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Some may not agree with the use of parental control/accountability software. That's fine. Truple is not designed for you. There are tons of people who are ne

Some may not agree with the use of parental control/accountability software. That's fine. Truple is not designed for you. There are tons of people who are negatively impacted by technology and they desperately need/want help. They should have the option to get it, and there should be competition in the space to deliver the best product for them. In today's world, using the internet is a part of life, and isn't something you can reasonably go without. Truple was built to help people learn to use technology responsibly with the help of their loved ones.

tptacek 5y ago
The platform is wary of surveillance applications, which often have off-label use as stalking tools. It's not so much about whether people agree with parental controls or not; it's that Apple sets a different standard for intrusive parental control software than it does for other tools, because parental control tools are widely misused. If that's the problem you're running up against here, and not that you somehow embedded malware/adware into your app that they screen for, I think you might have trouble getting anywhere with this.
- camhart 5y ago
  Then why do they allow competitors to do it? They should be facing the same issues.
  - tux3 5y ago
    If you think they should do more, then the first step can't be criticized on the grounds that it's not the last step. Presumably, more will come.
  - w1nk 5y ago
    I have to imagine the answer lies in the interpretation of the rules you quoted in your post: My app is in alignment with it... I've made sure since day one that a "reasonably suspicious" notification is present when the app is monitoring. Could you elaborate on what your version of this reasonably suspicious notification compared to your competitors actually is?
    - camhart 5y ago
      The original version of the app I submitted for notarization had the Truple logo, with a red dot/circle to indicate recording and make it more suspicious. The redesign I did dropped the red dot/circle because competitors weren't being forced to do anything like that. Competitors just use their logo. And their logo's aren't any more/less suspicious than Truple's. If you click on the notification on MacOS, a menu pops up indicating the device is being monitored and includes instructions for how to uninstall the app though if you do an alert is sent indicating that you did. It's convenient to think I've done something wrong here... but I've puzzled over this for 2.5 years, and if I have done something wrong, the least Apple could do is let me know so I can correct it.
      - verall 5y ago
        > The original version of the app I submitted for notarization had the Truple logo, with a red dot/circle to indicate recording and make it more suspicious. The redesign I did dropped the red dot/circle because competitors weren't being forced to do anything like that. Doesn't this seem kind of damning? Like you admit the recording dot is suspicious, so you remove it because why? Are you targeting anyone that isn't fully aware of what the truple notification means, maybe because they are a child or otherwise mentally compromised?
        camhart 5y ago
        Put on the hat of the end user. Keep in mind the end user is a child, or someone struggling with an online addiction/behavior they want to quit. They welcome the app, but those issues are somewhat personal. There's a balancing act I'm trying to walk here, of being reasonably suspicious while also not publishing for everyone who peeks over their shoulder that they're using an app like this. Again, if the red dot matters, I'll add it back.
        tptacek 5y ago
        Apple's reasonable concern here might be that the end user isn't a child, or even someone who consents to have the application running.
  - tptacek 5y ago
    What's your hypothesis about why they're not letting you do something? Do they just not like you? That seems unlikely.
    - chris_wot 5y ago
      And yet, they don't explain what the issues are. A bit hard for him to tell what the issue is if they don't say what the issues are. Sure seems they don't like him to me.
agentdrtran 5y ago
Any software like this will, without fail, be used by abusers to do things other than blocking pornography. If it only did that one thing this wouldn't be a problem.
mikotodomo 5y ago
This app is lit. Can it track location or take photos from the camera (and selfie cam) from time to time? My circle of parents and friends are looking for something like this as there is rising concern of child abuse here.

tptacek 5y ago

The platform is wary of surveillance applications, which often have off-label use as stalking tools. It's not so much about whether people agree with parental controls or not; it's that Apple sets a different standard for intrusive parental control software than it does for other tools, because parental control tools are widely misused. If that's the problem you're running up against here, and not that you somehow embedded malware/adware into your app that they screen for, I think you might have trouble getting anywhere with this.

camhart 5y ago
Then why do they allow competitors to do it? They should be facing the same issues.
- tux3 5y ago
  If you think they should do more, then the first step can't be criticized on the grounds that it's not the last step. Presumably, more will come.
- w1nk 5y ago
  I have to imagine the answer lies in the interpretation of the rules you quoted in your post: My app is in alignment with it... I've made sure since day one that a "reasonably suspicious" notification is present when the app is monitoring. Could you elaborate on what your version of this reasonably suspicious notification compared to your competitors actually is?
  - camhart 5y ago
    The original version of the app I submitted for notarization had the Truple logo, with a red dot/circle to indicate recording and make it more suspicious. The redesign I did dropped the red dot/circle because competitors weren't being forced to do anything like that. Competitors just use their logo. And their logo's aren't any more/less suspicious than Truple's. If you click on the notification on MacOS, a menu pops up indicating the device is being monitored and includes instructions for how to uninstall the app though if you do an alert is sent indicating that you did. It's convenient to think I've done something wrong here... but I've puzzled over this for 2.5 years, and if I have done something wrong, the least Apple could do is let me know so I can correct it.
    - verall 5y ago
      > The original version of the app I submitted for notarization had the Truple logo, with a red dot/circle to indicate recording and make it more suspicious. The redesign I did dropped the red dot/circle because competitors weren't being forced to do anything like that. Doesn't this seem kind of damning? Like you admit the recording dot is suspicious, so you remove it because why? Are you targeting anyone that isn't fully aware of what the truple notification means, maybe because they are a child or otherwise mentally compromised?
      - camhart 5y ago
        Put on the hat of the end user. Keep in mind the end user is a child, or someone struggling with an online addiction/behavior they want to quit. They welcome the app, but those issues are somewhat personal. There's a balancing act I'm trying to walk here, of being reasonably suspicious while also not publishing for everyone who peeks over their shoulder that they're using an app like this. Again, if the red dot matters, I'll add it back.
        tptacek 5y ago
        Apple's reasonable concern here might be that the end user isn't a child, or even someone who consents to have the application running.
- tptacek 5y ago
  What's your hypothesis about why they're not letting you do something? Do they just not like you? That seems unlikely.
  - chris_wot 5y ago
    And yet, they don't explain what the issues are. A bit hard for him to tell what the issue is if they don't say what the issues are. Sure seems they don't like him to me.

agentdrtran 5y ago

Any software like this will, without fail, be used by abusers to do things other than blocking pornography. If it only did that one thing this wouldn't be a problem.

mikotodomo 5y ago

This app is lit. Can it track location or take photos from the camera (and selfie cam) from time to time? My circle of parents and friends are looking for something like this as there is rising concern of child abuse here.