News, Reviews and more from Australia's Macintosh Authority
News, Reviews and more from Australia's Macintosh Authority
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The denial and removal of applications from the App Store has become a hot-button issue and adding fuel to the fire is news from over the weekend that Apple has blocked another program.
Angelo DiNardi’s MailWrangler aimed to simplify the lives of those using multiple Gmail accounts by allowing them to log into different accounts simultaneously and quickly switch back and forth between them.
Unlike the built-in Mail client, MailWrangler embeds WebKit and allows users to access their Gmail via the iPhone-friendly web interface. This allows access to various features that aren’t supported by the iPhone’s Mail program, such as starring messages, threading, and Google contacts. MailWrangler also offers advantages over using the iPhone's Safari web browser, specifically in allowing users to stay logged into multiple accounts without having to manually log in every session.
After waiting for about six weeks, DiNardi finally got a response from Apple that denied MailWrangler on the basis that:
… Your application duplicates the functionality of the built-in iPhone application Mail without providing sufficient differentiation or added functionality, which will lead to user confusion. …
“Duplication” previously became a watchword in Apple denials after the application Podcaster was denied for duplicating features of iTunes. DiNardi thinks the additional features that MailPlane offers to Gmail users makes it sufficiently different from Apple’s own Mail application; he even points out there’s an application for the Mac called MailPlane that does roughly the same thing, suggesting that there is at least some sort of user demand for this functionality.
The issue of “user confusion” seems to me that it would depend more on how the application is marketed. If it was clearly described as something to allow quick and easy access to multiple Gmail accounts, it seems like the kind of confusion that Apple is envisioning could easily be avoided. Apple has let in third-party apps that add more features than their own built-in programs, such as notepad programs like MagicPad—where's the line for "duplicating" functionality?
In my opinion—and yes, this is my opinion—the confusion issue is a bit of a red herring. Apple seems to have no issue with a score of different Sudoku apps or applications with the same name. Sure, it’s Apple’s store and they can take their toys and go home any time they want. But it seems like it would go a long way for Apple to at least cultivate the perception that everybody in the store—themselves included—are playing by the same rules.
"Don't forget to get there very, very early", was the advice given to me by practically everyone prior to this morning's Macworld Conference Keynote. "Things get pretty hairy", they claimed -- and they weren't referencing Australian Macworld's fine editor. So at 5am, having been woken by the loud gentleman speaking German VERY LOUDLY, I prepared towander down the chilly streets of San Francisco and wait. And wait, and wait, and wait. Annoyance doesn't quite cover my mood when another Australian journalist makes an appearance two hours later, right behind me.
Alex Kidman | Jan 17, 2008
Late last week Palm Inc announced the closure of 30 retail stores -- its entire bricks and mortar presence in the United States -- ending one of Palm's worst years, in my view. One way to measure the depths that Palm has plumbed is to compare it with two other companies. Let's start with Taiwan's High Tech Computer Corporation, better know as HTC. Over the last couple of years HTC has moved from little-known manufacturer to market leader. 2007 saw sales accelerate and the release of a number of different devices. The smartphones it has released have come in a range of form factors and cater for the needs of an increasingly diverse range of users. In my view, HTC has been the most important hardware innovator of the last year or so. Apple has plans in place to open a number of new stores in the coming year -- not only in the United States but in territories where Apple has thus far been absent. The iPhone has achieved for Apple what the original Palm Pilot did for its maker -- putting Apple into the consciousness of all shoppers.
Anthony Caruana | Jan 28, 2008
Having used the MacBook Air's amazing multi-touch trackpad, I've been hooked. Now I just need that same functionality in a more powerful machine. Any help, Steve?
Matthew JC. Powell | Feb 1, 2008
I've spent the last week mouseless, eschewing a handheld pointer in favour of living and working completely on the trackpad of a MacBook Pro and the multi-touch screen of an iPod touch. I did this pretty much on a dare: last week I said the MacBook Air's trackpad was large enough that I could imagine using it without the fallback of a mouse, and I decided to put that to the test. I don't have a MacBook Air yet, so my mouseless week had to be on a borrowed MacBook Pro (I'll buy one when Apple updates the trackpad -- soon ... soon ...). I've also made a point of using the iPod touch as much as possible, for instance when posting to the Australian Macworld forums.
Matthew JC. Powell | Feb 8, 2008
