Apple hits back at devs of axed kiddie screen-time apps

Apple has smacked back at app developers moaning that their parental control apps were chucked off the App Store. Several app makers went to the New York Times to complain that their applications had been removed without warning from the digital outlet. Amir Moussavian, chief executive of OurPact, told the paper: "They yanked …

[Swarthy]

Who to side with....

Tough call. Apple have form for killing apps that compete with their own stuff (Is it still in the App Store T&Cs that "Thou shalt not duplicate Apple Functionality?"); on the other hand, the justification given is plausible. I guess it comes down to "are there other, non-MDM, parental control apps still available?"

[NoneSuch]

Re: Who to side with....

Anyone who develops on the Apple platform is essentially cutting their own throats, IMHO.

[Anonymous Coward]

Re: Who to side with....

Nevermind that on average iOS users spend 10x what Android users do on apps. Break the rules by abusing MDM and you deserve to have your app deleted.

[Frank Bitterlich]

Re: Who to side with....

According to Apple's resonse in the article, "Several developers released updates to bring their apps in line with these policies." Unless that means that they just pulled their apps off the market (or Apple is lying), apparently there are ways to do this without MDM.

[Anonymous Coward]

Re: Who to side with....

According to the NYT article:

In the weeks after Screen Time was released, 11 of the 17 most-downloaded screen-time and parental control apps were removed and restricted.

So they didn't axe all the "competing" apps, just the ones violating the MDM rules. I knew when they found the first batch of apps abusing MDM, there would be more. Probably they have been getting rid of a lot more, but the onesie-twosie games or whatever that are abusing MDM won't attract press attention the way getting rid of 11 out of the 17 top apps in a class that Apple just happens to have added new iOS functionality.

[ratfox]

I guess not trusting any developers except your own with the data of the users is one way to kill the competition...?

[Waseem Alkurdi]

It's not really about the data ... it's that MDM is intended to be used for X, Y, and Z, but the developers are using it for A and B instead. Apple doesn't like this, in addition to be a (this time real) infringement of Ts and Cs.

[James O'Brien]

I can't believe I am saying this

Its been almost 10 years since posting but this article, specifically the responses to it about crApple being guilty of nefarious things, is bugging me this much. First for those that do remember, yep still alive. Just lurking here in the shadows.

Anyway, people who know me, know that I hate Apple with a passion. That say, I can't help but side with them on this. If the functionality is able to be maintained without MDM, as is the case, AND, that others that modified their program to work according to the T&C's and the apps are still on the store, how can Apple have nefarious means here? Believe me, I would not be willingly siding with Apple on this one if the facts were different, but some of the comments blaming them bugged me so much that I had to come out of the El Reg Protection Program. And made me take Apples side on this one....

Now that being said tell AMFM I said hi and im going to go bathe in bleach....*shudders*

[Anonymous Coward]

Re: I can't believe I am saying this

Welcome back :-)

I think that's the question, "do the remaining apps still work or are they essentially hobbled by not being able to use MDM? Or did the remaining apps never really work?"

Perhaps El Reg might investigate?

[adnim]

Do Apple

abuse MDM? Do Apple follow their own rules?

I am not slighting Apple, at least no more than I would slight *ANY* other corporate that collects/processes user data.

I'm just curious, that's all.

[adnim]

Re: Do Apple

How about educating me instead of just down voting and running away?

Please tell me why Apple are so awesome. Or at least tell me what I have misunderstood

[doublelayer]

Re: Do Apple

I'm not a downvoter, but I'll do a bit of education. MDM is an Apple feature. They built it. They almost by definition can't abuse it, because they set the rules for how it's used. Also, they don't use it. They built it for corporates, who do use it for internal devices. Apple doesn't make any apps that use MDM, and their OS doesn't need to because it already has such access. It's like saying "Does Google internally use their search engine to abuse users?", I.E. it's a crazy question that doesn't make any sense.

The other reason that you might be collecting downvotes is the typical charge that Apple is busy collecting user data. They don't collect that much data. They make a point of showing this to everyone, possibly because they like bragging. You can fault them for the bragging, but it is a bit annoying hearing people decry Apple for data harvesting when A) they don't do it all that much as large tech companies are concerned, B) you can turn a lot of their data collection stuff off and it stays off and you can prove it, and C) many of the alternatives are a lot worse on all these points. I don't know if that's what you're saying, or what people are thinking you are saying, but your post sounds a little like it might be.

Some guesses there, but this might be what's going on.

[Nate Amsden]

why now?

Their reason for yanking the apps seems valid but the timing is terrible. Why were the apps not flagged before, why were they ever approved in the first place?

I don't use IOS but looking at Wikipedia (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/IOS_version_history) the most recent version of IOS was released 35 days ago(el reg article doesn't seem to indicate the version or the release date), and it says that is the version that had the screen time change. So Apple chooses to release the new feature, then immediately following(given the apps were just yanked and apple claims they gave the devs 30 days?) tells these app folks they are in violation and yanks their apps?

I'd think screening an app for whether or not it uses MDM would be a simple matter, especially given apple's apparent more robust screening process(vs google anyway)

[Sandtitz]

Re: why now?

The Screen Time feature was introduced in iOS v12, back in last September.

12.2 (the one released 35 days ago) is just a bug fix.

[JetSetJim]

Re: why now?

The Screen Time feature in iOS seems to be a PoS - I've set it on my kids iPad and, while you can ostensibly limit time by either time of day or time spent per day on a per app basis, it doesn't seem to work at all for the main app she uses (Roblox, fwiw). Time of day seems to work, but time spent per day is ignored.

[Anonymous Coward]

Re: why now?

It is easy for them to tell if an app uses MDM, but there are both legitimate and illegitimate MDM-using apps. How does Apple tell them apart in an automated fashion as you seem to think they can? For example, Microsoft's Outlook client supports MDM, should they delete that? Of course not, it uses MDM as intended (i.e. it works with your employer's MDM if configured)

[OrinokoMatt]

Re: why now?

I agree, I use both the Android Family Link controls and iOS Screen time with the kids and Screen time is rubbish compared.. seems inaccurate, no central control and just so basic.

[teebie]

"MDM gives a third party control and access over a device and its most sensitive information including user location, app use, email accounts, camera permissions, and browsing history."

So why do you give apps access to it? And how is disabling apps after they have been using it for months an acceptable fix?

"I've got a great idea for a stable door - it closes itself 2 hours after your horse chuffs off having stolen your car."

[Barry Rueger]

And Google

To be fair, Google is using the same "privacy" argument to disable any App that allows you to record your phone calls - something that's entirely legal in most places.

The exception to that rule is, you guessed it, Google Voice.

[Anonymous Coward]

They didn't have a problem with Uber

I am getting ready to go to work. Look it up yourself.

[Matt_payne666]

Maybe i'm missing something here, but surely using MDM is the correct way to monitor and control device usage - and to control and monitor usage it would be necessary to Manage the Mobile Device so any interference is MDM. Privacy concerns abound, but thats the rub when you give someone else full control of your device.

One of the reasons Daughter has an android is the fact that we have a choice of MDM management solutions, that she cant disable, that works across all the software and integrates with the other devices that she is allowed to use - which are all managed via a single pane of glass.

With the restrictions that Apple has on software running in the background and interacting with other applications wouldnt that be the only way round the restrictions as well as preventing the user from just disabling it (as one could do with all the MDM (Apples included) uptill a year or so back).

[razorfishsl]

MDM was for use on corporate systems,

some developers have subverted the abilities of a corporate package to track & gain access to private information that does not belong to them.

Apple is correct.