Segregation in the App Store

[batchtaster]

It seems the monster of segregation has arrived in the App Store. There are apps that are unavailable in some countries, even though the App Store itself is.

An example is Jott for iPhone. Unless you are a US user, you can't obtain this free application. Frankly, I can't think of a single reason why a freeware app like this should be restricted and denied to users in other countries.

The mess with the music and video stores is understandable; because the recording/movie industries have already established their questionable practices in other media (eg: DVD regions), establishing an entire infrastructure to maintain this behaviour, with local distributors/arms/licensing.

However this is software we're talking about; one vendor/licensor. Unless Apple intend to start a separation of the haves and have-nots (with the preference clearly aimed at US users), they need to back away from the path they're heading down, and the annoyed customers and unpredictable nature of app availability.

 

[TEG]

It usually has to do with Copyright law in the programmer's country overriding Apple's SDK, or the programmers preference.

TEG

 

[mrgreen4242]

Jott is a bad example. That service is both language specific AND relies on human power on the backend. They probably want to limit the number of users they have for now and help limit non-English speakers users, too.

It seems the monster of segregation has arrived in the App Store. There are apps that are unavailable in some countries, even though the App Store itself is.

An example is Jott for iPhone. Unless you are a US user, you can't obtain this free application. Frankly, I can't think of a single reason why a freeware app like this should be restricted and denied to users in other countries.

The mess with the music and video stores is understandable; because the recording/movie industries have already established their questionable practices in other media (eg: DVD regions), establishing an entire infrastructure to maintain this behaviour, with local distributors/arms/licensing.

However this is software we're talking about; one vendor/licensor. Unless Apple intend to start a separation of the haves and have-nots (with the preference clearly aimed at US users), they need to back away from the path they're heading down, and the annoyed customers and unpredictable nature of app availability.

 

[plumbingandtech]

Someone said that the developers get to pick what country they can appear in the app store in.

If this is true you really need to think about editing your post.

 

[skubish]

It seems the monster of segregation has arrived in the App Store. There are apps that are unavailable in some countries, even though the App Store itself is.

An example is Jott for iPhone. Unless you are a US user, you can't obtain this free application. Frankly, I can't think of a single reason why a freeware app like this should be restricted and denied to users in other countries.

The mess with the music and video stores is understandable; because the recording/movie industries have already established their questionable practices in other media (eg: DVD regions), establishing an entire infrastructure to maintain this behaviour, with local distributors/arms/licensing.

However this is software we're talking about; one vendor/licensor. Unless Apple intend to start a separation of the haves and have-nots (with the preference clearly aimed at US users), they need to back away from the path they're heading down, and the annoyed customers and unpredictable nature of app availability.

Sorry but you fail. Developers decide availability not Apple.

 

[Dipdip]

It's a little messy right now. Some apps that are available in Canada are for the US only. It's really frustrating and I'm always wary of buying apps (for example a movie app) that are applicable only for the US but available in the Canadian app store.

 

[rioja]

It's a little messy right now. Some apps that are available in Canada are for the US only. It's really frustrating and I'm always wary of buying apps (for example a movie app) that are applicable only for the US but available in the Canadian app store.

I always read the reviews first. Sadly it seems most of them have people complaining that the app doesn't work in Canada... especially those that are location service based.

Even the YPMobile (Yellow Pages) app doesn't have Canadian listings!