery kills the innovation that you so highly value in the app market. Request that Apple approve all apps that meet the written guidelines provided to developers.  You can e-mail Steve Jobs and ask that independent developers be judged fairly, and that Apple apply the same rules to everyone. Please also share our story with others, from friends and family to members of the press, and link them to MegatonApps.com/Our-Story for the latest information.

Our Letter to Apple Executives

Below you’ll find a copy of the cover letter sent as part of a packet to Apple senior executives Phil Schiller, Eddy Cue and Scott Forstall. To view the letter in its original form, unedited except for redacting the recipient addresses, you can go to MegatonApps.com/AppleLetter (PDF).

Dear Mr. Schiller,

I apologize for contacting you at your home address, but I bring to you a matter of truly urgent nature, one I fear could critically damage the future of iPad without your attention. Enclosed you’ll find an account of our struggle over the past weeks to navigate the app review process and bring our app, a simple toolkit of functions like a calculator and to-do list, to market.

We adamantly believe that we are in compliance with every written guideline Apple has provided us with, and have spent innumerable hours and thousands of dollars creating a great experience for iPad users. Yet we have been placed in a review purgatory, judged unsuitable for approval and yet without the fault necessary for rejection. Even after submitting a revised and crippled version of our product that meets unwritten demands, we are being told that no app whatsoever with multiple features is acceptable, a standard Apple’s own system apps violate.

We formed MegatonApps to help companies see the potential that Apple’s mobile platforms hold for the future. After just a year in operation, we’ve met with executives from professional sports teams, the world’s most famous theme parks, the biggest names in mainstream and digital media, and more. To each of these, we have professed the great potential iPhone and iPad offer, but based on our experience with Apple’s review process, I fear we have been spreading a lie.

As a user, developer and shareholder I hope that you will ensure that the details provided in the attached document are placed in the right hands. We only ask that we be judged against the standards we have been provided, and that common sense might prevail.

I’m 22 years old and finished my master’s degree while developing this app; my business partner is an entrepreneur with an imagination second to none. We want to drive the future success of your products, because we believe in their ability to make the world just a bit better.

But we need your help to do that. Thanks for your time,

Casey Ayers President, MegatonApps, LLC

The Story So Far

MegatonApps President Casey Ayers shares the story behind the development of Multitaskers and the app review process that has thus far prevented its public release.