Apple blocking Dropbox SDK over in-app buying
Storm brews over cloud storage fine-print
Developers using the latest Dropbox cloud storage SDK have been having applications rejected from Apple after Cupertino apparently decided that its terms and conditions have been breached.
"We have found your app provides access to external mechanisms for purchases or subscriptions to be used in the app, which is not in compliance with the App Store Review Guidelines. Specifically, this app contains a link that takes the user to Dropbox via Safari," numerous developers reported, with one posting his correspondence online.
According to the correspondence, Apple is taking umbrage at having a link to the Dropbox website where users can sign up for an account. The basic Dropbox service is free, although there are paid options available for higher amounts of storage, and it's these that appear to be causing the problems.
"Apple is rejecting apps that use the Dropbox SDK because we allow users to create accounts. We're working with Apple to come up with a solution that still provides an elegant user experience," the company told The Register in a statement.
Forum posts suggest that older versions of the Dropbox SDK may be good to go as far as Apple's concerned. Dropbox employee Brian S. has posted a workaround.
"You need to use this version of the SDK that removes the create account option," he posted. "We're working on a better solution and will have more to share about that next week."
The fuss is certainly not what Dropbox needs right now. The company is under pressure from similar cloud offerings and needs all the application support it can get. ®
COMMENTS
Sometime I wonder how Apple has not banned banking programs since Apple gets nothing out of transaction committed through their godlike devices.
Re: So it's not about apps which can access DropBox?
If you don't have a Dropbox account then you need to sign up for one before you can use the app. Some developers which no clue at all about creating a beautiful user experience have been linking directly from the app to a Dropbox account-creation page (or the SDK does it for them) where users may be conned into paying money to a company other than Apple. To improve the experience for its livestock, Apple has decided that it would be better if they leave the app, navigate to the appropriate page in Safari, create an account and return to the app. Nobody else in the world employs designers, so they didn't think of doing it that way.
Children
Maybe Crapple should ban Safari then as I notice it just said 'link to site', not link to purchase page.
Safari is the culprit here, surely, as it allows you to access the web. Preventing users from visiting your own site from your own app in case they go to a page on the site that allows a purchase is childish and pathetic. But utterly Apple, all the same. Perhaps it did go to a purchase page but that's a well-known no-no so unlikely, you'd think.
IT infrastructure monitoring strategies
What you need to know about cloud backup
Enabling efficient data center monitoring
Agentless Backup is Not a Myth
Top 10 SIEM Implementer’s Checklist
