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We made something. We use it. We love it. Apple rejected it
- razorshine 13y agoJust release it on android
- theon144 13y agoSo... could this by any chance mean an Android port? Pretty please? :)
- Cthulhu_ 13y agoGiven how it's (self-admitted) just two webviews and push notifications, a port should take just a week (if that) to build.
- ptr 13y agoSkimmed the article and the comments, thought the app seemed like a cool idea. It was when the App Store couldn't find any results for 'Hueman' that it struck me; the whole point of the article! Ha. Damn it.
- philthesong 13y agoI put down a sketch pad and collection view for memo taking app. It didn't get rejected.
- antidaily 13y agoLet me be the first to reject this website for being "too shitty".
- deleted 13y ago[deleted]
- xur17 13y agoI wonder if it was partially rejected due to the use of 'webviews'.
- avighnay 13y agoAbsolutely not... I can vouch for it. Did you seriously think that would happen?
- tomasien 13y agoThat's not a thing
- drawkbox 13y agoSilly but this could be part of it. Apple directs people that just make an app that is a phonegap wrapper of a website to just make a website. I have seen apps be rejected for just being website wrappers or webview apps without other integration points. The fact that it doesn't tie in any services is also sometimes a factor. Integration of iCloud, GameCenter, etc always make for an easier review time.
- tomasien 13y agoI've submitted at least 10 apps to the app store that were just a webview wrapper, no problems. Anecdotal but, there you go.
- mnutt 13y agoI recently had an app rejected under 2.12 for using webviews. It was dependent on a service that needed OAuth, and I had used a webview just to authenticate. The reviewers rejected it even before attempting to authenticate, and specifically called out the use of webviews.
- chj 13y agoI had an app released one month ago, a simple wrapper around webview, and 1 page only. Went through well.
- stigi 13y agoI haven't tested the app (I'd actually like to), so I don't know how far they went with the web view approach. I could imagine that the graph feels pretty static, and taking a native approach and spent some more effort on a playful experience could already solve the rejection. No need for made up features. Keep it simple! That seems the magic of the app.
- bjm1904 13y agoGiven the app consists of two web views and a bit of background code I'm not surprised. Perhaps if they'd utilised the GUI elements Apple provides to give a native experience it would actually warrant being an app. tbh this seems like it would be better implemented as a HTML5 mobile site that utilises the new local storage APIs. You can still promote web apps through App Store, and it seems like a more obvious route to me.
- sjwright 13y ago> You can still promote web apps through App Store Really? I haven't heard about this.
- deleted 13y ago[deleted]
- bjm1904 13y agoSorry, my bad. It seems I was thinking of PhoneGap, which packages HTML5 apps for mobile devices https://build.phonegap.com/ https://build.phonegap.com/ I believe on some Android platform (such as Amazon App Store) you can even charge for HTML5 apps, so it's not unprecedented. However Apple app submissions requirements state you have to have sufficient functionality to warrant providing a native application. Not surprised that this code didn't make the grade, but as mentioned if they were able to make use of UI framework or put through PhoneGap could resolve the issue.
- allworknoplay 13y agoIt's a common enough rejection; I've gotten it before and know other people who have too. You can respond to them and clarify why this set of functionality is right, that it's a new app and will have features added in the future, etc. Worked for me, anyway.
- ctdonath 13y agoThis. There is a rejection appeal process. Use it. Of all big companies, Apple should be amenable to a straightforward explanation that sometimes simplicity is the right design, and that "adding features for the sake of adding features" is wrong.
- JimDabell 13y agoWe've had an application rejected for this reason as well. In our case, they didn't even describe what they didn't like besides "not enough functionality". Our application was quite a bit more complex, and we could prove there was demand for such an application. I get the feeling they guessed at the application's functionality based on the name and didn't really check it out (it wasn't a particularly great name). We went through the appeals process. It was very unhelpful. I got the impression that until we responded "we have updated the application", any objections were routed to the same unreasonable person that rejected us originally who didn't care to look at the same application twice. We ended up adding a "feature" in a completely superficial way. We took an existing feature of the application and we exposed it as a top-level menu item instead of making it appear in the context where it makes sense. As soon as we told Apple that we'd added a feature and they could verify that there was a new top-level menu item on the first screen of the application, they approved it. It was essentially the same application that they thought didn't have enough functionality, except rearranged slightly to make the functionality obvious to a reviewer that doesn't look past the first screen. As far as I can tell, there's a lot of pressure inside Apple to churn through reviews as quickly as possible, and the review process is getting sloppier. Things get approved when they have glaring faults, and things get rejected because they didn't make a good impression in the first few seconds a reviewer looked at it.
- bentrengrove 13y agoI've been there, had an app I used daily in my job. I valued it for how fast it got me the information I needed (aviation weather) without features that I didn't need getting in the way. A few friends thought it looked useful so I put it on the store and got the same rejection. I added a couple of features that nobody uses (saving weather for later viewing) and got it through. I always suspected it was that I wanted to charge Tier 3 for it and they didn't think that was justified.
- lostlogin 13y agoThis sounds similar but different to something I did. I needed a basic calculator for work, and colleagues did too. A dead simple app, but it was free and was accepted.
- pazimzadeh 13y agoBy Apple's logic the app Everyday should not have been accepted: http://everyday-app.com/ http://everyday-app.com/
- drawkbox 13y agoApple likes you to integrate platform features though, that is heavily tied to the camera.
- ahunt09 13y agoMaybe not related, but is it possible that Apple does not want this app to exist because parts of it could be considered prior art for it's patent application?: http://www.pocket-lint.com/news/126980-apple-seeks-to-scan-your-emotions-with-new-mood-inference-patent http://www.pocket-lint.com/news/126980-apple-seeks-to-scan-y...
- avighnay 13y agoAnyways it is not wise to pour frustration on rejection publicly. Especially in this case, as there seems to have been no conversation or further appeal.
- squintychino 13y agoThis just in - grass has rejected itself for being too green. This is the core feature of Apple products - their simplicity.
- thesimpsons1022 13y agosimplicity to use, not design.
- squintychino 13y agoIf it's designed simple, it will be simple to use. So it's the same thing.
- alaskamiller 13y agoI worked for a mobile apps platform that cobbled together webkitviews and formed it into a mobile app. Quite often it was rejected because it's really just various RSS feeds. Apple didn't reject you because they thought it was simple. They rejected you because you built it too simply. At least toss in some Origami flips and folds.
- x0054 13y agoI would suggest to add a function so you can add a personal note to each day, and sell it as a mood tracker / diary. First, it would be useful to keep track of why you were feeling bad or good on a given day by maybe a making a small not on what happen. Plus, then apple would not be able to reject it, as it would be a diary app with a graph. There are a ton of diary apps on iOS, and this one would even have a graph. Let them argue that's not novel and feature reach :)
- Gracana 13y agoThey may reject it because there are a number of mood tracking diaries already.
- mattyohe 13y agoWhy appeal to us? Appeal to Apple, through this channel: https://developer.apple.com/appstore/contact/?topic=appeal https://developer.apple.com/appstore/contact/?topic=appeal
- skeletonjelly 13y agoApple should rename their appeals process to cutsey human words like they do "logic board","retina" etc. The Apple Peal process.
- asdfologist 13y agoWith all their patent trolling and absurd tyrannical control over the app store, I have no idea why so many tech-saavy people still love Apple.
- jbeja 13y agoIMHO, They don't love Apple perse but some of their products. In my case atleast, i don't like Apple but i would like to have a macbook-pro or something of that sort.
- shitlord 13y agoI would also like to have a retina MBP. Dat screen resolution and battery... My current POS Dell XPS laptop lasts 2 hours max, has a 17 inch 1080p screen, and weights a ton. Worst of all, the Windows drivers that Dell provides don't even work properly and cause frequent BSODs, so I can't even play games. I would love to have a retina MPB, but unfortunately, I can't afford it.
- GFischer 13y agoThat said, not all Windows laptops are that bad :) , I never had such a bad experience (not with Gateway, HP, IBM/Lenovo or Asus), but then again, I never bought a Dell either :P . I'm also willing to wager you paid nowhere near the retina MBP price for the Dell :) (though I guess you are more likely to have a bad experience with a high-priced Windows laptop than with a MBP, complaints about the 2011 batch aside)
- shitlord 13y agoI agree, not all Windows laptops are bad. My sister bought a cheap $700 Dell Inspiron and it's pretty nice. I actually like the Windows operating system, since I'm really productive on it. But I think the vendors need to get their shit together. There are a lot of glaring problems caused by OEM incompetence, like providing the wrong drivers and preinstalling bloatware. For some reason, I thought it was a good idea to buy a $1300 laptop before starting college. I really regret making that decision. I probably should have spent a few hundred dollars more for a retina MBP instead.
- 83737373739191 13y ago...and yet, somehow, Flappy Bird, with all its absurd simplicity, passed review.
- greatsuccess 13y agoIts called android
- ps4fanboy 13y agoApple keeps chipping away at that good will.
- ps4fanboy 13y agoApple keeps chipping away at that good will.
- mrharrison 13y agoIn all fairness, I'm confused about what the app does. What do the colors represent? What is the y axis? etc.. Could insert a legend and some labels to make it more clear. But I could be wrong and the screenshots don't accurately depict the app. Also the Hueman ID is a bit clinical/sterile and I would say doesn't represent a good user experience, because it doesn't provide me with anything useful only a question mark. But again, this is from just seeing the screenshots. Look forward to downloading the app! Neat idea!
- xerophtye 13y agoI am guessing the ID's here are just for testing or maybe changed to numbers as a matter of privacy?
- jarsj 13y agoJust wondering if you appealed and what was the response ?
- stefan_kendall 13y agoI fought the same fucking battle. Just keep appealing and cross your fingers you find a reviewer who isn't a dipshit.
- andrewfelix 13y agoI want to upvote you. Please share your story.
- jbigelow76 13y ago>"cross your fingers you find a reviewer who isn't a dipshit" Now there's the kind of sentiment you can feel comfortable building a business on!
- m0dest 13y agoNot everything can be as deep as Flappy Bird.
- smackfu 13y agoOr the million Flappy Bird clones that Apple quickly approved.
- vellum 13y agoLooks like you need to add a duck. Just keep adding features till they accept it. Example: simple form that lets you take a picture of yourself, type a note about your mood, and share it on Twitter or Facebook, as well as link to the graph. http://programmers.stackexchange.com/a/122148 http://programmers.stackexchange.com/a/122148
- ricardobeat 13y agoI don't think that's the approach Apple is trying to foster. You will turn a simple app into a shitty app.
- BrandonY 13y agoTrying to foster? No. Fostering? Yes. What Apple intends to achieve with their policies is an interesting but academic discussion. Policies, laws, and features can have all have plenty of bizarre side effects. For instance, I'll bet ya that allowing people to share their moods on Facebook leads to measurably different and likely less accurate mood graphs.
- vacri 13y agoOne of my favourite apps has a prominent duck[1]. The BubbleFishyMon plugin for gkrellm has a 'fishtank', where the various happenings have meaning - the fish represent network traffic, the bubbles are cpu load, the water level is RAM usage, and the duck... is a duck! You know you're close to swapping when the duck is upside-down... [1] http://i1.ytimg.com/vi/-lOiPGHXH3k/hqdefault.jpg http://i1.ytimg.com/vi/-lOiPGHXH3k/hqdefault.jpg (a little overlarge)
- trekky1700 13y agoThat's odd, I reject Apple for the same reason. I joke of course, but Apple builds monopolies they have tight control over, sue for anything and basically tell everyone who doesn't like it to screw off (and they can because they have the monopoly). As much as I like their design and hardware, as far as corporate entities go, they're kind of a jerk.
- rimantas 13y agoMonopolies? Like there are no Google Play store and Windows Phone store (whatever it is called), nobody else makes smartphones, nobody else sells books and music online?
- crazygringo 13y agoFirst of all, that sounds like a really cool idea for an app. I want it. But secondly, of all the app rejection stories I've ever heard... this one is the easiest to fix. Just add some more features, who cares, and resubmit it. Ideas: annotate/categorize the things that are making you happy/unhappy. Maybe have categories/icons for them. (Friends, party, loneliness, exercise, ate well, ate bad, had sex, no sex, fought, made up, my team won, etc. -- there really aren't that many fundamental things.) Then also produce charts showing how your happiness correlates with those items. Heck, you might even be able to produce an amazing academic paper or two with the dataset you produce. Or at least some really cool and fascinating blog entries from the data. (Personally, I'd rather rate my happiness on a 1-10 scale rather than compare with yesterday, and also maybe be asked 3-4 times a day. Maybe features let you pick those.)
- sspiff 13y agoRating your happiness from 1 to 10 would make it easy for the scale to drift. How do you compare how you felt today to how you felt 8 months back, the last time you issued a 10? I think comparing with yesterday is a great way to do this: I still know exactly how I felt yesterday, and I know how I feel today.
- fschwehn 13y agoAgree - partially. I often made the experience in my life, that if I undergo a period of bad mood (especially depression) that lasts for weeks or months, I don't realize how down I am. But when that period is finally over, I suddenly become aware of how deep down I actually was. The comparison to yesterday might be a clever trick to deal with that inability of perception. The pitfall that might araise from that rating system now is that you might tend to rate positive changes higher than negative changes or vice versa. If that is the case, it would introduce a drift again.
- supremum 13y agoTHIS :)
- camillomiller 13y ago
- archagon 13y ago"Apple sucks" and "use Android" aren't really productive responses to an article like this. Consider taking your quips to a site like Reddit.
- durbin 13y agoI disagree, you don't need to say anything derogatory about Apple but saying that it is a blessing in disguise that Apple didn't let you into their walled garden when you have a much larger and open playground in Android is a very productive response.
- rimantas 13y agoIf you want to sell your apps that large Android playground suddenly shrinks. A lot.
- drivers99 13y agoOr at least, we don't need 10 comments saying the exact same thing.
- durbin 13y agoForget Apple, make an Android app.
- stevewilhelm 13y agoApple is curating a ten billion dollar marketplace [1]. Apple will error on the side of maintaining the overall quality of the entire Application selection, even if it means many very worthwhile applications are rejected. I sympathize with huemanapp's developers, but they must realize they are competing for "virtual shelf space." I say to them; keep plugging away and good luck. [1] https://www.apple.com/pr/library/2014/01/07App-Store-Sales-Top-10-Billion-in-2013.html https://www.apple.com/pr/library/2014/01/07App-Store-Sales-T...
- FireBeyond 13y agoYes. I can see what you mean. I can absolutely see why Apple would reject an app like this, with such quality apps that are -not- “too simple”. For example: http://imgur.com/8N9GS6g http://imgur.com/8N9GS6g
- ricardobeat 13y agoThat link is broken.
- FireBeyond 13y agoEdited.
- stevewilhelm 13y agoSo with this example, are you arguing that Apple should be more selective, or let any and all comers into App store?
- FireBeyond 13y agoI'm not arguing either of those things. I'm remarking that it's hard to me to take seriously a claim that Apple has these mystical standards that must be met and that they're just trying to "cultivate a quality ecosystem". Seriously, download some of those apps. At least two have -very low- quality images (they look like obviously massively resized, highly pixellated images) that get a weird red glow that's more akin to image corruption than a 'highlight' when you touch the screen to generate a highly unrealistic fart noise (in the singular - just one simple noise, not even a range).
- analog31 13y agoI've published apps that were simpler than "Hello World" for iOS, if this is any indication: http://www.appcoda.com/hello-world-app-using-xcode-5-xib/ http://www.appcoda.com/hello-world-app-using-xcode-5-xib/
- kysol 13y agoBeen there, had that response. I got the same rejection last year and basically stopped fine tuning my app as I refused to add stuff that it didn't need.
- achalkley 13y agoMy DogeCoin price app was too simple too. http://www.reddit.com/r/dogecoin/comments/1wmmk9/my_dogecoin_price_checking_app_was_rejected_by/ http://www.reddit.com/r/dogecoin/comments/1wmmk9/my_dogecoin...
- Steko 13y agoSeems like the cheapest way to get noticed in the App Store is for your app to get rejected.
- finalight 13y agoyou can port it over to android then
- glenntnorton 13y agoSend it to the bloggers that be as "The app Apple doesn't want you to see" and use it to your advantage.
- ern 13y agoWhen my son was 2, I found a free iPad app called "My Colours". It was a grid of 12 colors. When a color block was touched, a synthesized female voice read out the name of the color. For my son, at least, it worked very well, much better than fancier (and often garish) apps, and he was even able to identify "turquoise" because of the app. When I had to reinstall my iPad, I found it was missing from the App Store. Fortunately, I found a backup copy. I strongly suspect that the colors app was pulled for having been "too simple". If that was the case, it would seem that Apple seems to prefer bells and whistles to functionality.
- chrisBob 13y agoI haven't heard of a case where it was removed later by apple for an issue like that. Perhaps the author pulled it down. If you aren't doing much in the app store, and just make a simple app for fun one year then it is easy to just let your $100/yr membership lapse.
- ejain 13y agoBest thing that could have happened to you, given all the attention you're getting now? :-)
- cyphunk 13y agoI realise many are in the mood to dump all over apple but... really, if apple or anyone treats their app store as a store-front, it's not hard to understand how the store manager might find this application to be just adding noise. if you think all apps should be allowed no matter what, then you are right to be bothered by their rejection of this app. if you think any store manager has some reason to filter apps, then you cant really complain.
- danbmil99 13y agoFuck Apple. I mean really.
- bad_user 13y agoI wonder - when an app rejection with a good idea happens based on it being "too simple" (and many great ideas are simple to implement), what if competition picks up the idea, adds more bloat, gets approved and steals the original's thunder, shouldn't Apple be held responsible and pay for damages? There's probably no chance of that happening, because it's their app store, they can do whatever they want and so on. But this kind of deal is exactly why some companies feel like protecting their "intellectual property" with patents. Because the distribution networks are not open, except for the web and even if your execution is perfect, there's no guarantee you'll be the first to market, because shit like this happens. And then we've got people praising app stores, because their grandma can now feel safe, though to me optimizing for grandmas doesn't make much sense. I view the app store model as a regression. It is useful, but only when it's optional. Android is still allowing installs from third-party sources, even though you have to click a checkbox to enable the capability, but due to current trends and seeing Android's evolution, I don't have many hopes for this feature surviving in the long run. In the end, the web is still the most open distribution platform and these big companies are trying to fix that.
- Gracana 13y agoDo you have an example of an app with an original idea being rejected for being too simple? That sounds like an interesting hypothetical scenario.
- NicoJuicy 13y agoJust put it on Android. It looks great though!
- kevind23 13y agoYou should get it working on Android -- but only so I can use it. In all seriousness, it looks like a great app, I'd keep appealing it.
- mcv 13y agoSo how's the Android version doing? Please tell me there is one. Because complaining about the walled garden and then ignoring the larger and more open platform, that's rather silly.
- newman8r 13y agoand if it's just webviews it's not like it would be hard to port... it's probably written in something like appcelerator anyway. ... ok back to my walled garden
- guenard 13y agoLarger? It's not that easy. There is more Android smartphones sold than Apple phones yep, but 1. thanks to telcos a lot of Android users don't even know what is Android/Google Play (= they'll never download apps) and 2. global app store revenues are still higher on iOS versus Google Play.
- etler 13y agoThe downloads stat is no longer true[1]. Revenue is still much higher on iOS, but the trends have been clear, and cannot be ignored. Before, it was "Android is open, but there are way more iPhones", then it was "Android has more phones but iPhones get more downloads", it won't be long until revenue surpases it too. [1] http://www.siliconbeat.com/2013/07/31/google-play-passes-apples-app-store-in-total-downloads/ http://www.siliconbeat.com/2013/07/31/google-play-passes-app... EDIT: More stats on revenue: In nov 2012 the gap was 4x http://www.startable.com/2012/11/ http://www.startable.com/2012/11/ As of Q3 2013 the gap was 2x http://www.gamesindustry.biz/articles/2013-11-03-google-play-has-half-the-revenue-of-app-store-with-more-downloads http://www.gamesindustry.biz/articles/2013-11-03-google-play... They're catching up, and fast.
- mavhc 13y agoPlus that ignores ad revenue, more Android apps are ad supported
- mcv 13y ago
- derFunk 13y agoI appreciate people sharing their stories about Apple's rejection motivations. This helps other developers to avoid doing the same "mistakes". But, isn't it against the TOS we agree on when joining the Apple Dev Program, to talk about rejection reasons and even cite the feedback mails? I was under this impression, can't say that I would be sad if I'm wrong.
- sc90 13y agoiWatch territory.
- OoTLink 13y agoThe ironic thing is that Apple is asking you to do something very Un-Apple. I imagine if you loaded the app up with "Share this with your friends!" kind of junk, they'd accept it.
- OoTLink 13y agoIt also reminds me of that episode of King of the Hill where Hank and his family join another church and they keep getting calls asking how satisfied they are on a scale of 1-10 XD
- archenemy 13y agoYeah, well, reject Apple yourself and put it into the Play Store. I use a Macbook Air and multiple idevices. I don't develop mobile (yet). I'm sorry, but I find all these 'daddy Apple rejected my app' posts a bit tiring.
- captainmuon 13y agoDoes it cost anything to submit an app (apart from the initial dev account)? Otherwise you could just submit it again, and hope that it gets a different reviewer. Reviews seem to be a bit arbitrary sometimes.
- k-mcgrady 13y agoIt doesn't sound like you've tried appealing the ruling. This sounds like the sort of thing that would get through on appeal once you've explained why it can't have more features.
- blueskin_ 13y agoShould have gone with Android. I really want this app, and now they are having to spend time getting it accepted by apple, it's just going to delay an Android version.
- gress 13y agoDon't be ridiculous. There are multiple android apps that do this already, and the developers obviously don't care about Android that much otherwise they'd have gone with android first. It's just two webviews anyway, so it should be no real effort for them to port it.
- nicholassmith 13y agoThe article was interesting, but it's more interesting seeing that Apple is Hacker News favourite whipping boy now.
- Fasebook 13y agoI'm not surprised since this is pretty similar to what all communication hubs are trying to do (for obvious marketing reasons). You are serious competition and they have the power to sweep you under a rug.
- jheriko 13y ago"If it's just using webviews, why does this need to be an app?" exactly... there is no actual reason this couldn't be a cross platform 'web app'. it would be better that way. why do you want the app on the appstore exactly? the list of reasons given are of debateable merit the last one is probably the best, and suggests a fix. develop the app a bit further so you can justify it not being a web page... also, why are you storing data on the user's phone? will you be using icloud or some web service to preserve it across devices? is it just cache?
- kmonsen 13y agoI found the reasons not to be a web page very bad. There are perfect good web API's to store data on the device: http://diveintohtml5.info/storage.html http://diveintohtml5.info/storage.html
- avaku 13y agoA similar app was recently in the top chart in "productivity" section. It's called feeltracker, and it has historical graphs: https://www.feeltracker.com https://www.feeltracker.com
- micheljansen 13y agoUnrelated to the article itself, but a friendly tip for the Hueman guys: the lack of margins on this page made it very hard to read. Not everyone browses full-screen on their 27" iMac. On any window under 1100px, the content runs into the margin on the left, which could easily be avoided with some padding: http://cl.ly/image/2V0A021M1t0S http://cl.ly/image/2V0A021M1t0S
- danielweber 13y agoI had to scroll back down every time I moved forward a page.
- WickyNilliams 13y agoI like the idea of this. Not only is the historic data interesting, I suspect just taking time to reflect on your days would likely improve happiness in an of itself (e.g. if you know anyone who is doing one of those 100 happy days challenge). However, the arguments against the web are a bit flimsy IMO. Data on the web is ephemeral only if you put it in an ephemeral store. Put it in localStorage! It's highly unlikely you'd exceed some quota (usually 10mb) with the kind of data you're storing, plus user's are offered chance to expand quota usually. Or if you want something that goes above and beyond that (or what you have with a "native app") you could integrate with Dropbox's datastore API [0] and have data available on any machines I choose to use. [0] https://www.dropbox.com/developers/datastore/docs/js https://www.dropbox.com/developers/datastore/docs/js
- _pmf_ 13y ago> We encourage you to review your app concept and evaluate whether you can incorporate additional content and features to provide a more robust user experience. Easy - just add the ability to issue fart sounds, which has always been enough quality for Apple users.
- Grue3 13y agoThe whole concept needs work. You compare each day to the previous one, but the app doesn't know by how much. Which leads to ludicrous results when applied to real life situations. For example you got fired, or your girlfriend left you, or your friend/relative died. What a terrible day! But then over the course of several days you slowly get over it, so your mood rises up until you reach the original level. But what does the graph show? That you're feeling much better after the traumatic event! What doesn't kill you makes you stronger, eh? The model is just plain wrong.
- hengheng 13y agoMake it live on the web. Better yet, make it live on a device. Two buttons, button presses are valid only once a day, LED confirmation, USB read-out. Make the case beautiful, done. Standard AAA Battery will live for years, data can be written to flash.
- lucian1900 13y agoYour mistake was making an iOS app. Experiments must be done on a platform that allows users to install apps themselves, like Android.
- hobolobo 13y agoA bit off-topic but is there a name for the tone of the copy on this? It reads like the current tranche of MS/Apple advertising speak. Would cult-like be going too far?
- DanBC 13y agoThat's a shame. Mood trackers are a useful tool to help tackle some mental health problems. Tacking on a bunch of stuff to get it into the app store feels sub-optimal. My current mood tracker has some features that I really don't like. https://itunes.apple.com/gb/app/moodometer/id404137652?mt=8 https://itunes.apple.com/gb/app/moodometer/id404137652?mt=8 When did "do one thing and do it well" become something to avoid?
- RamiK 13y agoIt's really your typical regulatory committee keeping up appearance and hitting their quota: Regardless of quality or compliance with the rules, Apple's App Store review staff needs to reject a given number of admission a week. Otherwise, they're out of a job. Think about end-of-the-day traffic tickets or city's planning and zoning... Here's a classic explanation: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=apdi885ZdBA https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=apdi885ZdBA Or https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Criticism_of_the_Food_and_Drug_Administration#Alleged_problems_in_the_drug_approval_process https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Criticism_of_the_Food_and_Drug...
- doodyhead 13y agoThe times when I'm unhappy, I often have no idea of the cause. Why not add some optional questions that would drive more useful reporting if answered: # Are you in a relationship? For how long? # Do you have a job? Rate your performance 1-10 # Are you exercising? How often? # Are you happy with your weight? What is your weight? # Rate the healthiness of your diet. # How well are you sleeping? How many hours? There are so many more useful data points you could collect. If they're optional, and maybe hidden unless you enable them, it won't do much to over-complicate the app. It would then be super useful for those who suffer from depression or other psychiatric illnesses, and problem solved re app store.
- matt_heimer 13y agoI'm going to go in the opposite direction of everybody here and tell you your app sucks (based on what you say about it) and Apple was right. Look at it this way - A developer creates an app that ask a daily question (maybe with a reminder) and then plots the answers on a graph. That developer then release 1,000 versions of that app to the app store by simply changing the question. That app should have been a general purpose app that lets you define your own questions/frequency/etc. All you've got right now is a question, that when asked daily creates some interesting data. You need to built an app around that. You have some actual features outlined in your roadmap, why not implement at least some of those and resubmit? Oh, and I went looking for feature listings, videos, philosophy, etc, or anything about your app on your website and I got nothing. The entire website about your app is a landing page and one page that is complaining about your rejection. If your app is currently so simple that it didn't even need a single webpage maybe Apple was right....
- smackfu 13y agoNot every app needs to change the world.
- seizethecheese 13y agoI agree Matt. Apple has every right to reject apps that don't add any value to their ecosystem. There are probably many apps that do what this app does. The ego of the people making this is incredible, why don't you just use the existing apps if you aren't going to add value?
- zmmmmm 13y agoWhich underscores the essential understanding that unlike Android, Windows, OSX, Linux, the web and others, iOS is not a platform at all in a strict sense of the word. It is a proprietary technology partnership with Apple with the one and only goal of making money for Apple. If your interests aren't first and foremost to make money for Apple, then secondly to make it for yourself, go somewhere else.
- oneofthose 13y agoThis seems to be a great idea. I really like everything about it, I would love to use it (even though I don't own smartphone). Too bad Apple did reject it. One sentence that made me quite happy in this article is: "Hueman is free and anonymous, and to create that seamless experience, it needs to store data on your phone. If it was a web page on mobile safari, that data is more ephemeral." If the Hueman developers read this: have you considered something like unhosted [0] for your application? It should be easy enough to implement. [0] https://unhosted.org/ https://unhosted.org/
- deleted 13y ago[deleted]
- ryeguy_24 13y agoTap to flap.
- ChristianMarks 13y agoAt least they could plot their feelings of rejection on the app Apple rejected.
- josefresco 13y ago"we consider simplicity to be uncomplicated - not limited in features and functionality" I cannot believe this is an official position for a company like Apple (or any company for that matter). My advice would be to move away from native and towards the web, as opposed to baking in useless features or planning new features that rely on native capabilities.
- RyanMcGreal 13y agoThis seems like one of those moments when Tim Bray's 2002 sharecropper post applies: "What it comes down to is this: if you want to develop software, you can build for the Web and/or Unix and/or OSS platforms; or alternatively, you can be a sharecropper." https://www.tbray.org/ongoing/When/200x/2003/07/12/WebsThePlace https://www.tbray.org/ongoing/When/200x/2003/07/12/WebsThePl...
- chrisBob 13y agoYou even state that > The next couple planned releases on our roadmap will heavily rely on native iOS functions and code to include things like tagging, additional graph views and scrubbing, ability to add media. etc... And by eventually letting people combine their data, you will be able to see how their relative happiness aligns to other users, a neighborhood and even the world. It sounds like you think it needs more features too. I understand wanting to release as soon as possible but this might be a good chance to add the other features YOU want.
- Amygaz 13y agoI honestly don't what is the big deal. It sounds like this is not a full blown rejection, it is more like a "Oh, nice idea! We could use that. Why don't you revise it a bit and resubmit": > We encourage you to review your app concept and evaluate whether you can incorporate additional content and features to provide a more robust user experience. And it also sounds like you were already aware of what is missing: > The next couple planned releases on our roadmap will heavily rely on native iOS functions and code to include things like tagging, additional graph views and scrubbing, ability to add media. It think it will be a great app. I hope you get over the "rejection" notice and keep working on it. All the best for your resubmission.
- jamesxwatkins 13y agoThis is great. I hope it eventually makes the app store. I would 100% use this.
- desireco42 13y agoThis pleadings with Apple make me wanna throw up. I can't make myself even read how great you are and it is not fair. The only thing not fair is you submitting it to Apple. 50 hues of gray is what this is.
- Gracana 13y agoSo far few people have addressed Apple's argument. Does this app provide valuable utility? Does it enable people to do something they couldn't do before or in a way they couldn't do it before? There are already many mood trackers, just search the app store. This is certainly not anything new. The one thing that makes this one different from the others is that it seems to have no extra features. But that can't be their design vision, because they plan to add a social aspect and more views and editing functions. So what's special about this app in the way it stands right now?
- lnanek2 13y agoSo they had a submission screen and a probably blank graph. It's pretty easy to go back and add a tutorial with colorful graphics and an example graph, a few help pages describing the idea and concept, etc.. Honestly they should have just added some more filler pages rather than writing this blog entry, both are about as tough.
- JoeAltmaier 13y agoA walled garden can be used to guard against bugs, viruses, spam. But when its used to curate according to somebody's idea of taste or usefulness, that's arrogance. Let the market decide. Absolute power corrupts.
- RTigger 13y agoWhen I was younger and struggling with issues, I did exactly this - plot my happiness on a graph. It was one of the few things that helped me get through a day, seeing that there are ebbs and flows, and for every low point there's likely a high point coming up. This app needs to be published.
- yock 13y agoIs there some technical limitation to making this a web app?
- petercooper 13y agoAdd a flashlight or fart button to it. "Needs more flashlight" should be the "needs more cowbell" of our age.
- JoeAltmaier 13y agoIronic: to satisfy Apple, the mecca for good design, you have to crap up your application.
- sbuk 13y agoSimple has two meanings. You are addressing one of them. I'd argue that the fact the app consist essentially 2 web views, the simple means 'WTF is this even an app?'.
- JoeAltmaier 13y agoAnd that is improved by adding unrelated dingles to the app?
- sbuk 13y agoWay to miss the point... The simplicity is the function on the, rather the app itself. To be clear, its not what it does (or doesn't) do, it's how it does it.
- loceng 13y agoAn app like Flappy Birds will pass, but this won't? sigh Reason makes me feel like they don't want you competing with an area they're going to go into.
- willcodeforfoo 13y agoI had an idea like this once: http://lifemetric.com/ http://lifemetric.com/ I always wanted to make an app for it, but it looks like yours is pretty nice. Just add some more features and Apple will probably accept it.
- jimejim 13y agoAssuming you haven't already, just respond to them with a well-reasoned argument why they should let it through as-is. It occasionally works. I've done it before when they tried to reject my company's app because we were using a webview in one section and they felt it should be native. We were doing a bunch of other stuff behind the scenes though and I told them it would be cost-prohibitive to redo that whole section right then. They let it through.
- smackfu 13y agoConsidering how much crapware is on the Appstore, it's hard to believe Apple even reviews stuff anymore. You see rejections like this, and you wonder why those same rules weren't applied to basically everything that comes up in a search.
- tostada 13y agoHow is a once a day mood tracker app not useful? Look at the apps currently in the App Store... how is this any less useful than a flashlight or any other single function application? Fuck Apple.
- smrtinsert 13y agoWaiting for the Android version.
- csense 13y agoThis is why Apple is inferior to Android. You spend resources to develop something, and it's a crapshoot whether or not it gets accepted or stays accepted. I can understand ordinary customers being wow'ed by Apple marketing, but why don't developers jump ship en masse at the way Apple treats them? It's not like there isn't an alternative.
- joeld42 13y agoAdd something that uses the new M7 motion tracking chip and they'll approve it. :)
- benched 13y agoMy heavens. This is in danger of turning all the rhetoric around depression on its ear! Everyone knows happiness or the lack of it is determined by brain chemistry, not life events. A well-adjusted person feels the same whether you run them over with a car or give them a hand job.
- paulftw 13y agoDon't know whether I should spoil the secret or keep it to myself, but why don't you submit again? and again. until it gets in.
- jigneshlg 13y agoI really like the idea behind the app but we also need to follow quality criteria set by Apple team to stop non productive app being listed in appstore. As suggested by Crazygringo, they can improve the app by including some functionality. I am eagerly waiting for this app to get approved !
- parkersweb 13y agoThere's actually a UK citizen science project running along very similar lines: http://www.mappiness.org.uk/ http://www.mappiness.org.uk/
- bkirkby 13y agothis app is perfect the way it is. i'm disappointed that the pioneers of design in software are requiring you to make things less simple for some arbitrary reason. "make things as simple as possible, but no simpler" --Einstein
- sl1e 13y agoI am absolutely fascinated with this tool. I only with I had the ability to write something like it myself. I'm really satisfied others have the same thoughts. Thank you!