Apple's Chickens**t Approval Process Has Gone Too Far
The App Store approval process has always been mysterious, slightly ridiculous and mildly infuriating. But with the summary execution of Google Latitude as well as every Google Voice app, it's finally gone too far.
Context & Ripple Effects
The flashpoint is Apple's rejection of every Google Voice application plus Google Latitude from the App Store — approvals that had been pending from third-party developers who built against the SDK in good faith. Gizmodo's verdict that the process has 'gone too far' lands because this is the first time Apple's gatekeeping has visibly blocked Google, not just indie developers, turning a chronic developer complaint into a platform-level standoff.
The story travelled fast: TechCrunch picked it up the same day, and its follow-up — 'AT&T: Don't Blame Us For The iPhone's Google Voice Ban' — shows the immediate blame game, with the carrier publicly denying responsibility for a decision made inside Apple's review queue. That split between platform owner and carrier is what makes this more than an app-approval gripe.
First-order effects
- Third-party Google Voice developers lose shipped-or-pending products overnight, with no stated reason beyond Apple's silent rejection queue — the direct cost of an opaque process falls on builders who followed the published rules.
- Google is now effectively locked out of native iPhone distribution for Voice and Latitude, making Apple's platform the chokepoint for a direct rival's mobile services.
Second-order effects
- AT&T's public 'don't blame us' positioning forces Apple to own the decision alone, raising the political cost of each rejection and inviting scrutiny of exactly who sets approval policy — Apple, the carrier, or both.
- Android becomes the obvious refuge for voice-over-data apps Apple won't approve, handing Google's platform a concrete differentiator to market against the iPhone.
Third-order effects
- If rejection-without-explanation stays the norm, App Store review hardens from a quality filter into de facto competitive policy — a structure that historically attracts regulator attention once the blocked party is large enough to complain loudly.
- Developer trust in single-gatekeeper distribution erodes: teams building on Apple's SDK must price in the risk that a finished product dies at review, pushing cross-platform strategies and alternative channels over the long run.
The trend: Mobile platform governance is shifting from technical app review toward opaque competitive gatekeeping, with carriers, rivals, and eventually regulators pulled into disputes Apple would prefer to settle silently.