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Friday, July 16, 2010

This time we've got some good and some bad news. The good news first, iCamcorder v2.0 has been submitted to Apple at the beginning of this week. This update introduces new features and fixes the iOS 4.0 issues. Both the lite and the premium version have been submitted and we hope they're going to be available at the same time.

The iPhone 4/iOS4.0 update for our VAT-Calculator app has been approved and is now available on the App Store. It features iPhone 4 optimized retina display assets and fixes a compatibility issue with iOS 4.0. 

Now to the bad news, Apple rejected the iWebcamera 1.5 update we submitted last week. Because we're using UIGetScreenImage. For us, this is totally annoying because UIGetScreenImage is not a private API since December 2009 and a lot of our apps have been using it since then.

Thank you for submitting your update to iWebcamera to the App Store. We've reviewed iWebcamera and determined that we cannot post this version of your application to the App Store because it is using a private API. Use of non-public APIs, which as outlined in the iPhone Developer Program License Agreement section 3.3.1, is prohibited:

"3.3.1 Applications may only use Documented APIs in the manner prescribed by Apple and must not use or call any private APIs. Applications must be originally written in Objective-C, C, C++, or JavaScript as executed by the iPhone OS WebKit engine, and only code written in C, C++, and Objective-C may compile and directly link against the Documented APIs (e.g., Applications that link to Documented APIs through an intermediary translation or compatibility layer or tool are prohibited)."

The non-public API that is included in your application is UIGetScreenImage.

If you have defined a method in your source code with the same name as the above mentioned API, we suggest altering your method name so that it no longer collides with Apple's private API to avoid your application being flagged with future submissions.

So, did we change our code? No, there is no other possible way of doing what we do on OS 3.0. We just resubmitted the same binary and wrote an email to the App Review team. This stuff is totally frustrating, working hard to get an update to the customers as soon as possible. It get's submitted to Apple and they reject it — for no reason!

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12 Comments

  1. Rey says:

    That totally sucks.

  2. Dave says:

    We need a solution. My app purchase is worthless now.

  3. amok says:

    If they're saying that it's no longer private publicly saying it. How come that the reviewers aren't aware? What did you tell to the reviewers?

  4. Manny says:

    @Dave, don't worry I'm sure this well get sorted out soon enough. They just can't start rejecting apps for using the said method. @Amok, that's something I cannot answer to. Either they made the method private again - which is something they better should not do or there are some new reviewers on board. But we've heard of other developers apps also rejected for the same reason. We've replied to the rejection email and sent them a link to their public statement. We've also CC'd it to our contact at the Apple Developer Relations team. So far we did not get a reply. We'll let you guys know if something changes about the situation.

  5. Eric says:

    our app get rejected with the same reason at 20Jul. yes, i agree either they may have some policy change again (which i really dont wanna see) or there are some new reviewers on board. definitely i did the same thing, replied their email with their public statement, but i dont expect there could be any quick feedback. anyway, i think we (developers who used UIGetScreenImage) should be together to make a voice to apple, we need and we were using UIGetScreenImage

  6. MANNY says:

    @Eric, I think they changed the policy internally without thinking of the consequences. We've got another app currently in review that is also utilizing UIGetScreenImage - we just received an email from the AppReview team telling us that the review is taking longer than expect. We're pretty sure that they're currently talking about this issue. Anyway, if it get's rejected we're going to call our Apple Developer Relations contact. They just can't make it private again, there is no way. What should we tell our customers, there are thousands of apps using UIGetScreenImage. Maybe we should also get the media involved to put more pressure on Apple, we could try to send TUAW.com/Macrumors.com a link to this blog entry for instance.

  7. CHARLES says:

    Well, so why don't you post that this app is useless on iOS 4 on your AppStore description? I didn't pay $5 USD to read this blog, it was for WORKING SOFTWARE! Stop blaming Apple for your mistakes, fix it or refund the money!

  8. MANNY says:

    iWebcamera works fine on iOS 4.0. It's not compatible with iPhone 4.0 and this notice is included in the app description on the App Store. This is not our mistake, please read our latest blog entry, Apple just changed their minds about a function that hundreds of apps are using. All these apps are not going to be approved anymore. We still have our fingers crossed that Apple might change their mind about this!

  9. CHARLES says:

    Well Manny, then how can we the (haven't even used it!) user help you get this resolved with Apple? You as a developer should get more respect. This sounds vaguely familiar to the Google Voice nonsense a few months back. I really wanted to use this app for event coverage on television, but I guess that won't happen for a while... Use the $5 USD donation wisely!

  10. Manny says:

    I don't think there is anything the customer or the developer can do. We just have to play by their rules. That means we'll have to cut off iPhone 2G and iOS 3.0 users. Let's see how the developer community reacts, there is still a slight chance that Apple will revert.

  11. Chris Donnelly says:

    http://www.tuaw.com/2010/07/21/devsugar-rip-uigetscreenimage/ It's official. I got the e-mail just moments ago.

  12. ronelee says:

    Hopefully they allow the major update.. this blue screen is killing me! (OS4.0, iphone4)

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