Bad news for iPhone Developers, Apple has been sending numerous rejections letters to people who applied for iPhone Developer Program. The program has a price tag of $99, and would give developers a chance to get their application published. Apple Developer site did mention that the program would be open to developers residing in United States and only limited number of developers would be accepted. Sounds a little odd for a company like Apple to treat their developers this way!
Here’s the text extract from the letter which developers received from Apple:
Dear Registered iPhone Developer,
Thank you for expressing interest in the iPhone Developer Program. We have received your enrollment request. As this time, the iPhone Developer Program is available to a limited number of developers and we plan to expand during the beta period. We will contact you again regarding your enrollment status at the appropriate time.
Thank you for applying.
Best regards,
iPhone Developer Program
Developers will certainly be breaking their heads and wondering why they weren’t approved. Initially, some people felt that only individuals were being denied, but looks like even companies are being denied. Apple turned down developers who were not only willing to develop app for their phone, but also willing to pay $99 to be a part of the program.
Of course, Apple doesn’t want to compromise on quality. If quality was the case, then they could easily run a quality check before publishing the application. I don’t see a point in refusing developers, who have so much potential in them. What were the criteria to be approved? Only Apple knows. Developers will indeed be pissed at Apple for this.
[Via: CyberNet]
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wrote, on March 16th, 2008
If its in beta closed public thats going to happen. People might need to wait for sometime more
wrote, on March 16th, 2008
This does sound strange for a company like Apple. I hope to hear what happens next.
wrote, on March 17th, 2008
They never actually reject or accept the request in that letter; it just asks to wait, reiterating old stuff. It’s impossible to say if others maybe did get accepted. If you send them a letter, you basically ask them a simple yes or no question. I would’ve written them again asking for an actual answer.
wrote, on March 17th, 2008
I’m sure quality was the issue. Maybe they did some checks before sending out rejection letters.
wrote, on March 17th, 2008
A friend of mine has been accepted and then rejected the same day. Apparently it was a computer error.
wrote, on March 18th, 2008
Why limit development. Fair enough that they want to ensure quality control but surely the more apps that are available, the more saleable the phone is.
Sometimes firms just get too big for their boots.