App Rejected for using other platform names - ios

My app got rejected due to using other platform names and got the message:
3.1 - Apps or metadata that mentions the name of any other mobile platform will be rejected
The other platform names include Facebook, Skype, iTunes, Google Play, etc. I cannot omit these names as users are buying vouchers for these specific names.
Is there any way around this?

No, there is no way around this. I've seen people try putting the words into their screenshots rather than their description, and try writing lots of description text in the hope Apple don't notice. Both times they got caught. The only thing – that I would really not recommend – is to amend your description after Apple approval.
You say the other platform names "include" Facebook and Skype, which are probably OK. You might find it easiest just to remove the worst offenders, as it were – Android, for example, won't ever get through.

Related

What are the default Apple URL schemes for the default apple apps?

I am trying to track down these URLs because I would like to integrate them with the Shortcuts (previously workflow) app. My end game is to make queries that will perform certain functions that I can call from a google home device. In simpler terms, I want to make google home more "Apple friendly."
I have not found anything that is too current out there on the URL schemes. I saw that sending a SMS message was triggered with sms://<PhoneNumber> , but I am not sure how up to date that information is.
I plan on adding features to search Apple Music (by triggering a workflow). I am also planning on adding text message features.
I am also looking into making an app for google home, but I still am in the learning stage with that. Any advice on making google home more Apple friendly would be greatly appreciated.
This is a constantly changing list given the number of features being added or third-party apps. Here's a list that does a good job of staying up-to-date: https://ios.gadgethacks.com/news/always-updated-list-ios-app-url-scheme-names-0184033/

Where to find complete list of iOS app permissions?

Where to find complete list of iOS app permissions?
For android you may find a complete list of normal and dangerous permissions, which apps could use: https://developer.android.com/guide/topics/permissions/requesting.html
Of course I know the "dangerous" permissions of iOS, they are displayed in settings>privacy. But Im also interested in the normal settings which can not be influenced by user.
I think for developers there should be a list like that for android. Or ist the system working completely another way? So where could I learn about this?
Why am I asking? For my degree Im researching whether users now which data is collected in smart mobile devices. Therefore I need a reference.
This may be useful:
https://www.apple.com/business/docs/iOS_Security_Guide.pdf
Relevant post:
Complete list of iOS app permissions
The info.plist is where you can add keys for permissions when writing your iOS app. Here's the documentation for that:
https://developer.apple.com/library/content/documentation/General/Reference/InfoPlistKeyReference/Introduction/Introduction.html

How to open AppStore and show specific apps?

From within an app, I'd like to open up the iOS App Store and show some specific apps. They'll be from different developers, so I can't take that shortcut. Is there a way to list apps by ID, or somehow use specific search terms?
For example, how could I show just the Facebook and Twitter apps?
Here are some links that work, but will just show one app or one search term...
itms://ax.itunes.apple.com/WebObjects/MZStore.woa/wa/viewSoftware?id=307538288
itms-apps://ax.search.itunes.apple.com/WebObjects/MZSearch.woa/wa/search?media=software&term=Sea+Lion+Games%2C+Inc
If I could use separate search terms, that should work. For example, if you try to search for "angryninjarunner", you'll get one result for iPhone and iPad: Angry Ninja Runner. If you search for "rescuejumplite" - you'll get Rescue Jump Lite. But how can I combine those two terms, so I could show both apps, if I wanted to?
For the Google Play Store, you can just add a simple "OR" between app IDs, and it'll bring 'em up, nice and easy. Trying to do the same for iOS, but it has mostly resulted in me banging my head against the keyboard.
Unfortunately currently there is no option available for this. If both the app contains any common terms in it's name, you can query with that term.
App review guideline
2.25 Apps that display Apps other than your own for
purchase or promotion in a manner similar to or confusing
with the App Store will be rejected
AppGratis got kicked out and banned from appstore for this violation and this was added last year by Apple. So don't do it unless you plan to show your own apps.

linking to content available on itunes, amazon.com, google play and others

Okay so I'm building a web app that aggregates entertainment (TV shows, movies, other videos, podcast's ) and it's basically all sorted into genre's recent release etc. now I would like to link to legal places on the internet that you can buy this content ie. apple itunes store, amazon.com, google play and maybe some other's. Now for the itune's store i found this handy called link maker. Now my Problem is that if I have a couple of thousand title's I have to enter each one and then again for each country to get each link... Okay I can write a script php curl or python's scrapy but is there anything similar tool for amazon? Is there a better tool then the one I have altogether for apple? I figured I can't be the first person who's run into this problem and just looking for any help, yes/no's that anyone else has found useful as my last 4 hours of googling has returned fairly little minus the link maker tool. Ideally an api but i'm now doubting those exist
iTunes offers an API for what you are attempting to do - see the documentation here:
http://www.apple.com/itunes/affiliates/resources/documentation/itunes-store-web-service-search-api.html

Issues with NSURL and iPhone SDK 3.0 for placing phone calls

There is a newly introduced issue with iPhone 3.0 SDK and how it deals with the NSURL method for automatically making phone calls. It used to be that you could call a method (NSURL), pass in a string with a URL prefix (tel://, sms, etc...) and the iPhone OS would dispatch the message to the device, such as iTunes, App Store, Phone, SMS, Mail, Safari, etc... The code goes something like this:
[openURL:[NSURL URLWithString:#"tel://8005551212"]];
When the method was called the phone call would be placed automatically. With the iPhone OS 3.0 when the method is called the app pops up a dialogue box asking for confirm the phone call. This breaks several existing apps as well as one that we just pushed into the App Store for review.
Can anyone think of a fix to this issue? I'm currently at a loss for what to do and trying to decide what other ways to handle this new wrench in the works.
I blogged about this and suggested that people contact Apple and make them aware of this issue. I also recommend a fix that a friend and I were thinking about - and that is to use the same "authorization" that location aware apps have; an app knows it's location aware and asks the user if it's okay to use their location.
Again, if anyone has a fix for this issue (and that is within the realm of the iPhone SDK as to not be rejected by Apple) please let me know; I would be greatly appreciative.
Update: Julian Romero Nieto has a good description of the bug and cites the (updated) Apple documentation and shows the issue at hand. You can read his posting to Oper Radar here.
I believe this is included as a security feature - imagine an app that called a 900 number at 3am every day for 10 minutes. If you compare it to the new 'In-App Purchase' API - it's much the same.
The location API comparison is a bad example - getting the users location is a privacy concern, not a financial one.
You can't fix this issue as this is what is intended - anything you do to "fix" the issue will result in an app that won't be approved.
The user experience is considered not to be good when an app can choose to dial a number without the user's consent. It would be possible for software to dial "premium" numbers that cost the user a lot of money without them realising.
This is standard across all mobile software platforms and OS - if it just changed in OS 3.0 then this shows that it must have been an issue that initially Apple thought they could get around. However I think that Mobile Operators will have put pressure on Apple to introduce this as often then end up having to refund the user - but will have already paid out the money to the "premium" number.
I am not sure if "premium" numbers exist in the US as much as they do in Europe and that maybe the reason this is hard to understand.
The RFC for tel:// says to NOT allow autodialing of numbers via the tel: scheme.
So they have to chose between RFC compliance and breaking these few apps.
I hope the chose to ignore the RFC, at least to allow apps to keep dialing if they allow it.
I question whether this is intentional on Apple's part to push users to purchase a new iPhone if they want voice dialing - this problem breaks all of the 3rd party voice dialing apps, making them unsafe and basically useless.
Let's keep up the pressure on Apple to make this a user-configurable setting.
Perhaps you meant newly introduced feature instead of issue?
I don't think you will get Apple to remove the confirmation popup, especially if it is RFC compliance.
Lemmy quote Joel (http://www.joelonsoftware.com/items/2009/06/10c.html) regarding broken apps:
A good platform always has
opportunities for applications that
aren’t just gap-fillers. These are the
kind of application that the vendor is
unlikely ever to consider a core
feature, usually because it’s vertical
— it’s not something everyone is going
to want. There is exactly zero chance
that Apple is ever going to add a
feature to the iPhone for dentists.
Zero.
I would not want some application to make calls, send sms or even connect to internet (living in a country where unlimited mobile data plans are still far in the future) without my consent.
Certainly operator's headache when customers complain about unknown calls on bills.

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