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Where did Box Office go? Gone from App store

M

Metasyntactic

macrumors regular
Aug 1, 2008
108
0
Well, good news everybody.

I've been able to contact a very nice person at Apple who's helped me with this. He's apologized for not contacting me sooner, and he's let me know that BoxOffice will be back up soon.

I'm somewhat unhappy about the whole mess, but at least there's good news on the horizon.

--

Also, after the app is released i'll be following it up with 1.3. That update will include several perf fixes *esp* related to network traffic. That means that you'll sync less and get the data you care about faster than before. This will be a plus for everyone, but will especially benefit edge users and those with spotty connections.

I'm also working on improved theater provider coverage for the states as well as global coverage for worldwide providers. No ETA yet, but great progress is being made day by day.
 
TimothyB

TimothyB

macrumors 6502a
Jun 20, 2008
795
91
Bay Area
Sounds great, glad things are being worked out. I won't bother to ask why the pulled it in the first place. If it were a pay app, all this lost time would have been a lot more serious.

Oh, will there be a opening soon, coming soon, or this Friday section? So you can look in the app to see what's opening for the weekend?

Just checked, it shows Tropic Thunder as Today, since it's released early, but you still wouldn't know what's going to open on Friday until Friday.

I'm sure this has been asked many times.
 
M

Metasyntactic

macrumors regular
Aug 1, 2008
108
0
TimothyB said:
Sounds great, glad things are being worked out. I won't bother to ask why the pulled it in the first place. If it were a pay app, all this lost time would have been a lot more serious.

Oh, will there be a opening soon, coming soon, or this Friday section? So you can look in the app to see what's opening for the weekend?

Just checked, it shows Tropic Thunder as Today, since it's released early, but you still wouldn't know what's going to open on Friday until Friday.

I'm sure this has been asked many times.
Click to expand...

I'm definitely thinking of ways that i might support 'coming soon'. It's sorta non-trivial given my data providers... so we'll have to see. But it's definitely on the list (though after more comprehensive/worldwide coverage)
 
Ntombi

Ntombi

macrumors 68040
Jul 1, 2008
3,822
1,636
Bostonian exiled in SoCal
I'm really glad to hear this good news! I was just showing someone the app yesterday; we watched two previews. :)

Will the name stay BoxOffice, or change to Now Playing? I want to know what to recommend to people. ;)
 
F

Fofer

macrumors 6502a
Oct 24, 2002
688
123
That is great news, indeed. What a relief... I was beginning to worry about the future of my favorite movie times app!

I have to say, I am very, very curious to know the reason behind Apple pulling it in the first place. Did they have a reason? And why didn't they make this reason clear, quickly, to the hard-working developer whose work they blocked from being shared? Or was it just an oversight?

That said, I'd like to list some feature improvements that would be great to see:

-I'd love to be able to see box office $$ receipts (how much each film has made so far) too. This data is shown in another app (OneTap?) and I found that interesting. Considering this app is called "Box Office" I thought it'd make sense to see it here too. :D

-I'd love expanded Rotten Tomatoes support. To be able to search the Tomatometer for any movie, present or past.

-I'd love to mark films as "favorites" too, so I can maintain the short list of what I want to see.

-Echoing an earlier request, being able to see "upcoming" films (and their trailers) would be sweet as well.
 
M

Metasyntactic

macrumors regular
Aug 1, 2008
108
0
Ntombi said:
I'm really glad to hear this good news! I was just showing someone the app yesterday; we watched two previews. :)

Will the name stay BoxOffice, or change to Now Playing? I want to know what to recommend to people. ;)
Click to expand...

The name will be BoxOffice when apple returns it. but it will soon change to 'Now Playing'. However, you'll still be able to search for the app in the appstore with 'BoxOffice'.

The name change also won't affect current users. You'll still get updates like normal.
 
M

Metasyntactic

macrumors regular
Aug 1, 2008
108
0
Fofer said:
That is great news, indeed. What a relief... I was beginning to worry about the future of my favorite movie times app!

I have to say, I am very, very curious to know the reason behind Apple pulling it in the first place. Did they have a reason? And why didn't they make this reason clear, quickly, to the hard-working developer whose work they blocked from being shared? Or was it just an oversight?
Click to expand...
Unfortunately, the NDA limits me here.
That said, I'd like to list some feature improvements that would be great to see:

-I'd love to be able to see box office $$ receipts (how much each film has made so far) too. This data is shown in another app (OneTap?) and I found that interesting. Considering this app is called "Box Office" I thought it'd make sense to see it here too. :D
Click to expand...
Yup. I've gotten this request from a few people. It's on the list.
-I'd love expanded Rotten Tomatoes support. To be able to search the Tomatometer for any movie, present or past.
Click to expand...
Sorry... can't do. The licensing terms of RT restrict this. You're only licensed to use what's in the syndicated feed.
-I'd love to mark films as "favorites" too, so I can maintain the short list of what I want to see.
Click to expand...
Yup. I've heard this from a few people. I'll add this!
-Echoing an earlier request, being able to see "upcoming" films (and their trailers) would be sweet as well.
Click to expand...
Ok dokey :) (just once i figure out how...)
 
M

markiscool

macrumors newbie
Aug 13, 2008
1
0
I don't know if this helps but, I emailed Steve Jobs about it not really expecting a response, because I really do love the app. He actually responded...er...maybe someone else did for him which in my opinion is far more likely, but someone from apple responded using his name at least. Here is the email I received verbatim (my original email message is below it):

Well your wrong. BoxOffice used Rotten Tomatoes ratings without asking Fox, their owner, for permission. Fox objected to copyright infringement and we agreed.

Steve



On Aug 13, 2008, at 11:55 AM, Mark Salpeter wrote:

Why was BoxOffice pulled from the iTunes App Store? I smell something fishy and I don't like it.
 
Ntombi

Ntombi

macrumors 68040
Jul 1, 2008
3,822
1,636
Bostonian exiled in SoCal
markiscool said:
I don't know if this helps but, I emailed Steve Jobs about it not really expecting a response, because I really do love the app. He actually responded...er...maybe someone else did for him which in my opinion is far more likely, but someone from apple responded using his name at least. Here is the email I received verbatim (my original email message is below it):

Well your wrong. BoxOffice used Rotten Tomatoes ratings without asking Fox, their owner, for permission. Fox objected to copyright infringement and we agreed.

Steve



On Aug 13, 2008, at 11:55 AM, Mark Salpeter wrote:

Why was BoxOffice pulled from the iTunes App Store? I smell something fishy and I don't like it.
Click to expand...
I smell something fishy from your post. I highly doubt that a reply to a random inquiry would net such a detailed (and unprofessional) reply, when the developer has only now been able to get a straight answer. Forgive me for being so cynical, but really, can you blame me?
 
I

izibo

macrumors 6502
Oct 6, 2004
265
0
Ntombi said:
I smell something fishy from your post. I highly doubt that a reply to a random inquiry would net such a detailed (and unprofessional) reply, when the developer has only now beenable to get a straight answer. Forgive me for being so cynical, but really, can you blame me?
Click to expand...

I would tend to agree. Plus, I have a lot of money in Apple and it would be a little worrisome to know that their CEO didn't know the difference between 'your' and 'you're'...
 
F

Fofer

macrumors 6502a
Oct 24, 2002
688
123
Awesome, thanks for the reply, Metasyntactic. I'm looking forward to seeing all the improvements.

Another feature request: How about a link to the movie's IMDB page?

Metasyntactic said:
Sorry... can't do. The licensing terms of RT restrict this. You're only licensed to use what's in the syndicated feed.
Click to expand...
Ah, so that explains what happened to Tomatoes.app... also pulled around the same time as yours. I had it, unfortunately deleted it... and now I wish I hadn't. :(

And BigBucket's Tomatometer webapp, too!
http://www.bigbucketblog.com/2008/08/06/what-happened-to-tomatometer/
 
F

Fofer

macrumors 6502a
Oct 24, 2002
688
123
Ntombi said:
I smell something fishy from your post. I highly doubt that a reply to a random inquiry would net such a detailed (and unprofessional) reply, when the developer has only now been able to get a straight answer. Forgive me for being so cynical, but really, can you blame me?
Click to expand...

I believe it's from him. Why? Because in the past I have emailed Steve and gotten equally curt, brash answers. Not always. But sometimes.

I think that's just his style; apparently it's served him well over the years. :cool::p
 
N

nyctravis

macrumors 6502
Jun 12, 2007
279
143
San Francisco, CA
Congrats on getting the app back! Just downloaded and installed it now and am already loving it, and really appreciate being able to pick metacritic over RT. For some reason I just prefer them.

A small request for a future feature: I often go to the video store and while browsing the racks I often wish I could easily pull up a movie title and it's metacritic or RT rating quickly and easily. Is it at all possible to add the ability to "lookup" a movie and if it's in RT or metacritic to pull it up? I sometimes just go to their site on my iphone but it gets clunky and would really love to be able to do that on your app.

thanks and congrats again
 
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