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> You said other apps are fine, but are those other apps advertising themselves as parental controls or as stalking software? Search for "accountability softwa

> You said other apps are fine, but are those other apps advertising themselves as parental controls or as stalking software? Search for "accountability software", and you'll find apps advertised in a very similar manner that have had no issues with Apple, with absolutely no mentioning of parental controls. > I took a look at your website https://truple.io https://truple.io and... there is very little mention of this being for parents. TBH looking at the website is... deeply concerning for anyone that would legitimately want to use this product. Especially on a spouse?!? It's used voluntarily by the device owner. It's not used "on" anyone. The whole point of this is to provide accountability. Including a comment from below I'd hoped would get pinned: "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." > Last... I find your focus on "online filth" insulting. Online filth was intended to generalize the concerns, not focus them.

tptacek 5y ago
What are some of the comparable applications you're thinking about? Can you link to them? You know more about the space than most of us, so help us out a bit.
- camhart 5y ago
  I've been hesitant to do so. Look at the top several results from https://www.google.com/search?q=porn+accountability+app https://www.google.com/search?q=porn+accountability+app for apps that don't even try to advertise as parental focused apps. If you want direct links, send me an email (you can find it in my profile).
  - tptacek 5y ago
    For instance, "Covenant Eye" (which: holy shit, how creepy is this!) always blurs screenshots. Yours apparently does opt-in blurring. I'm interested in the detective project of figuring out what red lines your app may have crossed, just because it's interesting. But cards on the table: none of these apps should be allowed on the app store. Maybe Apple just hasn't gotten around to shutting down "Covenant Eye" yet.
    - tptacek 5y ago
      "Ever Accountable", another example, only works for a small list of applications --- if you're not on their VPN, you even have to use their browser. Your application takes random screenshots and advertises that it's hard to bypass, which is kind of the opposite of what "Ever Accountable" claims.
      - camhart 5y ago
        Look at the MacOS app.
        tptacek 5y ago
        Respectfully, no. The Mac App store is not interesting in this discussion; you can install any app your want on a Mac (not necessarily via the App Store, but that's fine for a number of very big businesses that ship Mac software). What we're interested in here is the iOS App Store, which is the only way to realistically install commercial software on an iPhone.
        camhart 5y ago
        This entire discussion is about Mac apps. My account was frozen when I attempted to notarize a MacOS app. I have not (yet) tried to submit an iOS app.
        tptacek 5y ago
nerdjon 5y ago
I looked up a few alternatives and your website and marketing tell a very different story. "Online filth" is in your website header, so your kinda focusing on them. I looked at the reviews and your most recent one continues to reinforce something about "filth" https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.camhart.netcountable&showAllReviews=true https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.camhart.ne... As far as not being used "on" someone. Again you have reviews from Spouses and Parents which would imply they are being used "on" someone. Something I noticed the other apps focus on is individual accountability. I see almost no reference to spouses or parents there. Just having some you trust to be accountable too. Your first line on google play says "Truple protects your loved ones against porn & other online filth. It holds your loved ones accountable in a way that's near impossible to bypass by capturing and sharing screenshots." How exactly is that not it being "used on anyone"? Your marketing around this tells a story of surveillance trying to pass it off as some "good" where accountability is a secondary issue. While here you are focused on accountability. And personally I have to wonder if Apple takes this into account when approving apps (which I assume they do)
- akyoan 5y ago
  I don’t get this. Porn is filth. What’s the problem with that categorization? We can’t both classify it as “oh it empowers women” and “lest a penis ever be shown anywhere.” Which one is it? Edit: lol @ “flagged” Buncha idiots. Answer my question instead.
- camhart 5y ago
  Suppose I'm addicted to porn and that it's damaging my marriage. I want to be free of it. But when I pick my phone up, I'm tempted to view it. I know I want to be free of it. I don't want my life to suffer any more as a result of it. But I need help, because in those weaker moments my will power isn't sufficient. This is where making it difficult to bypass comes in. Keep in mind difficult do bypass doesn't equal "can't be removed", it means it can be removed but an alert is sent if it is removed. They can't bypass it without triggering an alert, therefore it's not been bypassed (at least by my definition/use of the word bypass).
  - 5y ago
scythe 5y ago
>filth This is a sort of "smelly" word to see in an advertisement, in that referring to material as "filth" brings up memories/images of, for want of a better phrase, cultural intolerance. You may get better reception by calling such content "improper" or something less emotionally charged.
newaccount74 5y ago
> Search for "accountability software", and you'll find apps advertised in a very similar manner I googled a bit and found [1] and [2]. Their marketing is very very different from yours [3]. [1] looks very tasteful, considering they are basically spyware. It's a very positive spin with great copywriting. [2] gives me some Christian vibes, it's not for me, but it still looks decent. [3] on the other hand just looks really creepy. The copy is awkward and the hectic GIF with the screenshots and the bikini picture just gives me stalker vibes. It's a question of taste. Great Mac and iPhone are done very tastefully. Truple is missing that. (That doesn't mean that Apple only approves tasteful apps. There are a lot of poorly designed apps on the app store. But if you are doing something even slightly questionable, and your app looks a bit creepy, then Apple is not going to go out of their way to help you get it out there, even if you aren't breaking any explicit rules.) [1]: https://accountable2you.com https://accountable2you.com [2]: https://everaccountable.com/ref/61/ https://everaccountable.com/ref/61/ [3]: https://truple.io https://truple.io
- mdoms 5y ago
  > It's a question of taste. Great Mac and iPhone are done very tastefully. Truple is missing that. It is wild to me that there is a megacorporation whose subjective opinion of "tastefulness" (based on their own North American cultural norms) is a gate to software delivery and that there is an entire category of users who actually think this is a good thing.
  - calsy 5y ago
    The issue in this case is the 'spyware' nature of the app, rather than any matter of taste.

tptacek 5y ago

What are some of the comparable applications you're thinking about? Can you link to them? You know more about the space than most of us, so help us out a bit.

camhart 5y ago
I've been hesitant to do so. Look at the top several results from https://www.google.com/search?q=porn+accountability+app https://www.google.com/search?q=porn+accountability+app for apps that don't even try to advertise as parental focused apps. If you want direct links, send me an email (you can find it in my profile).
- tptacek 5y ago
  For instance, "Covenant Eye" (which: holy shit, how creepy is this!) always blurs screenshots. Yours apparently does opt-in blurring. I'm interested in the detective project of figuring out what red lines your app may have crossed, just because it's interesting. But cards on the table: none of these apps should be allowed on the app store. Maybe Apple just hasn't gotten around to shutting down "Covenant Eye" yet.
  - tptacek 5y ago
    "Ever Accountable", another example, only works for a small list of applications --- if you're not on their VPN, you even have to use their browser. Your application takes random screenshots and advertises that it's hard to bypass, which is kind of the opposite of what "Ever Accountable" claims.
    - camhart 5y ago
      Look at the MacOS app.
      - tptacek 5y ago
        Respectfully, no. The Mac App store is not interesting in this discussion; you can install any app your want on a Mac (not necessarily via the App Store, but that's fine for a number of very big businesses that ship Mac software). What we're interested in here is the iOS App Store, which is the only way to realistically install commercial software on an iPhone.
        camhart 5y ago
        This entire discussion is about Mac apps. My account was frozen when I attempted to notarize a MacOS app. I have not (yet) tried to submit an iOS app.
        tptacek 5y ago

nerdjon 5y ago

I looked up a few alternatives and your website and marketing tell a very different story. "Online filth" is in your website header, so your kinda focusing on them. I looked at the reviews and your most recent one continues to reinforce something about "filth" https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.camhart.netcountable&showAllReviews=true https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.camhart.ne... As far as not being used "on" someone. Again you have reviews from Spouses and Parents which would imply they are being used "on" someone. Something I noticed the other apps focus on is individual accountability. I see almost no reference to spouses or parents there. Just having some you trust to be accountable too. Your first line on google play says "Truple protects your loved ones against porn & other online filth. It holds your loved ones accountable in a way that's near impossible to bypass by capturing and sharing screenshots." How exactly is that not it being "used on anyone"? Your marketing around this tells a story of surveillance trying to pass it off as some "good" where accountability is a secondary issue. While here you are focused on accountability. And personally I have to wonder if Apple takes this into account when approving apps (which I assume they do)

akyoan 5y ago
I don’t get this. Porn is filth. What’s the problem with that categorization? We can’t both classify it as “oh it empowers women” and “lest a penis ever be shown anywhere.” Which one is it? Edit: lol @ “flagged” Buncha idiots. Answer my question instead.
camhart 5y ago
Suppose I'm addicted to porn and that it's damaging my marriage. I want to be free of it. But when I pick my phone up, I'm tempted to view it. I know I want to be free of it. I don't want my life to suffer any more as a result of it. But I need help, because in those weaker moments my will power isn't sufficient. This is where making it difficult to bypass comes in. Keep in mind difficult do bypass doesn't equal "can't be removed", it means it can be removed but an alert is sent if it is removed. They can't bypass it without triggering an alert, therefore it's not been bypassed (at least by my definition/use of the word bypass).
- 5y ago

scythe 5y ago

>filth This is a sort of "smelly" word to see in an advertisement, in that referring to material as "filth" brings up memories/images of, for want of a better phrase, cultural intolerance. You may get better reception by calling such content "improper" or something less emotionally charged.

newaccount74 5y ago

> Search for "accountability software", and you'll find apps advertised in a very similar manner I googled a bit and found [1] and [2]. Their marketing is very very different from yours [3]. [1] looks very tasteful, considering they are basically spyware. It's a very positive spin with great copywriting. [2] gives me some Christian vibes, it's not for me, but it still looks decent. [3] on the other hand just looks really creepy. The copy is awkward and the hectic GIF with the screenshots and the bikini picture just gives me stalker vibes. It's a question of taste. Great Mac and iPhone are done very tastefully. Truple is missing that. (That doesn't mean that Apple only approves tasteful apps. There are a lot of poorly designed apps on the app store. But if you are doing something even slightly questionable, and your app looks a bit creepy, then Apple is not going to go out of their way to help you get it out there, even if you aren't breaking any explicit rules.) [1]: https://accountable2you.com https://accountable2you.com [2]: https://everaccountable.com/ref/61/ https://everaccountable.com/ref/61/ [3]: https://truple.io https://truple.io

mdoms 5y ago
> It's a question of taste. Great Mac and iPhone are done very tastefully. Truple is missing that. It is wild to me that there is a megacorporation whose subjective opinion of "tastefulness" (based on their own North American cultural norms) is a gate to software delivery and that there is an entire category of users who actually think this is a good thing.
- calsy 5y ago
  The issue in this case is the 'spyware' nature of the app, rather than any matter of taste.