Just to let you know, my Blok-Buster application finally got approved
by Apple. It's a "bubble buster" type game, but it reads the
accelerometer data, and lets you tilt or rotate the phone to slide the
"Bloks" around the screen.
It uses PhoneGap, and is written in Javascript/CSS that lives local in
the app. But it also loads and saves High Scores from my server, if
the device is connected to the net. It uses CSS animation, for
smooth sliding of the Bloks, and SQLite to save game states, options,
and scores...
Check it out at http://iphoneclassics.com I have a Flash page up,
but if you visit from your iPhone or iPod Touch, it will automatically
redirect you to the app in iTunes on the phone.
And feel free to shell out the $2 to help get some momentum going, so
that it can make its way into the hot apps ;-)
I'd be happy to answer any questions that I can about the process of
getting it working, and getting it approved by Apple.
> Just to let you know, my Blok-Buster application finally got approved
> by Apple. It's a "bubble buster" type game, but it reads the
> accelerometer data, and lets you tilt or rotate the phone to slide the
> "Bloks" around the screen.
> It uses PhoneGap, and is written in Javascript/CSS that lives local in
> the app. But it also loads and saves High Scores from my server, if
> the device is connected to the net. It uses CSS animation, for
> smooth sliding of the Bloks, and SQLite to save game states, options,
> and scores...
> Check it out athttp://iphoneclassics.com I have a Flash page up,
> but if you visit from your iPhone or iPod Touch, it will automatically
> redirect you to the app in iTunes on the phone.
> And feel free to shell out the $2 to help get some momentum going, so
> that it can make its way into the hot apps ;-)
> I'd be happy to answer any questions that I can about the process of
> getting it working, and getting it approved by Apple.
On Fri, Feb 13, 2009 at 12:49 PM, reverend <rever...@ntw.net> wrote:
> Hey folks,
> Just to let you know, my Blok-Buster application finally got approved
> by Apple. It's a "bubble buster" type game, but it reads the
> accelerometer data, and lets you tilt or rotate the phone to slide the
> "Bloks" around the screen.
Very creative! Congratulations!
> I'd be happy to answer any questions that I can about the process of
> getting it working, and getting it approved by Apple.
How long did it take to get through to the App Store?
Thanks, Rob, I sent you a short description and an icon in the same
size as the other ones on the PhoneGap page, let me know if you need
anything else.
In answer to your question, Michael, it took Apple 4 days to reject my
"Lite" version (you're not allowed to upsell to a full version from a
lite version... I may rework the lite version, at some point, but
I'm going to wait and see how the full version does). Then it took
them 8 days to reject my full version. (It didn't ask or warn users
before uploading their high scores to the High Score board on my
website, which was a breach of their privacy rules...). Once I fixed
that, it took them an additional 5 days to approve it.
Hi, nice app
I was intending to do something similar, only that i'm only starting
to code for iphone :)
Can you share a little with us the appstore experience?
I mean how people receive it
Thanks :)
On Feb 14, 1:30 am, reverend <rever...@ntw.net> wrote:
> Thanks, Rob, I sent you a short description and an icon in the same
> size as the other ones on the PhoneGap page, let me know if you need
> anything else.
> In answer to your question, Michael, it took Apple 4 days to reject my
> "Lite" version (you're not allowed to upsell to a full version from a
> lite version... I may rework the lite version, at some point, but
> I'm going to wait and see how the full version does). Then it took
> them 8 days to reject my full version. (It didn't ask or warn users
> before uploading their high scores to the High Score board on my
> website, which was a breach of their privacy rules...). Once I fixed
> that, it took them an additional 5 days to approve it.
On Feb 14, 3:54 am, rborn <dan.ta...@gmail.com> wrote:
> Can you share a little with us the appstore experience?
> I mean how people receive it
So far, very SLOWLY... Even though I put out a ton of information
about it... Hopefully the game will pick up some. I would be nice
to generate a little momentum, because it really is a pretty addictive
game!
> On Feb 14, 3:54 am, rborn <dan.ta...@gmail.com> wrote:
> > Can you share a little with us the appstore experience?
> > I mean how people receive it
> So far, very SLOWLY... Even though I put out a ton of information
> about it... Hopefully the game will pick up some. I would be nice
> to generate a little momentum, because it really is a pretty addictive
> game!
> On Feb 14, 5:46 pm, reverend <rever...@ntw.net> wrote:
> > On Feb 14, 3:54 am, rborn <dan.ta...@gmail.com> wrote:
> > > Can you share a little with us the appstore experience?
> > > I mean how people receive it
> > So far, very SLOWLY... Even though I put out a ton of information
> > about it... Hopefully the game will pick up some. I would be nice
> > to generate a little momentum, because it really is a pretty addictive
> > game!
On Sat, Feb 14, 2009 at 1:15 PM, rborn <dan.ta...@gmail.com> wrote:
> me again
> what do you mean by this?
> "you're not allowed to upsell to a full version from a lite
> version... "
> and how the process of deploying a paid and a lite-free version should
> be then ?
> sorry to stress you....
> thanks
> On Feb 14, 7:55 pm, rborn <dan.ta...@gmail.com> wrote:
>> sorry to hear that
>> and I hope it will catch
>> On Feb 14, 5:46 pm, reverend <rever...@ntw.net> wrote:
>> > On Feb 14, 3:54 am, rborn <dan.ta...@gmail.com> wrote:
>> > > Can you share a little with us the appstore experience?
>> > > I mean how people receive it
>> > So far, very SLOWLY... Even though I put out a ton of information
>> > about it... Hopefully the game will pick up some. I would be nice
>> > to generate a little momentum, because it really is a pretty addictive
>> > game!
I'm trying to decide now how much of my time to spend in Objective C
and how much to spend in Phone Gap. Can you say what kind of games and
apps PhoneGap is good for?
By the way, how is input done in PhoneGap? How would I set up thumb
and touch controls?
On Feb 14, 2:33 pm, Paul Prescod <pres...@gmail.com> wrote:
> On Sat, Feb 14, 2009 at 1:15 PM, rborn <dan.ta...@gmail.com> wrote:
> > me again
> > what do you mean by this?
> > "you're not allowed to upsell to a full version from a lite
> > version... "
> > and how the process of deploying a paid and a lite-free version should
> > be then ?
> > sorry to stress you....
> > thanks
> > On Feb 14, 7:55 pm, rborn <dan.ta...@gmail.com> wrote:
> >> sorry to hear that
> >> and I hope it will catch
> >> On Feb 14, 5:46 pm, reverend <rever...@ntw.net> wrote:
> >> > On Feb 14, 3:54 am, rborn <dan.ta...@gmail.com> wrote:
> >> > > Can you share a little with us the appstore experience?
> >> > > I mean how people receive it
> >> > So far, very SLOWLY... Even though I put out a ton of information
> >> > about it... Hopefully the game will pick up some. I would be nice
> >> > to generate a little momentum, because it really is a pretty addictive
> >> > game!
On Feb 14, 2:15 pm, rborn <dan.ta...@gmail.com> wrote:
> what do you mean by this?
> "you're not allowed to upsell to a full version from a lite
> version... "
> and how the process of deploying a paid and a lite-free version should
> be then ?
Here's the direct quote from Apple:
"Your app cannot be posted because it is a beta or feature-limited
version. Any reference to demo or beta needs to be removed from the
binary and metadata. Free or "Lite" versions are acceptable, however
the application must be a fully functional app and cannot reference
features that are not implemented or up-sell to the full version."
So to build a free version, it can't have any reference to the full
version, and it can't talk about the fact that its features are
limited... Seems kind of silly, but OK... :-/
On Feb 15, 9:53 am, timothytoe <timothy...@gmail.com> wrote:
> Can you say what kind of games and
> apps PhoneGap is good for?
Well, the generic answer to that would be "any kind of game that you
can build in html, javascript, and css". And then consider that you
can use location data, accelerometer data, etc. You can use SQLite
databases, and do the equivalent of vector graphics with the drawing
tools in HTML 5.
What you're not going to be able to do with PhoneGap is going to be
hardcore 3D graphics, etc.
> By the way, how is input done in PhoneGap? How would I set up thumb
> and touch controls?
Input is handled as mouse events. And the javascript can handle
multitouch and gesture stuff. Search the group for "multitouch", and
you'll find more info.
In other words, you need to make a free(lite) app, that is totally
independent of the original feature rich app, and not mention anything
about it in the free app ?
so you just have to hope users will digg into >20k apps to find your
paid app...
ugly
On Feb 17, 12:06 am, reverend <rever...@ntw.net> wrote:
> On Feb 14, 2:15 pm, rborn <dan.ta...@gmail.com> wrote:
> > what do you mean by this?
> > "you're not allowed to upsell to a full version from a lite
> > version... "
> > and how the process of deploying a paid and a lite-free version should
> > be then ?
> Here's the direct quote from Apple:
> "Your app cannot be posted because it is a beta or feature-limited
> version. Any reference to demo or beta needs to be removed from the
> binary and metadata. Free or "Lite" versions are acceptable, however
> the application must be a fully functional app and cannot reference
> features that are not implemented or up-sell to the full version."
> So to build a free version, it can't have any reference to the full
> version, and it can't talk about the fact that its features are
> limited... Seems kind of silly, but OK... :-/
Yeah, ugly for sure... I suppose you could get sneaky, and build an
upsell that doesn't appear for a few weeks, so Apple wouldn't notice
it... but if they found it, they'd shut you down...
I think the strategy is really to just call it "X Lite", and then
users are probably savvy enough to know there's an "X" as well...
And you can also probably point users to your website from within the
app (and have it open in Safari on the phone), and then have your
website do the upsell...
On Feb 16, 4:15 pm, rborn <dan.ta...@gmail.com> wrote:
> In other words, you need to make a free(lite) app, that is totally
> independent of the original feature rich app, and not mention anything
> about it in the free app ?
> so you just have to hope users will digg into >20k apps to find your
> paid app...
> ugly
> On Feb 17, 12:06 am, reverend <rever...@ntw.net> wrote:
> > On Feb 14, 2:15 pm, rborn <dan.ta...@gmail.com> wrote:
> > > what do you mean by this?
> > > "you're not allowed to upsell to a full version from a lite
> > > version... "
> > > and how the process of deploying a paid and a lite-free version should
> > > be then ?
> > Here's the direct quote from Apple:
> > "Your app cannot be posted because it is a beta or feature-limited
> > version. Any reference to demo or beta needs to be removed from the
> > binary and metadata. Free or "Lite" versions are acceptable, however
> > the application must be a fully functional app and cannot reference
> > features that are not implemented or up-sell to the full version."
> > So to build a free version, it can't have any reference to the full
> > version, and it can't talk about the fact that its features are
> > limited... Seems kind of silly, but OK... :-/
This is what irritates me with Apple's guidelines, I know of several
app in the store that break this rule, Twitteriffic has option that
when selected say "only available in full version" and several games
have links to full versions.
> On Feb 14, 2:15 pm, rborn <dan.ta...@gmail.com> wrote:
>> what do you mean by this?
>> "you're not allowed to upsell to a full version from a lite
>> version... "
>> and how the process of deploying a paid and a lite-free version
>> should
>> be then ?
> Here's the direct quote from Apple:
> "Your app cannot be posted because it is a beta or feature-limited
> version. Any reference to demo or beta needs to be removed from the
> binary and metadata. Free or "Lite" versions are acceptable, however
> the application must be a fully functional app and cannot reference
> features that are not implemented or up-sell to the full version."
> So to build a free version, it can't have any reference to the full
> version, and it can't talk about the fact that its features are
> limited... Seems kind of silly, but OK... :-/
Yeah, I think it's a function of 2 things - sometimes they miss stuff,
and they're obviously changing their stance on certain things as time
goes on. So the best we can do is deal with it, I guess :-)
On Feb 16, 4:46 pm, Alan Wallace <joey.must...@gmail.com> wrote:
> This is what irritates me with Apple's guidelines, I know of several
> app in the store that break this rule, Twitteriffic has option that
> when selected say "only available in full version" and several games
> have links to full versions.
> On 16 Feb 2009, at 23:06, reverend wrote:
> > On Feb 14, 2:15 pm, rborn <dan.ta...@gmail.com> wrote:
> >> what do you mean by this?
> >> "you're not allowed to upsell to a full version from a lite
> >> version... "
> >> and how the process of deploying a paid and a lite-free version
> >> should
> >> be then ?
> > Here's the direct quote from Apple:
> > "Your app cannot be posted because it is a beta or feature-limited
> > version. Any reference to demo or beta needs to be removed from the
> > binary and metadata. Free or "Lite" versions are acceptable, however
> > the application must be a fully functional app and cannot reference
> > features that are not implemented or up-sell to the full version."
> > So to build a free version, it can't have any reference to the full
> > version, and it can't talk about the fact that its features are
> > limited... Seems kind of silly, but OK... :-/
> Yeah, I think it's a function of 2 things - sometimes they miss stuff,
> and they're obviously changing their stance on certain things as time
> goes on. So the best we can do is deal with it, I guess :-)
> On Feb 16, 4:46 pm, Alan Wallace <joey.must...@gmail.com> wrote:
> > This is what irritates me with Apple's guidelines, I know of several
> > app in the store that break this rule, Twitteriffic has option that
> > when selected say "only available in full version" and several games
> > have links to full versions.
> > On 16 Feb 2009, at 23:06, reverend wrote:
> > > On Feb 14, 2:15 pm, rborn <dan.ta...@gmail.com> wrote:
> > >> what do you mean by this?
> > >> "you're not allowed to upsell to a full version from a lite
> > >> version... "
> > >> and how the process of deploying a paid and a lite-free version
> > >> should
> > >> be then ?
> > > Here's the direct quote from Apple:
> > > "Your app cannot be posted because it is a beta or feature-limited
> > > version. Any reference to demo or beta needs to be removed from the
> > > binary and metadata. Free or "Lite" versions are acceptable, however
> > > the application must be a fully functional app and cannot reference
> > > features that are not implemented or up-sell to the full version."
> > > So to build a free version, it can't have any reference to the full
> > > version, and it can't talk about the fact that its features are
> > > limited... Seems kind of silly, but OK... :-/
> On Feb 16, 6:10 pm, reverend <rever...@ntw.net> wrote:
> > Yeah, I think it's a function of 2 things - sometimes they miss stuff,
> > and they're obviously changing their stance on certain things as time
> > goes on. So the best we can do is deal with it, I guess :-)
> > On Feb 16, 4:46 pm, Alan Wallace <joey.must...@gmail.com> wrote:
> > > This is what irritates me with Apple's guidelines, I know of several
> > > app in the store that break this rule, Twitteriffic has option that
> > > when selected say "only available in full version" and several games
> > > have links to full versions.
> > > On 16 Feb 2009, at 23:06, reverend wrote:
> > > > On Feb 14, 2:15 pm, rborn <dan.ta...@gmail.com> wrote:
> > > >> what do you mean by this?
> > > >> "you're not allowed to upsell to a full version from a lite
> > > >> version... "
> > > >> and how the process of deploying a paid and a lite-free version
> > > >> should
> > > >> be then ?
> > > > Here's the direct quote from Apple:
> > > > "Your app cannot be posted because it is a beta or feature-limited
> > > > version. Any reference to demo or beta needs to be removed from the
> > > > binary and metadata. Free or "Lite" versions are acceptable, however
> > > > the application must be a fully functional app and cannot reference
> > > > features that are not implemented or up-sell to the full version."
> > > > So to build a free version, it can't have any reference to the full
> > > > version, and it can't talk about the fact that its features are
> > > > limited... Seems kind of silly, but OK... :-/
> > On Feb 16, 6:10 pm, reverend <rever...@ntw.net> wrote:
> > > Yeah, I think it's a function of 2 things - sometimes they miss stuff,
> > > and they're obviously changing their stance on certain things as time
> > > goes on. So the best we can do is deal with it, I guess :-)
> > > On Feb 16, 4:46 pm, Alan Wallace <joey.must...@gmail.com> wrote:
> > > > This is what irritates me with Apple's guidelines, I know of several
> > > > app in the store that break this rule, Twitteriffic has option that
> > > > when selected say "only available in full version" and several games
> > > > have links to full versions.
> > > > On 16 Feb 2009, at 23:06, reverend wrote:
> > > > > On Feb 14, 2:15 pm, rborn <dan.ta...@gmail.com> wrote:
> > > > >> what do you mean by this?
> > > > >> "you're not allowed to upsell to a full version from a lite
> > > > >> version... "
> > > > >> and how the process of deploying a paid and a lite-free version
> > > > >> should
> > > > >> be then ?
> > > > > Here's the direct quote from Apple:
> > > > > "Your app cannot be posted because it is a beta or feature-limited
> > > > > version. Any reference to demo or beta needs to be removed from the
> > > > > binary and metadata. Free or "Lite" versions are acceptable, however
> > > > > the application must be a fully functional app and cannot reference
> > > > > features that are not implemented or up-sell to the full version."
> > > > > So to build a free version, it can't have any reference to the full
> > > > > version, and it can't talk about the fact that its features are
> > > > > limited... Seems kind of silly, but OK... :-/
In looking for more info on app-approval pain, I came across the
iphonesb google group, and a wiki put up by a member there. if it
hasn't already been mentioned here, it looks pretty useful:
> > > On Feb 16, 6:10 pm, reverend <rever...@ntw.net> wrote:
> > > > Yeah, I think it's a function of 2 things - sometimes they miss stuff,
> > > > and they're obviously changing their stance on certain things as time
> > > > goes on. So the best we can do is deal with it, I guess :-)
> > > > On Feb 16, 4:46 pm, Alan Wallace <joey.must...@gmail.com> wrote:
> > > > > This is what irritates me with Apple's guidelines, I know of several
> > > > > app in the store that break this rule, Twitteriffic has option that
> > > > > when selected say "only available in full version" and several games
> > > > > have links to full versions.
> > > > > On 16 Feb 2009, at 23:06, reverend wrote:
> > > > > > On Feb 14, 2:15 pm, rborn <dan.ta...@gmail.com> wrote:
> > > > > >> what do you mean by this?
> > > > > >> "you're not allowed to upsell to a full version from a lite
> > > > > >> version... "
> > > > > >> and how the process of deploying a paid and a lite-free version
> > > > > >> should
> > > > > >> be then ?
> > > > > > Here's the direct quote from Apple:
> > > > > > "Your app cannot be posted because it is a beta or feature-limited
> > > > > > version. Any reference to demo or beta needs to be removed from the
> > > > > > binary and metadata. Free or "Lite" versions are acceptable, however
> > > > > > the application must be a fully functional app and cannot reference
> > > > > > features that are not implemented or up-sell to the full version."
> > > > > > So to build a free version, it can't have any reference to the full
> > > > > > version, and it can't talk about the fact that its features are
> > > > > > limited... Seems kind of silly, but OK... :-/
