Does every app in Apple's App Store require a website? - app-store

Is it true that every app published on the App Store needs its own website?
When this is the case what should I be aware of?
Can I use a blog (e.g., myApp.tumblr.com) or do I need my own URL (e.g.,myApp.com)?

I just used a blog that I mainly use for the game and it worked fine.
So yes, that should work.
Edit: Oops, to answer the actual question, no, they don't require a website in my experience. I've seen apps without website names in the App Store.

Related

Iphone application using webview

I've created a web application using asp.net. I customized it form mobile(jQuery Mobile) .
I created an iphone application that has a web view that shows the website.
Is this will be applied by Apple to publish this application???
Regards,
Moayyad
If the only purpose of the app is showing the webview with the website, and it does absolutely nothing else, then it will most likely be rejected. However, if showing the website is just a small part of its functionality, and it does some other useful things as well, then using a webview for displaying your own website is OK, as far as I know.
Note, however, that I/we can only make assumptions and guesses. Nobody except Apple knows what exactly will happen to your app - there are numerous cases when an app was rejected for a feature which another approved app had, so there are inconsistencies in the AppStore approval policy of Apple. Don't expect anything.
I don't think so. They prefer use of HTML5 in webapp. Try to review the Apple guidelines for building web app.

Info about opened URLs and called numbers on iOS thru private APIs?

Using any of the iPhone's private APIs, is it possible to access the call log on the iPhone without jailbreaking it? Is the same somehow possible for opened URLs in Safari and launched apps (which app was launched when and active for what amount of time)?
I know I can't submit it to the AppStore and I don't want to either.
Based on Erica Sadun's DumpFrameworks Perl script I have already created a ruby gem that dumps the header files of iOS's private framework classes. Maybe that's helpful in finding the answer: http://rubygems.org/gems/private-dumper
I'm primarily interested in how to do this (or even just part of this) without jailbreaking but I'm also interested in a jailbreak-based solution.
Thanks!
Johannes
I haven't played with this recently so I'm not sure that these "hacks" will still work but Nicolas Seriot had come out last year with a series of examples that show how much access a developer can have in an iPhone app. He released a project called "SpyPhone" that shows these examples, one of which, I believe, does what you're asking for.
Here are slides from a talk he did on it: http://www.scribd.com/doc/23739469/iPhone-Privacy-from-Nicolas-Seriot
Hope this helps!

How to find the apps installed in iPhone

I am developing an application in which I need to find the apps which are already installed in iPhone device such as Skype, facebook. I need to check it. Please give me code snippet if possible otherwise a link to get the solution.
If this is possible, then how to disable the app also?
You can't check for any application, but you can actually check for applications which officialy shared their url scheme.
You can find the biggest database of those url schemes here. Now, how to use? All that we'll need is UIApplication. First, we need check if the iOS can open specific url:
[[UIApplication sharedApplication] canOpenURL:[NSURL URLWithString:#"fb://profile"]];
If this method returns yes then the user has the facebook application installed. To open the following application you need to call:
[[UIApplication sharedApplication] openURL:[NSURL URLWithString:#"fb://profile"]];
Which will open your Facebook profile on the Facebook application.
Alas, there is no possibility of disabling any other application on the iOS, since each and every third party software is being sandboxed.
Tapbots does something similar but only with their own apps. They probably keep track of device UDIDs on a server of theirs by communicating with the server using each app, so they are able to show which of their apps are installed on a given device.
As mentioned, this only works for apps you make though, as you'll be the one programming such functionality into your apps. You cannot check the existence of apps made by others.
There are also no public APIs that allow you to disable other apps. And besides, as the others say, apps are all sandboxed to themselves.
By the way... if you're trying to disable those apps because they compete with yours... forget it. The legal implications that can and will follow are not pretty.
I don't think it's possible, as a result of being sandboxed into your own application's environment.
And I'm referring to applications in general, not applications made by you (as BoltClock mentioned), since you're referring to the facebook and skype apps, which I imagine aren't yours.
I question your reasons for doing this, especially disabling other apps. Apps are sandboxed into their own environment. Anything that breaks this would not be accepted into the App Store.

Is it OK , from a product perspective, to write an iPhone app completely in WebView?

This just saves time.
Since I already have a web applciation.
I can just stick it inside a webview.
The question is: Does it turn off many users? How many users will be disgusted that the entire iPhone app is written in WebView?
I think it's pretty safe to say that most iPhone users are expecting apps to use the power of the iPhone, not just be a portal to a mobile website.
Think about facebook mobile compared to iPhone facebook app. If you're an iPhone user, I'm assuming you'd much rather use the app than a mobile version of the site (or mobile version of the site contained in a WebView in a an app).
That being said, depending on your app, if the mobile version of your app is highly usable, it could be okay...
Just my thoughts...
John Gruber on Daring Fireball just wrote about this today.
From a usability perspective, native apps usually feel better. They may also be more responsive and handle large amounts of data more gracefully. I have a few so-called "apps" on my devices which are just glorified Web apps, and they don't necessarily scream quality.
If you've already done your app, then just ship it. But keep your mind open to feedback from your users.
The answer is almost certainly "no". People care far more about the usability and experience of interacting with your application than what API-supplied widget you use to render it.
I read Apple has begun removing apps that are like this. Well technically, they remove apps they think could be easily implemented as a webapp instead. Yours obviously qualifies ;)
Source: http://techcrunch.com/2010/03/07/apple-cookie-cutter-apps/
EDIT: Apple seems to not mind, according to the Human Interface Guidelines:
If you have a webpage or web application, you might choose to use a web view to implement a simple iPhone application that provides a wrapper for it.
Of course, Apple has a tendency to contradict themselves. ;)
Apple human interface guidelines says this isn't even allowed. I forget where it comes from, but somewhere in the guideline it says apps that are only web views are not allowed. I'm about 95% sure I've seen this. Can anyone confirm?

updating iPhone apps via the web

I'm working on an eBook app for the iPhone. Given the time it takes for Apple to review and publish updates, I'm considering adding a feature to update the content via my own (Google App Engine-powered) web site.
This would allow me to update the content at will, rather than being at the mercy of the App Store review team. Is Apple likely to reject this kind of behavior in an app? I've asked in the Apple Developer forums, but received no response.
We have developed an application on the App Store that will go our web server and get new content when new content is available and store it on the iPhone. You should not have any problem as long as the content is not offensive. This could lead to your application being removed from the app Store. I've also heard that they may make your app 17+ because of getting content from the web.
You probably received no response because no one knows for sure. Apple has allowed apps that embed webkit before, but it has also rejected them as well.
iphone + web hybrid apps perfectly ok i think, not sure why apple would be concerned.