![]() It can be said that much of the reason why Apple builds such successful products is due in large part to both of these traits instilled in the company by its founder. ![]() ![]() This level of confidence/arrogance is also ingrained in the culture at Apple. Steve also had a high level of confidence, some might say arrogance, that led him to believe that he was absolutely right when others were wrong. Steve Jobs was a notorious control freak and he instilled that value in Apple from the beginning and the company still continues to exert control at every opportunity to this day. It wasn’t until I started discussing the problem with app developers and other people who follow Apple closely and have more understanding of their tendencies that I was able to form a clearer picture of their reasoning. I never bought into this theory, though, because even if Apple was going to put something like this in iOS, it wouldn’t be until iOS 9 a year from now, so why take it down now? Why would Apple remove an app that was beloved by users and wasn’t violating any published guideline? Many people suggested the theory that Apple wanted the functionality for themselves and that something similar to Launcher would appear in the next version of iOS. My family, friends and users who aren’t very aware of Apple’s past behaviors were completely shocked and confused. When Launcher was taken down, Apple did not provide a very clear explanation for exactly why it was removed. For those unfamiliar with the story, I ended up submitting a new version that I felt was a decent compromise based on my understanding of the problem that Apple had with the widget, but Apple didn’t feel it was valid, so they immediately removed Launcher from the App Store. It wasn’t until 6 days later that I got the dreaded call from App Review where they explained to me that the executive team had met and determined that Launcher needed to remove its widget or it would be taken off of the App Store. For the first 4 hours it was out, it was actually featured in the App Store and things were going really well. I met my goal and Launcher was approved and went out on the App Store on September 17, the day iOS 8 was released. As with any iOS app, there was a chance (perhaps this this case, more than most) that the app would be rejected by Apple, but I figured it was worth the risk once I determined that it was technically feasible and I found nothing in the App Extension Programming Guide that disallowed it. Since it took advantage of a new feature of iOS 8, the Notification Center widget, I figured if it was out first, that would help it be noticed by people looking for new iOS features and possibly featured by Apple. I came up with the idea of Launcher and made a plan to try my best to get it out on the day iOS 8 would be released in mid September. ![]() It didn’t gain much traction so I decided in July it was time to work on something else. But this time I decided to make a more concerted effort, start a company, and see if I could make some app (or apps) that could simply keep me employed and pay the bills.Īfter taking the leap, I spent about 8 months (6 part-time, 2 full-time) on my first app that I released this past May. None of them ever became anything that received much traction. These were websites or apps that I wished existed, but didn’t, that I decided to tackle myself. I’ve always had various side projects that I created during nights and weekends mostly for fun. During my 16+ year career, I had always worked full time for a company and the idea of working for myself and the flexibility it would provide was something that I was hoping to try out. I was working full-time, but was hoping to pursue a dream of being an independent app developer. I’ll try to keep it as brief as possible, but I also don’t want to skip the important and interesting parts, so it may end up a bit on the longish side. I wish this wasn’t the case and I believe that I have tried everything reasonable that I could do to try to get it back in some form.įor anyone interested in a more detailed answer, feel free to continue reading. It doesn’t appear that Launcher or anything even close to it will be making it back to the App Store anytime soon. Since I still receive a few emails every week asking me if Launcher is ever coming back to the App Store, I figured it would make sense to post a public update now that I finally have a pretty solid answer on it.
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