> But when they hire a team specifically to shut down the product In general, I think if you work for Apple, if you had a preexisting app in the App Store, you

> But when they hire a team specifically to shut down the product In general, I think if you work for Apple, if you had a preexisting app in the App Store, you get to keep it. However, you are forbidden from developing it further. Side projects are frowned upon at Apple. They want all of you. I would assume Google has similar policies. For an example of an Apple employee: Eliza Block, one of the presenters of the famous Scrollview WWDC talk, had a top-selling crosswords app, "2-Across" in the App Store [1]. "2-Across" was one of the first App Store gold rush success stories [2]. She was probably (rightly) hired on the basis of the quality of the app. That app has not been updated since 2008. No retina graphics. No iOS4. It has languished, rightly - other apps have far surpassed hers now. And there seems to only be a Lite version now. So she is no longer getting revenue from her app. [1] http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/2-across/id285513624?mt=8 http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/2-across/id285513624?mt=8 [2] http://ismashphone.com/2008/08/iphone-app-deve.html http://ismashphone.com/2008/08/iphone-app-deve.html