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Coinbase Bitcoin Wallet App Gets Axed From iOS App Store

113 points by clamprecht 13y ago

ceejayoz 13y ago
Afraid of Bitcoin? No. Afraid of regulators? I'd imagine.
- deleted 13y ago
  [deleted]
sciguy77 13y ago
I'm not sure "afraid," is the right word. Perhaps Apple's legal team is just trying to avoid potential run ins with the law?
- seiji 13y ago
  Saying generic-big-organization-or-government is "afraid" of you is a generic tactic to empower your cult-like base into thinking they matter. It's the "doctors hate this elementary school teacher who discovered one weird trick!" of pet causes.
  - deleted 13y ago
    [deleted]
- johnpowell 13y ago
  Or when another site disappears and takes the money with them Apple doesn't want to deal with people thinking Apple will get their money back.
pat2man 13y ago
This isn't new at all: http://www.forbes.com/sites/jonmatonis/2012/06/13/why-apple-is-afraid-of-bitcoin/ http://www.forbes.com/sites/jonmatonis/2012/06/13/why-apple-... It was nice to have the Coinbase app but there was always a risk they were going to pull it. Gliph still works...
- eridius 13y ago
  That entire article is based on a completely wrong premise. From the first paragraph: > With the introduction of Passbook, Apple has launched mobile payments on iOS and competing virtual payment systems, including bitcoin, must be terminated. Except Passbook isn't mobile payments on iOS. The article was wrong then, and it's still wrong now. There seems to be no relation at all between Passbook and Bitcoin.
colinbartlett 13y ago
I sure hope Apple can't force an uninstall of apps I've already downloaded and installed... This makes me distrust the auto app update feature of iOS 7.
- shinratdr 13y ago
  They can, but never have.
  - samweinberg 13y ago
    Source?
    - CrazedGeek 13y ago
      http://www.hackthatphone.com/3x/kill_switch.html http://www.hackthatphone.com/3x/kill_switch.html
      - chid 13y ago
        :( link rot, the full article seems unviewable http://www.zdziarski.com/papers/killswitch.html http://www.zdziarski.com/papers/killswitch.html
  - e28eta 13y ago
    Honestly, I bet they have. Either: 1. The App Store approval process (and app sand boxing) is so good that no malware made it through that needed the kill switch. Or, 2. Malware has made it out to customers, and the kill switch was used. However, Apple certainly isn't going to publicize that fact, and the malware author probably isn't going to either.
nextstep 13y ago
What happens to an app when Apple pulls it from the store? The app remains on the devices that already downloaded it -- does this just prevent anyone from getting updates and any new users from downloading the coinbase app?
- maushu 13y ago
  Apple can do both. Either remain (without updates or new users) or remote uninstall on every device (generally used for malware).
  - MBCook 13y ago
    > or remote uninstall on every device (generally used for malware) Has Apple ever done this or said they could? Technically, it would obviously be possible, but I don't remember Apple doing it. My understanding is that when an app is pulled, it's usually still available for download if you had already bought it; but they have removed even that ability in a few cases.
    - nwh 13y ago
      There certainly is a kill switch, but as far as I know it's never been used.
- auctiontheory 13y ago
  Right now, I'm connected with the Tether app - listed on the App store for less than a day, two years (and two iOS cycles) ago. So once you've downloaded an app, Apple does not generally disable it, even if they no longer approve.
oscilloscope 13y ago
The lack of wallets for iPhone and iPad may be one of Bitcoin's biggest hurdles to mass adoption. Many early adopters use Apple products, but much of Bitcoin's appeal is lost if you can't carry it in your pocket. It's part of what makes Bitcoin cash-like. Coinbase is already unsatisfying, as far as software wallets go, because you have to register with an email address. Your coins are held in a shared wallet, not on the device. But at least you get the idea of how Bitcoin works on a phone. On the other hand, Apple didn't explicitly design iOS to be a highly secure environment suitable to store digital money on. A couple months ago, a bug in Android's random number generator was discovered that compromised all key pairs which used it. Android wallets had to issue an update which moved all the bitcoin in each wallet to a new address, generated with the patched RNG. But for a day or two, most Android wallets were vulnerable.
- bobbles 13y ago
  As someone fairly new to bitcoin, what is the actual advantage of carrying the wallet in your pocket? Wouldn't you rather have your wallet stored say on your home PC, but be able to transfer in and out from your mobile device?
  - stinkytaco 13y ago
    You need a wallet to make purchases using your phone (i.e. a wallet with its own address to transfer from or to). It's just like carrying cash. I can't transfer cash from home once I'm at the store, I need it right there. So what I do is usually transfer some bitcoin from my "main wallet" to my "phone wallet" when I think I might need it. If there are no wallet's for the iPhone, however (I use Android so I have no idea if this is actually true), then bitcoin on the go is useless to me.
- pat2man 13y ago
  For storing $40 or so (like cash in a wallet) iOS's keychain should be plenty secure. For larger amounts the Coinbase method seems pretty good. They don't have to trust the device.
- wyager 13y ago
hrrsn 13y ago
There's still the Blockchain wallet app.
rookadook 13y ago
They are not afraid of bitcoin or anything like that. They just don't like bad apps. sorry.
- stefan_kendall 13y ago
  That's just false. Apple rejects things without reason just 'cause. Quality is the catch all they use to reject apps arbitrarily.
wildchild 13y ago
Why people still trust all these cloud wallets? Can't they be hacked/hack oneself some day?
- deleted 13y ago
  [deleted]
- aqme28 13y ago
  Anything can be hacked, but sometimes it's good to have money on hand to pay bar tabs with. Can't do that with my buried-in-the-ground wallet.
  - kybernetyk 13y ago
    There are alternatives that don't require centralized VC funded startups to act as banks for these cases. One would be: Having a mini wallet on paper (QR code for easy handling) and paying from that in your bar.
    - Jtsummers 13y ago
      How can you have a paper wallet to make transactions? That would require the wallet to expose its private key to the recipient so they could generate a transaction. That means the wallet is compromised on first use. Paper wallets really only make sense for two things: carrying an address that others can send payments to; carrying the private key so that you can transfer the full amount into some other address.
nwh 13y ago
Doesn't make sense really. There's two other wallets, blockchain.info's and Coinjar.io's which are still sitting pretty. https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/blockchain/id493253309 https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/blockchain/id493253309 https://itunes.apple.com/au/app/coinjar-for-iphone/id725209873 https://itunes.apple.com/au/app/coinjar-for-iphone/id7252098... More likely they removed it to fix a bug, than it being forcefully taken down.
- coinbase-craig 13y ago
  We didn't remove it.
  - chid 13y ago
    Doesn't Apple give you a reason for pulling it?
  - gigq 13y ago
    Will you guys be supporting the previous app for people that have already downloaded it? Or at least not making any API changes that will break it?
  - kovyakov 13y ago
    Sadlly I formated my ipod without a backup... Lost my app I wish the best dfor you guys, hope it come back
- javis 13y ago
  Seeing as those are still up and haven't been removed, I'm guessing the Coinbase app was removed for quality reasons. I used the thing and wasn't impressed. The experience wasn't great. Hopefully if they fix it up and resubmit the app, Apple will allow it back in.
  - coinbase-craig 13y ago
    That wasn't the reason that Apple provided us with. e: clarity
dangrossman 13y ago
Doesn't Apple require that in-app purchases happen through their system (where they take a cut)? The Coinbase app let you buy Bitcoins with US dollars. Sounds like a TOS violation, not an anti-Bitcoin conspiracy or fear of regulation. Admittedly, I'm not an iOS developer and don't keep up on changes to their developer guidelines, so I don't know if that rule still stands or if it applies here.
- smtddr 13y ago
  That rule absolutely still applies today. It gets a little fuzzy in some situations. I wonder if ETrade has to give apple a cut since Etrade makes money on every buy/sell transaction... or the Amazon shopping app... P.S., I just signed up with coinbase.com 2 days ago and entered in my bank details. My heart stopped when I saw coinbase on the frontpage of HN; given the kind of news we've been hearing about bitcoin-xchgs these last few days...
  - andrewpi 13y ago
    No, Amazon and E*Trade don't have to pay Apple in those situations. The App Store only gets a cut of content delivered to the iPhone.
- clamprecht 13y ago
  I don't know Apple's rule. But I know that PayPal has an iPhone app they describe as "your new digital wallet". Bitcoin is a digital wallet.[1] Does PayPal give Apple a cut for each payment? Somehow I doubt it. Source: https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/paypal/id283646709 https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/paypal/id283646709
  - adventureloop 13y ago
    I don't think that is the case. With the banking app from RBS I can perform bank transfers and even pay money to contacts. Apple surely can't be getting a cut of that.
Yhippa 13y ago
This is very disappointing. It's their house and you have to play by their rules I guess. This is why I have to keep diversifying where I acquire content from these ecosystems. Hats off to the guys at Coinbase. I really like their approach to Bitcoin so far.
frank_boyd 13y ago
Time to axe the iOS app store. Time for new open platforms.
duncan_bayne 13y ago
"Owner of closed, proprietary walled-garden chooses to exclude yet another app based on their own inscrutable decision making process." How is this news?
miguelrochefort 13y ago
I'm the developer of the of the only Bitcoin wallet client on Windows Phone. It works with both Coinbase and Blockchain. http://www.windowsphone.com/en-us/store/app/bitcoin/ca65fc5b-14f0-4da4-8e39-e2d4b702b2ea http://www.windowsphone.com/en-us/store/app/bitcoin/ca65fc5b... The app initially got rejected multiple times, for many different reasons (not related to the quality of the app). My feeling is that they were trying to find excuses not to accept this kind of app. During the first few months, I had to disable the payment function (making the app pretty much useless). Ultimately, I rebuilt the whole app, and integrated it directly with Windows Phone's Wallet (think Passbook). I'm still not sure why, but they accepted it right away. Perhaps they could use the same approach, and integrate Coinbase with Passbook, giving one more reason for people to use Passbook (which I believe Apple would appreciate)? I'm not quite sure, but it worked for me.
- clamprecht 13y ago
  I love this idea. I just used Passbook for the first time recently. I got to the airport and my Delta passes were on my home screen. It was great. I'm thinking an integration with CoinMap, where if you walk into a store that accepts Bitcoin, it shows up on your home screen (if this is possible).
  - miguelrochefort 13y ago
    > I'm thinking an integration with CoinMap, where if you walk into a store that accepts Bitcoin, it shows up on your home screen (if this is possible). That would be awesome actually.
- skrebbel 13y ago
  Completely off topic, but you've got a lovely review over there: > Stole all my coins Obviously bull, but damn, some people just do damage for the heck of it, don't they?
  - miguelrochefort 13y ago
    I know... and there's nothing I can do about it. I wish I could contact reviewers... I just hope it's not a bug, but it would be extremely surprising.
Fuxy 13y ago
And this is why Apple has lost its way. I doubt Steve Jobs would have allowed the situation to be handled so badly. Then again I may be wrong. The concept of an app store is great for having all the apps in one place but it's prone to abuse when run by a company. There shouldn't be any reason other quality, viruses or spyware to reject an app. Refusing an app because its in competition with your product is anti-competitive and should be illegal.
- rmc 13y ago
  Anything Apples does wrong people are now saying "This wouldn't happen under Jobs". How quickly people forget the iPhone 4's antenna problem and Steve Job's response of "You're holding it wrong."
  - Fuxy 13y ago
    You're comparing a irreversible hardware problem with a policy problem. Short of recalling all Iphone 4's there was nothing he could do. Why do you thing they gave out free rubber straps? That was them basically admitting they messed up. And no I'm not idolizing him I have never owned an Iphone or an apple product in general but he was a great leader.
    - rmc 13y ago
      > "You're comparing a irreversible hardware problem with a policy problem." Telling customers hold it differently http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/8761240.stm http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/8761240.stm is a policy decision.
- drob 13y ago
  Excuse me? This exact behavior happened all the time when Steve Jobs ran Apple. Remember Google Voice, or the countless other apps that Apple banned from the walled garden for whatever reason? If anything, this is evidence that Apple hasn't changed.
  - patrickk 13y ago
bernatfp 13y ago
Well, I guess they can focus on integrating Litecoin into their system now...
dan1234 13y ago
If the keys are stored at Coinbase and the app is just using APIs to talk back to the site, is there anything the app was doing that couldn't be replicated through a mobile website?
pyalot2 13y ago
Curious question. If you deploy a wallet app trough an app-store (such as iOS appstore or google play), people send coins to that wallet and then the app-store pulls the app, which will also delete the app from the users device, the coins are gone no? I'm assuming that Apple or Google won't take responsibility for the wanton destruction of your property. So maybe deploying wallet apps on devices where you don't control when your wallet gets nuked isn't such a great idea.
- deleted 13y ago
  [deleted]
- damon_c 13y ago
  I'm pretty sure Apple removing an app from the store has no effect on installations already on people's devices. This may have changed with iOS 7's auto updates.
throwwit 13y ago
Adding to the speculation: Could apple be protecting it's business model? A bitcoin transaction can be a means of purchasing in an app without the 30% cut.

113 points by clamprecht 13y ago

ceejayoz 13y ago

Afraid of Bitcoin? No. Afraid of regulators? I'd imagine.

deleted 13y ago
[deleted]

sciguy77 13y ago

I'm not sure "afraid," is the right word. Perhaps Apple's legal team is just trying to avoid potential run ins with the law?

seiji 13y ago
Saying generic-big-organization-or-government is "afraid" of you is a generic tactic to empower your cult-like base into thinking they matter. It's the "doctors hate this elementary school teacher who discovered one weird trick!" of pet causes.
- deleted 13y ago
  [deleted]
johnpowell 13y ago
Or when another site disappears and takes the money with them Apple doesn't want to deal with people thinking Apple will get their money back.

pat2man 13y ago

This isn't new at all: http://www.forbes.com/sites/jonmatonis/2012/06/13/why-apple-is-afraid-of-bitcoin/ http://www.forbes.com/sites/jonmatonis/2012/06/13/why-apple-... It was nice to have the Coinbase app but there was always a risk they were going to pull it. Gliph still works...

eridius 13y ago
That entire article is based on a completely wrong premise. From the first paragraph: > With the introduction of Passbook, Apple has launched mobile payments on iOS and competing virtual payment systems, including bitcoin, must be terminated. Except Passbook isn't mobile payments on iOS. The article was wrong then, and it's still wrong now. There seems to be no relation at all between Passbook and Bitcoin.

colinbartlett 13y ago

I sure hope Apple can't force an uninstall of apps I've already downloaded and installed... This makes me distrust the auto app update feature of iOS 7.

shinratdr 13y ago
They can, but never have.
- samweinberg 13y ago
  Source?
  - CrazedGeek 13y ago
    http://www.hackthatphone.com/3x/kill_switch.html http://www.hackthatphone.com/3x/kill_switch.html
    - chid 13y ago
      :( link rot, the full article seems unviewable http://www.zdziarski.com/papers/killswitch.html http://www.zdziarski.com/papers/killswitch.html
- e28eta 13y ago
  Honestly, I bet they have. Either: 1. The App Store approval process (and app sand boxing) is so good that no malware made it through that needed the kill switch. Or, 2. Malware has made it out to customers, and the kill switch was used. However, Apple certainly isn't going to publicize that fact, and the malware author probably isn't going to either.

nextstep 13y ago

What happens to an app when Apple pulls it from the store? The app remains on the devices that already downloaded it -- does this just prevent anyone from getting updates and any new users from downloading the coinbase app?

maushu 13y ago
Apple can do both. Either remain (without updates or new users) or remote uninstall on every device (generally used for malware).
- MBCook 13y ago
  > or remote uninstall on every device (generally used for malware) Has Apple ever done this or said they could? Technically, it would obviously be possible, but I don't remember Apple doing it. My understanding is that when an app is pulled, it's usually still available for download if you had already bought it; but they have removed even that ability in a few cases.
  - nwh 13y ago
    There certainly is a kill switch, but as far as I know it's never been used.
auctiontheory 13y ago
Right now, I'm connected with the Tether app - listed on the App store for less than a day, two years (and two iOS cycles) ago. So once you've downloaded an app, Apple does not generally disable it, even if they no longer approve.

oscilloscope 13y ago

The lack of wallets for iPhone and iPad may be one of Bitcoin's biggest hurdles to mass adoption. Many early adopters use Apple products, but much of Bitcoin's appeal is lost if you can't carry it in your pocket. It's part of what makes Bitcoin cash-like. Coinbase is already unsatisfying, as far as software wallets go, because you have to register with an email address. Your coins are held in a shared wallet, not on the device. But at least you get the idea of how Bitcoin works on a phone. On the other hand, Apple didn't explicitly design iOS to be a highly secure environment suitable to store digital money on. A couple months ago, a bug in Android's random number generator was discovered that compromised all key pairs which used it. Android wallets had to issue an update which moved all the bitcoin in each wallet to a new address, generated with the patched RNG. But for a day or two, most Android wallets were vulnerable.

bobbles 13y ago
As someone fairly new to bitcoin, what is the actual advantage of carrying the wallet in your pocket? Wouldn't you rather have your wallet stored say on your home PC, but be able to transfer in and out from your mobile device?
- stinkytaco 13y ago
  You need a wallet to make purchases using your phone (i.e. a wallet with its own address to transfer from or to). It's just like carrying cash. I can't transfer cash from home once I'm at the store, I need it right there. So what I do is usually transfer some bitcoin from my "main wallet" to my "phone wallet" when I think I might need it. If there are no wallet's for the iPhone, however (I use Android so I have no idea if this is actually true), then bitcoin on the go is useless to me.
pat2man 13y ago
For storing $40 or so (like cash in a wallet) iOS's keychain should be plenty secure. For larger amounts the Coinbase method seems pretty good. They don't have to trust the device.
wyager 13y ago

hrrsn 13y ago

There's still the Blockchain wallet app.

rookadook 13y ago

They are not afraid of bitcoin or anything like that. They just don't like bad apps. sorry.

stefan_kendall 13y ago
That's just false. Apple rejects things without reason just 'cause. Quality is the catch all they use to reject apps arbitrarily.

wildchild 13y ago

Why people still trust all these cloud wallets? Can't they be hacked/hack oneself some day?

deleted 13y ago
[deleted]
aqme28 13y ago
Anything can be hacked, but sometimes it's good to have money on hand to pay bar tabs with. Can't do that with my buried-in-the-ground wallet.
- kybernetyk 13y ago
  There are alternatives that don't require centralized VC funded startups to act as banks for these cases. One would be: Having a mini wallet on paper (QR code for easy handling) and paying from that in your bar.
  - Jtsummers 13y ago
    How can you have a paper wallet to make transactions? That would require the wallet to expose its private key to the recipient so they could generate a transaction. That means the wallet is compromised on first use. Paper wallets really only make sense for two things: carrying an address that others can send payments to; carrying the private key so that you can transfer the full amount into some other address.

nwh 13y ago

Doesn't make sense really. There's two other wallets, blockchain.info's and Coinjar.io's which are still sitting pretty. https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/blockchain/id493253309 https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/blockchain/id493253309 https://itunes.apple.com/au/app/coinjar-for-iphone/id725209873 https://itunes.apple.com/au/app/coinjar-for-iphone/id7252098... More likely they removed it to fix a bug, than it being forcefully taken down.

coinbase-craig 13y ago
We didn't remove it.
- chid 13y ago
  Doesn't Apple give you a reason for pulling it?
- gigq 13y ago
  Will you guys be supporting the previous app for people that have already downloaded it? Or at least not making any API changes that will break it?
- kovyakov 13y ago
  Sadlly I formated my ipod without a backup... Lost my app I wish the best dfor you guys, hope it come back
javis 13y ago
Seeing as those are still up and haven't been removed, I'm guessing the Coinbase app was removed for quality reasons. I used the thing and wasn't impressed. The experience wasn't great. Hopefully if they fix it up and resubmit the app, Apple will allow it back in.
- coinbase-craig 13y ago
  That wasn't the reason that Apple provided us with. e: clarity

dangrossman 13y ago

Doesn't Apple require that in-app purchases happen through their system (where they take a cut)? The Coinbase app let you buy Bitcoins with US dollars. Sounds like a TOS violation, not an anti-Bitcoin conspiracy or fear of regulation. Admittedly, I'm not an iOS developer and don't keep up on changes to their developer guidelines, so I don't know if that rule still stands or if it applies here.

smtddr 13y ago
That rule absolutely still applies today. It gets a little fuzzy in some situations. I wonder if ETrade has to give apple a cut since Etrade makes money on every buy/sell transaction... or the Amazon shopping app... P.S., I just signed up with coinbase.com 2 days ago and entered in my bank details. My heart stopped when I saw coinbase on the frontpage of HN; given the kind of news we've been hearing about bitcoin-xchgs these last few days...
- andrewpi 13y ago
  No, Amazon and E*Trade don't have to pay Apple in those situations. The App Store only gets a cut of content delivered to the iPhone.
clamprecht 13y ago
I don't know Apple's rule. But I know that PayPal has an iPhone app they describe as "your new digital wallet". Bitcoin is a digital wallet.[1] Does PayPal give Apple a cut for each payment? Somehow I doubt it. Source: https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/paypal/id283646709 https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/paypal/id283646709
- adventureloop 13y ago
  I don't think that is the case. With the banking app from RBS I can perform bank transfers and even pay money to contacts. Apple surely can't be getting a cut of that.

Yhippa 13y ago

This is very disappointing. It's their house and you have to play by their rules I guess. This is why I have to keep diversifying where I acquire content from these ecosystems. Hats off to the guys at Coinbase. I really like their approach to Bitcoin so far.

frank_boyd 13y ago

Time to axe the iOS app store. Time for new open platforms.

duncan_bayne 13y ago

"Owner of closed, proprietary walled-garden chooses to exclude yet another app based on their own inscrutable decision making process." How is this news?

miguelrochefort 13y ago

I'm the developer of the of the only Bitcoin wallet client on Windows Phone. It works with both Coinbase and Blockchain. http://www.windowsphone.com/en-us/store/app/bitcoin/ca65fc5b-14f0-4da4-8e39-e2d4b702b2ea http://www.windowsphone.com/en-us/store/app/bitcoin/ca65fc5b... The app initially got rejected multiple times, for many different reasons (not related to the quality of the app). My feeling is that they were trying to find excuses not to accept this kind of app. During the first few months, I had to disable the payment function (making the app pretty much useless). Ultimately, I rebuilt the whole app, and integrated it directly with Windows Phone's Wallet (think Passbook). I'm still not sure why, but they accepted it right away. Perhaps they could use the same approach, and integrate Coinbase with Passbook, giving one more reason for people to use Passbook (which I believe Apple would appreciate)? I'm not quite sure, but it worked for me.

clamprecht 13y ago
I love this idea. I just used Passbook for the first time recently. I got to the airport and my Delta passes were on my home screen. It was great. I'm thinking an integration with CoinMap, where if you walk into a store that accepts Bitcoin, it shows up on your home screen (if this is possible).
- miguelrochefort 13y ago
  > I'm thinking an integration with CoinMap, where if you walk into a store that accepts Bitcoin, it shows up on your home screen (if this is possible). That would be awesome actually.
skrebbel 13y ago
Completely off topic, but you've got a lovely review over there: > Stole all my coins Obviously bull, but damn, some people just do damage for the heck of it, don't they?
- miguelrochefort 13y ago
  I know... and there's nothing I can do about it. I wish I could contact reviewers... I just hope it's not a bug, but it would be extremely surprising.

Fuxy 13y ago

And this is why Apple has lost its way. I doubt Steve Jobs would have allowed the situation to be handled so badly. Then again I may be wrong. The concept of an app store is great for having all the apps in one place but it's prone to abuse when run by a company. There shouldn't be any reason other quality, viruses or spyware to reject an app. Refusing an app because its in competition with your product is anti-competitive and should be illegal.

rmc 13y ago
Anything Apples does wrong people are now saying "This wouldn't happen under Jobs". How quickly people forget the iPhone 4's antenna problem and Steve Job's response of "You're holding it wrong."
- Fuxy 13y ago
  You're comparing a irreversible hardware problem with a policy problem. Short of recalling all Iphone 4's there was nothing he could do. Why do you thing they gave out free rubber straps? That was them basically admitting they messed up. And no I'm not idolizing him I have never owned an Iphone or an apple product in general but he was a great leader.
  - rmc 13y ago
    > "You're comparing a irreversible hardware problem with a policy problem." Telling customers hold it differently http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/8761240.stm http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/8761240.stm is a policy decision.
drob 13y ago
Excuse me? This exact behavior happened all the time when Steve Jobs ran Apple. Remember Google Voice, or the countless other apps that Apple banned from the walled garden for whatever reason? If anything, this is evidence that Apple hasn't changed.
- patrickk 13y ago

bernatfp 13y ago

Well, I guess they can focus on integrating Litecoin into their system now...

dan1234 13y ago

If the keys are stored at Coinbase and the app is just using APIs to talk back to the site, is there anything the app was doing that couldn't be replicated through a mobile website?

pyalot2 13y ago

Curious question. If you deploy a wallet app trough an app-store (such as iOS appstore or google play), people send coins to that wallet and then the app-store pulls the app, which will also delete the app from the users device, the coins are gone no? I'm assuming that Apple or Google won't take responsibility for the wanton destruction of your property. So maybe deploying wallet apps on devices where you don't control when your wallet gets nuked isn't such a great idea.

deleted 13y ago
[deleted]
damon_c 13y ago
I'm pretty sure Apple removing an app from the store has no effect on installations already on people's devices. This may have changed with iOS 7's auto updates.

throwwit 13y ago

Adding to the speculation: Could apple be protecting it's business model? A bitcoin transaction can be a means of purchasing in an app without the 30% cut.