SubscribeMakers of some applications that seek out Wi-Fi access are now seeking a new home after Apple purged a select group from its App Store. In a blog post this week, 3Jacks Software said it is the latest developer to get the boot from the increasingly choosy App Store.
“We received a very unfortunate e-mail today from Apple stating that WiFi-Where has been removed from sale on the App Store for using private frameworks to access wireless information,” said 3Jacks. “It also appears that all other competing Wi-Fi-enabled apps have been removed as well. This is very unfortunate as the past two-three months have seen a handful of new Wi-Fi apps get approved. Hopefully Apple will allow this functionality in a future SDK.”
Other Wi-Fi-seeking apps that will now seek a new home include WiFiFoFum, and yFy Network Finder, according to reports.
Purge Time
House cleaners at the App Store seem to be pretty busy these days. Late last month came word that some applications with racy themes had been booted, and around the same time some location-finder programs that collect user data also got the heave-ho.
Apple hasn’t made a public statement about the Wi-Fi exclusions and didn’t respond to our request for comment as of publication time.
But Current Analysis research director Avi Greengart, citing information from Apple, said the company’s action was consistent with its policy against programs that use private application programming interfaces.
“The Wi-Fi-finder apps using private APIs have been pulled from the store for violating Apple’s policy of not allowing private APIs, while Wi-Fi-finder apps that do not violate these terms are still available in the App Store,” Greengart told us.
A non-published interface is a violation of Apple’s terms of agreement with developers, and the company has long weeded out private-API applications because of security and compatibility issues.
But in December,…
Via NewsFactor
Yacine.org: Apple Boots Wi-Fi-Finder Apps with Private APIs http://yacine.org/2010/03/05/apple-boots-wi-fi-finder-apps-with-private-apis/
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