Sean Kovacs

GV Mobile has been in the App Store since May. NOW after months Apple claims it discovers issue with duplicating features? There are many apps that actually do VoiP and social networking that have these so-called duplicating features!

SO, this tells me the iPhone user that buys lots of apps that “AT ANY TIME APPLE FEELS LIKE AND THE WIND BLOWS A CERTAIN DIRECTION” they just may pull an app I use daily that I bought, I may end up with an orphan that will no longer be supported going forward. Meaning that the app I PAID for may not be updated anymore and may indeed stop working when Apple updates the iPhone OS!!!

This is not a lot different than Amazon pulling ebooks off the Kindle!

Makes me no have to wonder every time I buy an app in the App Store that I may be wasting my money in the long run. This practice will certainly lead to more people jailbreaking their phones, less developers wanting to do all this work for nothing, and less app sales.

Palm, Android and RIM can now jump all over this! I would if I were them.

What is wrong with Apple?
I agree with Stephen, this is almost the same nasty trick that Amazon pulled on the Kindle. Books don’t need updates, but apps do!
I’ll think twice before spending money on the App Store.

If Apple is indeed pulling the app, they ought to refund everyone who bought it, out of their own pockets! It’s their decision after all.

@Chad
This is a must have app if you have Google Voice. Why do you need a refund? You’re lucky to have it. Some people tried to get it after the fact, but it was too late.

So – if an app does totally unique stuff for an iPod Touch and some of those features have related features that are only available on an iPhone, then it is “redundant” ?! Not to me and not to my iPod Touch. Currious how Google will get their GV app approved for iPhone ?

@YCF

A refund may be necessary because how long will the app work? I got it today – is it going to work tomorrow? The next day? If it’s broken it can’t be fixed. I think I may want to get a refund until it’s sorted out. If it shows up as a for-pay jailbroken app will I get credit? Who knows. It’s not Sean’s fault at all – and I’ll wait a day or two and see if all the bad press matters (probably not, Apple and AT&T are soulless uncaring b’tards) but I wouldn’t blame anyone who wants a refund. You buy an app expecting it to be supported. This one can’t be, through no fault of it’s author.

Currious how Google will get their GV app approved for iPhone ?

They won’t. Check TechCrunch. It was rejected.

Paid GV Mobile user here. This pisses me off like no other. You have to believe that AT&T requested this because Google Voice was replacing its SMS (a big cash cow for them) and also voice business.

Well guess what AT&T, you just pissed off a bunch of people who pay you a lot of money. I will be jailbreaking my phone now (before I was on the fence) and will be sucking up a lot more DATA than I was previously, in addition to using a tether which you have been dragging your feet on.

Also I will be removing my SMS plans (and I have 2 iPhones with you).

Sean,

Hang in there. You have a quality product and as we all know, if there’s a will there’s a way to get through this, regardless of what Apple decides. That’s the irony – Apple, created by hackers, has forgotten that the hackers will find a way to get around whatever barriers are erected to bring a good product/feature/service to the people.

Due to the fact we are too ignorant to use this app, I have requested a refund from Apple.

Sean, please put this in Cydia and I will be more than happy to purchase it there. Thank you for the wonderful app!

Looks like you’re a casualty in the new Apple-Google War. Google Voice and Chrome are a big threat to Apple on two fronts — AT&T’s earnings and Apple’s entire product suite.

Apple’s firing back by denying Google’s GV app and their Latitude app.

This war is terrible news for me. My blog post here:

http://notes.kateva.org/2009/07/apple-google-war-battle-of-google-voice.html

I hope David Pogue will look into this story for us.

What a perfect app pisses me off apple pulls such a great app. So do you think you will be able to get it back up with out having to change it to much ?

I AM F**CKING OUTRAGED BY THIS!!!!!

No doubt its probably a good app, but as the author has said himself that if Google Voice changes he will try to suit the app for GV, but now that it is pulled, there’s no chance at me getting a non-jailbroken update, thus I am left with an unsupported app that I have had less than a week.

and here everyone was saying I was lying when I said that the Google Voice app was rejected.

You all know full well that since Google voice just gotten a lot more popular this would become a problem.

wow, this is terrible. I wonder if this kinda thing is going to push for development for Google Voice in the jailbreak market. I would think it can be integrated into the phone much like BiteSMS integrates into the SMS feature, but what do I know I’m not a programmer.

I don’t agree with what Apple is thinking. Although GV is a dialer, but it is completely different from what iphone’s dialer or SMS are. I believe there must be stories behind it like AT&T is forcing them takit it out because they are losing SMS business.

My friend’s iphone app (update) was not approved stating that he allows URL to be checked and launches any site (including playboy) so he need to make the app rated to the highest to be considered. I was wondering why not boot Google, Safari and most other apps that could launch such sites! Apple does not have any answers. Probably they don’t care to answer to anyone either. I sincerely think there must be a competitor for any big giant monopoly. Otherwise we have to live with the shit they feed us!

As an Apple stockholder, supporter, and iPhone owner (two) and developer – I’m very disappointed by Apple’s app policy and rejections. I don’t see any reason why this app should not be allowed into the store. I hope Apple reverses this decision and allows a more open app store policy.

OTOH – I do have a comment for google as well: let’s face facts, google is now competing with Apple in key areas and that’s bound to piss some people at Apple off. Nevertheless, hurting Apple customers and Apple developers (if they’re improving the platform) is not the way to address that issue.

I expect to see this on Cydia soon!

Kovacs: Thanks for your good work. I think it’s plenty worth it as is. Further releases via Cydia would be nice for those that have unlocked. Or maybe even open-sourcing it :\), merging or combining with Siphon, and offering virtual PBX service; or do an affiliate deal with one that exists (or do lots of affiliate deals). I’m assuming ATT won’t block access to the sub-domain?

Buyer’s remorse folk: I’m sure if you just bought it and don’t like it, you could get a refund quite easily by contacting Apple. ATT has played “internet traffic judge” recently I’ve heard…

Is there an email address or something like that that we can use to contact Apple to express our displeasure? This app store is starting to get crazy.

Well, I think Google and Apple are to blame for this. Google submitted their own app which would have undoubtedly garnered vast amounts of press and attention to the Google Voice service as it is being opened to the public. Apple decides they don’t want the competition as Google’s product probably completely replicated the phone and voicemail functions of the iPhone adding voice transcription, push notification of voicemails and all. So Apple Denies them for duplicating functionality. Google protests that if they are duping functionality so is GV Mobile and VoiceCentral which have flown pretty well under the radar being as they aren’t GOOGLE and Voice is still pretty locked down. Apple says hey you know you are right google. Whats good for the Goose is good for the gander, we’ll just yank them all. And there it was…

So, forget my earlier comment. Apple rejected Google’s official Google Voice app from the App Store too. What is Apple thinking?!

I filed a complaint with the FTC against Apple and AT&T. I am a new Google Voice user and I am excited about what it can do. One big area I am hoping to use Google Voice for as it matures is my IT team’s on call schedule. Anyway, I just downloaded GV Mobile Free the other day so I could test Google Voice features on my iPhone. The clobbering of innovation and the effect it has on iPhone developers big and small is driving me crazy. Other than having a baby and a busy job, this is probably the reason I haven’t gotten very far with learning Objective-C and XCode. I have written to my senator a couple of times on these issues but this time I thought to take it to the FTC. If you support Net Neutrality, innovation in communication technologies, etc. please write letters to your Senators and Representatives on these issues and file a complaint with the FTC if you feel inclined.

Apple is basically killing innovation. I hope developers worldwide dump Apple. And then apple will come to its senses.

Well I guess I’ll take my iPhone back. Was falling in love with the device but I still have another 10 days to return it with no obligation. This kind of stuff from Apple makes me cringe and fear that others like the Palm Pre with a more open attitude will eat its lunch in the end. Oh well. Sorry this has happened to you man.

Sean,

As an avid supporter of GV Mobile, I urge you to take the advice that’s been given here and distribute your application throughout the worldwide community of many tens (if not hundreds) of thousands of “jailbroken” iPhone users via Cydia.

Leaving Apple should allow you less restriction with GV Mobile and future apps. I would expect it to be more profitable as well, as you’ll have the ability to keep 100% of your earnings, rather than giving 30% of your time and money to Apple.

You have a very useful tool here, which most definitely belongs amongst the many other powerful apps on the Cydia repos. Leave the “App Store” to their own, while they peddle crippled toys, eye candy and hamstrung trinkets.

@Laurent Was so happy when I discovered a few days ago that Sean Kovacs had created the GV Mobile App that really made using Google Voice “Easy” on the IPhone. Very interesting that this “Expulsion” from the Apps Store of GV Mobile “Coincides” with the recent “EXPLOSION” of people receiving their Google Voice Invites. NBC Today Show did the Special on Google Voice but it was a couple of weeks after that the Invites started arriving HOT-N-HEAVY. AT&T could have gotten a FLOOD-OF-CALLS with people changing their Phone packages…Lets say maybe DROPPING-UNLIMITED TEXT MESSAGING.

This very similar to the move AT&T did with the SlingPlayer Mobile for IPhone. They limited usage to ONLY WiFi and NOT 3G network. Think all the HOOP-La about Google Voice finally woke someone up at AT&T and they said “HEY” we better talk to are friends at Apple about this one..Impacts the “Bottom-Line”..

Are you going to keep developing for iPhone?

@David
Lets hope that Apple does not send a “Heat-Seeking-Missle” to KNOCK-OUT those that already have GV loaded. I just got this GV Mobile a few days ago…Was so happy to see that someone had created something that made using Google Voice less cumbersome on the IPhone. The job that Sean did was EXCELLENT. Some of the absolute BEST Apps in the World can’t get into the Apps store. Look at Qik..Live-Streaming on your cell phone…Can’t get into Apps Store. Really disappointed. Don’t think they will let Sean’s App back into the Apps Store because I think the FREE did not have SMS right ? Not good…

This is not a joke folks. crApple has gotten away with too much, and this is a big slap in the face. They need to be stopped.

crApple and AT&T started the war, now we’re going to take it to them.
Together, we can surely defeat them.

Let’s us boycott their products and services in every way until our demands are met.

This is the exact reason you jailbreak an iPhone!

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Hope GOOGLE is LISTENING

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You should totally file a suit against Apple for this. This is totally, 100% anti-competitive behavior. How the heck is the little guy supposed to reliably support himself when Apple uses their monopolistic App Store with their totalitarian approval process to squash those that might compete with their core apps?

I bought the premium GV Mobile app the day it went out, after watching Sean’s struggle with Apple’s approval process, and obviously am happy with the app. However, I understand why this happened – Apple shares profits of its carrier partners, and once mainstream users figure out a way to easily cut their SMS and voice bills using a service like Google Voice, that’s bad news for the wireless providers bottom line.

Think about how much potential profit the music industry lost when it allowed Apple to build up an extremely profitable iPod business on the back of music-industry supported iTunes. Apple (and AT&T) see the potential for Google Voice to do the same thing to them, so why should they help it along.

That said, you can’t stop innovation, only slow it down. People love the iPhone, but they don’t love paying $100 a month for service. They’ll find a way to use Google Voice, whether it’s via Web app or jailbreak.

Sean, put your app up in the jailbreak community. I’m sure you weren’t happy about pirates before, but now that you can’t even sell your app, what is the difference?

Look like you won’t even be having competition from Google. And there are monetary opportunities in the Cydia store.

I hope it returns; its a useful app!

@Matt G Incorrect. Apple did share some of the earnings from AT&T and other partners with the first iPhone, but since the iPhone 3G a year ago, Apple no longer receives a dime from your service plan. That is 100% going to your carrier.

For the people who already have GV mobile on there phone. If we jailbreak will the version that we have from our backup be able to update via cydia.

If apple won’t change its policy… put it on cydia. This is stupid, I wonder how much of the decision was an AT&T choice. Apple needs to dump them and let them suffer with other products… Apple has made them a boat load and they still fail miserably.

Wow! I can’t believe Apple/AT&T pulled this. What B/S?! I surely hope you decide to offer this through cydia in the future.

i’d pay for a jailbreak version in the cydia store, also.

i already paid for it. great app. i’d pay for it again. screw apple.

Google needs to make this a web app and pull support for anything done through itunes until Apple stops pulling this crap.

How do we create enough noise for Apple to hear? This is getting out of hand. This app was approved and now isn’t approved *WITHOUT* changes to its functionality?! I’m confused. And bitter, given I bought this app 2 weeks ago.

$3 isn’t much but the issue is about trust and confidence. Or rather the lack of it.

Way to inspire trust and confidence in your app store, Apple, by continuing the practice of removing any app on a whim, even after being accepted for months.

BTW – AT&T should *not* be charging for SMS on IPhone anyways, given they still don’t support MMS (wtf!)

Has anyone experienced the App no longer working since its removal from the App Store? I can’t see how Apple would go that far and if they did I’d say a move like that is very actionable.

Problem with asking for a refund is that Sean gets hit for $2.99 — not just the 70% commission he would have received. Sean literally gets screwed, as do we–the consumers. Apple and AT&T have some fucking nerve…

@steve the APP still works great! I’ll put money on it that the cydia version will be incredible.

This is amazing, just moved 4 lines and 4 iphones from VZW to AT&T for all the apps and now they remove one on my main apps. NOT COOL. Just passed my 30days too. If AT&T and Apple do this, might as well move back to VZW and get another Blackberry and use Qik, Google Voice etc….not cool AT&T and Apple, not cool.

First, thanks Sean for a such a high quality product. I enjoy using GV mobile everyday talking to my girlfriend overseas and it has been working wonderfully over last 2 months.
Now, I am pissed after I heard your app got pull and Apple reject the official Google Voice App as well.. What’s wrong with these ppl? I can understand why they block SlingPlayer cuz that app does indeed use alot of bandwidth. I don’t understand the logic banning GV. When I call through GV, I still use AT&T cell minute. So this just boiled down to AT&T GREED. They want to charge an arm and leg for long distance rate. Screw them, this is not 1980s when they can charge $2.0 per minute!
Sean, please release the app on Cydia, I will totally buy it.

Could you not re-release GV Mobile as an iPod touch only app? There is a way to do this isn’t there?

I’m a happy GV Mobile user on my iPod touch.