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Facebook's iPhone Dev Quits Project Due To Apple's Approval Process

Submitted by Michael Johnston on November 11, 2009 - 8:31pm.
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Joe Hewitt, the man at Facebook behind the wildly popular Facebook app for iPhone [App Store] has just announced that he's left the project. "Time for me to try something new. I’ve handed the Facebook iPhone app off to another engineer, and I’m onto a new project," said Hewitt earlier today on Twitter. Over the life of the Facebook app, Joe's essentially been the only dev working on the app, making this an extremely significant move. He's moved on to another project a Facebook, although we haven't heard who Facebook plans to put in his place.

After the announcement, TechCrunch caught up with Hewitt where he said that the move was due to Apple's approval policies:

My decision to stop iPhone development has had everything to do with Apple’s policies. I respect their right to manage their platform however they want, however I am philosophically opposed to the existence of their review process. I am very concerned that they are setting a horrible precedent for other software platforms, and soon gatekeepers will start infesting the lives of every software developer.

The web is still unrestricted and free, and so I am returning to my roots as a web developer. In the long term, I would like to be able to say that I helped to make the web the best mobile platform available, rather than being part of the transition to a world where every developer must go through a middleman to get their software in the hands of users.”

We very much agree with Hewitt and hope that Apple takes note. In the past Mr. Hewitt has voiced his opinions regarding the App Store's approval process, saying in a blog post that "the review process needs to be eliminated completely."

We're hoping to get Mr. Hewitt on the iPhone Alley Podcast to talk further about his feelings as an ex-iPhone app developer so stay tuned for that!

[TechCrunch via Craig Hockenberry]

the iphone - Giving Apple a bad name

Submitted by pilotmike on November 11, 2009 - 9:22pm.
Between the App approval process and the inability of AT&T to provide a decent network and now the new rickroll virus hitting iphone jailbreakers all over. Apple is under the gun lately. I hope they manage to pull their head out f their A$$e$ soon or they are going to be on a hill down. First off. Allow the iphone on other carriers. Second quit being so picky with apps. Put parental restrictions on apps or something... Geez Apple what is your deal??

Submitted by Michael Johnston on November 11, 2009 - 9:53pm.
Quote:
Originally Posted by pilotmike View Post
Between the App approval process and the inability of AT&T to provide a decent network and now the new rickroll virus hitting iphone jailbreakers all over. Apple is under the gun lately. I hope they manage to pull their head out f their A$$e$ soon or they are going to be on a hill down. First off. Allow the iphone on other carriers. Second quit being so picky with apps. Put parental restrictions on apps or something... Geez Apple what is your deal??
I feel like they made a lot of these decisions before the App Store was up and running and haven't been flexible enough yet. They really need to rethink everything in a way that works for the developers.

Submitted by bigboimize on November 13, 2009 - 1:56pm.
Quote:
Originally Posted by pilotmike View Post
Between the App approval process and the inability of AT&T to provide a decent network and now the new rickroll virus hitting iphone jailbreakers all over. Apple is under the gun lately. I hope they manage to pull their head out f their A$$e$ soon or they are going to be on a hill down. First off. Allow the iphone on other carriers. Second quit being so picky with apps. Put parental restrictions on apps or something... Geez Apple what is your deal??
Well I do have to comment on part of this. Apple very clearly tries to warn people not to jailbreak their iPhones. Jailbreaking the iPhone, while practically necessary in order to get the most out of the phone, does put you at risk. If someone's phone is hacked in to because they jailbroke it, then they should understand that by jailbreaking they basically agreed to danger.

Submitted by tchaves on November 13, 2009 - 3:30pm.
Quote:
Originally Posted by bigboimize View Post
If someone's phone is hacked in to because they jailbroke it, then they should understand that by jailbreaking they basically agreed to danger.
I agree. If you want to jailbreak, that's fine, but you can't be upset about vulnerabilities because that decision is not Apple's.