For the last few days, I've been grabbing my phone from my pocket the second it beeped or buzzed. I didn't want to miss the email letting me know that news:yc, my first major app for the App Store, was finally available. However, when I did get the email today, I knew before opening it that it wasn't the one I was hoping for.
The subject, "news:yc App Submission Feedback", did not look encouraging. When I opened it, my fears were confirmed: Apple has rejected news:yc from the App Store.
Since I submitted the app, I've been worrying about the many reasons Apple could reject it: a private API call I accidentally included, maybe, or a misuse of the UI elements. Instead of a technical reason, though, Apple rejected the app for the concept itself.
The reason cited, section 12.3 of the App Store Review Guidelines, is somewhat vague: "apps that are simply web clippings, content aggregators, or a collection of links, may be rejected." I don't think it applies in this case, but I can see how the reviewer could apply it to news:yc — or, frankly, to Hacker News itself.
Of course, as with many App Store rejection stories, there are plenty of examples of approved and popular apps that do essentially the same thing. In this case, there are even other Hacker News clients, but Reddit clients and even Flipboard could easily fit under the same logic used to reject news:yc. But that doesn't matter. If Apple believes that Hacker News is "simply [...] a collection of links", then it is. It's Apple's store, and Apple has the right to choose what to publish.
I'm hoping that this rejection was a mistake, and I plan to submit an appeal to the App Review Board. I have no idea what the chances of success are for an appeal, but there's no reason not to try. Luckily, the App Store isn't the only place to release a mobile app. If it doesn't work out on iOS, I'm considering porting news:yc to webOS, Windows Phone 7, or Android.
With that said, I do hope news:yc can be released on the App Store. I spent two months on it — not to mention the time spent by the other contributors since I announced the project — and it would be a shame for all that work to go to waste. Most importantly, I still like using news:yc, and I think everyone who wants to should be able to.
Grant Paul
http://grantpaul.com/