How Apple destroys small developers

[enduranceav]

We have developed Endurance Antivirus with hard work and a lot of time / money spent.

Last December we got a bad review from a client with an old osx and we've discovered a bug in our antivirus that didn't allowed the user to remove infected files.
We developed an update with bugfix, we asked for expedite review, nothing. After 1 month they accepted the expedited review but surprise: 2 months have passed and our app is still in Waiting for review.

Also another 2 apps developed by us are still in waiting for review.
We emailed Apple review team numerous times, they answered with the same template email. Apple has destroyed our reputation.
Because we are so small they ignore us. Other big brand apps in the same category got updated numerous times, they are making big money to Apple, that's why our company means nothing to them.

 

[1337watchdog]

Yes this is happening to some developers which Apple I think does not like or maybe it is some kind internal issue due the Boom of Antivirus Software from the Apple AppStore.

Also the abuse of the keyword "antivirus" is ignored by Apple, putting small developers or legit Antivirus developers in lower position.

There are lots of apps which does not have anything to do with an antivirus using the keyword antivirus abusing the Apple system.

But how we all know Apple does not tell anything.

 

[NT1440]

<snip>

You realize you're violating the developer terms and conditions by posting these screenshots right?

 

[1337watchdog]

You realize you're violating the developer terms and conditions by posting these screenshots right?

There is no terms and conditions specifying that

 

[kylekai]

We have developed Endurance Antivirus with hard work and a lot of time / money spent.

Have you tried calling them? (800) 633-2152. It's often faster than email and more effective.

 

[960design]

We have developed Endurance Antivirus with hard work and a lot of time / money spent...

I truly sympathize with your frustration. While I disagree, as Apple has helped my company significantly.

 

[enduranceav]

I truly sympathize with your frustration. While I disagree, as Apple has helped my company significantly.

At beginning it was all fine, I don't know what happened in December, or what I have done to make them ignore me.

 

[Partron22]

What happens when you dump the App Store?

the founder of Rogue Amoeba posted a description of what happened when he pulled his app Piezo. The result? More revenue as a whole without much damage to sales. The impetus for the move came Apple pulled the Dash app off of the App Store. In the 100 day period since the move, Dash maintained and even increased revenue and found that its users didn’t care which platform they were using – 84% of the customers simply moved over to the independent app license from the App Store license.

 

[enduranceav]

What happens when you dump the App Store?

I thought I will receive a satisfactory answer from Apple but they don't care about small businesses.
After I have started this topic, they put all my apps in review and asked me some details about them but they put all three in rejected app. This way, they don't have to answer to their supervisors about the whole issue.
So, my apps are still unavailable in the appstore.

 

[rhett7660]

What happens when you dump the App Store?

I wonder if it would be a different story with other app developers. Amoeba has a following and where quite popular before the App store and continue to do so. They already had a name for themselves and were putting out nice software prior to. Can't say the same for other companies. Would be interesting to see though.

 

[enduranceav]

I have tried macupdate but no success because anyone can post a review there, there is no moderating. Also in the developer account there is only one app, the others are published but not on my account.

 

[enduranceav]

I'm so upset, I thought it will be a good business getting into appstore, all i got was a waste of time and money and people trust because clients were waiting for a bugfixed version, others for a free trial version

 

[RedTomato]

I'm sorry you're having a terrible time. OSX needs people like you who care and who are developing good apps. Are you able to send out a message to all your users about your experience?

This might be a good time to reflect on your strategy for the next few years. Will you be able to make a living selling anti-virus? Apple is locking down OSX more and more. You / your team are clearly very skilled programmers if you can write antivirus apps. Maybe you can find a different area of programming that has a brighter future for you and your team?

 

[enduranceav]

@RedTomato thank you for your advices, all I'm thinking right now is that I lost a great amount of time and my clients trust, because of a small bug that I have fixed it but Apple didn't approved the update in 2 months. We have no chance to sell independently, we tried on macupdate and results were small.

 

[enduranceav]

It seems like my case is isolated. Does anyone else have issues with app review?

 

[enduranceav]

We have received Opswat Antimalware Certificate for Endurance Antivirus. Hey, Apple, when will you release my new version?

 

[enduranceav]

Again, I have one app in review since March 23th It's the free version of our antivirus.

 

[Pakaku]

If you've been waiting this long on Apple, I think you should be planning on moving away from the App Store...

 

[enduranceav]

They reviewed at a moment 2 of my apps, now it's in review since March 23th with Expedite request

 

[T'hain Esh Kelch]

Just publish outside of App Store.

 

[enduranceav]

I cannot promote it enough outside app store.

 

[Partron22]

I cannot promote it enough outside app store.

Be interesting to see just how much sales of Mac magazines has decreased over the past decade.
The number of Mac devoted websites seems down too.
Those both make promotion much harder than it used to be.
I doubt a twitter acct and a Facebook page come close to making up for those older promotional channels.
Even inside the App store that thing they call a search engines suitable for hundreds of thousands of apps makes it very hard to make new stuff findable.

 

[enduranceav]

After more than 3 years of fighting with The Apple developer team, I got suspended with a template letter and no real reason. My app (Antivirus Viruskiller) had over 10.000 reviews, more than 50.000 downloads, was removed from AppStore on September 15th, 2019. I had a small team that I had to let go because selling the app outside AppStore was not profitable. For the last year, I opened multiple support tickets with Apple, I haven't received any answer, they are ignoring me because I'm East European and they don't care.
I haven't found a US lawyer to support my cause, my Romanian lawyer cannot help me in USA court.
I am sorry for the yearly subscribers who paid for a service they cannot use anymore, or the ones who bought the app and they haven't received signature updates in the last months maybe if you call Apple and ask for a refund, they will respond to my requests to reinstate my developer account and my apps.

 

[TiggrToo]

After more than 3 years of fighting with The Apple developer team, I got suspended with a template letter and no real reason. My app (Antivirus Viruskiller) had over 10.000 reviews, more than 50.000 downloads, was removed from AppStore on September 15th, 2019. I had a small team that I had to let go because selling the app outside AppStore was not profitable. For the last year, I opened multiple support tickets with Apple, I haven't received any answer, they are ignoring me because I'm East European and they don't care.
I haven't found a US lawyer to support my cause, my Romanian lawyer cannot help me in USA court.
I am sorry for the yearly subscribers who paid for a service they cannot use anymore, or the ones who bought the app and they haven't received signature updates in the last months maybe if you call Apple and ask for a refund, they will respond to my requests to reinstate my developer account and my apps.

I wasn’t aware the apps on the Mac AppStore had the ability to be full blown AV type applications due to the sandbox limitations.

 

[Partron22]

If you write a useful enough App, they'll incorporate similar into the OS. -No payment. This happened to me a couple times in the late 90's, early 00's. By 2012, a lot of the truly useful OS code went private; Apple commercial use only. I program for myself now. There's not much point giving away 30% for a piece of code you have to update constantly so as to keep your sole distributor willing to distribute. This subscription model, chains developers in eternal servitude.