There is an iPhone app that has been pulled from the iTunes App Store and the reason is because it allows a user to take a picture by using the volume buttons. Apple is not too happy about coders giving buttons on the iPhone other uses than what they were intended for. The app, named Quick Snap, has been pulled because “it uses iPhone volume buttons in a non-standard way, potentially resulting in user confusion”.It appears that Apple does not want their users to be confused when they try and turn up the volume and all of a sudden take a picture. I mean, how confusing would that actually be, maybe even embarrassing? The developer Tap Tap Tap recieved a rejection letter back in August from the iTunes App Store. Apple stated “Changing the behavior of iPhone external hardware buttons is a violation of the iPhone Developer Program License Agreement”.
So, Tap Tap Tap just hid the function and allowed users to “find” the function if they used a specific URL in the Safari browser. This got the app back into the store and everything is back to normal. Then Apple figured out how Tap Tap Tap was getting passed the issue and banned the developer for 4 months. The app returned with the volume snap feature removed completely.
The iTunes App Store has been a target for developers not happy with the way things are regulated lately and the fact that Quick Snap was promoted including the volume button feature is just another case of confusion. Apple did not comment on the promotion. There are over 300,000 apps in the App Store and the reviewers need to have a consistent approach to regulating what ends up in the store, in order to keep developers happy.
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