The Pebble Time iPhone app, as we’ve all noticed, is not yet live on the iTunes AppStore. It remains “in review.” This unexpected circumstance pains us as much it does backers with watches ready to set up. We’re doing all we can to mitigate the delay and make Pebble Time Watch for iPhone available for download.
A complete coincidence, I’m sure.
Meanwhile, to ensure the future usability of your Pebble device, it’s highly suggested to switch to Android.
They published the initial version of the app on April 18, it was approved 4 days later. They chose to reject their own app and made a bug fix submission which has been pending review for 11 days.
For reference most of my apps take 7 to 10 days to be reviewed stretching to 14 days if we’ve already had an approved submission in the previous 30 day period. There is also always an additional delay around WWDC or any other Apple iPhone event. So honestly right now this is ‘normal’.
That said, the fact that their previous version has been stuck in review for like 40+ days is totally not normal. It’s clear Apple has a hold on it.
Edited 2015-06-04 12:08 UTC
yeah, Thom is going off the deep end again, with a totally nothing to see here story. Of course he gets his digs in and begs you to use a phone/os that will probably never get an update.
Your android OS stays in review forever.
Please, start your blog on your own and call it “Rants and rumbles”
Frankly, I don’t get the problem. The suggestion is that Apple doesn’t want competitive apps on the iPhone and I think this is true. of course they want customers to buy the Apple smartwatch.
Why is this a problem? All buyers of iOS gadgets know that Apple has its own, closed, ecosystem. Don’t like that? Switch to Android or Sailfish for your phones and tablets. And to Linux or Windows for your laptops.
Or do you prefer the integrated hardware/software approach of Apple? Fine, but then live with less freedom (and less hassles, Apple fans may add….). If Apple were the only game in town, the complaint would be justified, but in reality we have lots of alternatives.
You don’t see the problem? How about “I already have an iPhone and a Pebble?”
You are basically saying “It is okay to have unfair competition because everyone knows about it and should have voted with their wallet.
That is just as stupid as saying “It is okay to shoot people because everyone knows about guns and should have bought a bulletproof vest”
I don’t like it. Apple putting up roadblocks for a company they previously worked with just so their own competing hardware stays in the spotlight?
Then again, I can’t help but feel a bit of Schadenfreude about this. Back when the original Pebble was a big thing, Microsoft approached Pebble with a nearly complete Windows Phone app, and offered to maintain it themselves, pay for the development, basically handing Pebble another platform and audience for free. Apparently the CEO of Pebble was an Apple lover and Microsoft hater and said the equivalent of “f**k off, Microsoft”. Karma’s a bitch, ain’t it?
http://www.windowscentral.com/pebble-microsoft-and-what-could-have-…
Sure, it would be much much better if Apple were to open up more. For me the closed nature of Apple made me choose Android. I want to be able to load the apps * I * want and with Android I can ‘side load’ any .apk I want.
@Morgan: interesting story, thanks :=)
avgalen,
Obviously Apple (or any other company TBH) holding this kind of power over an app market is a problem for a free/competitive app marketplace. We should be enabling consumers to choose what apps they want for themselves without corporate restrictions.
But on the other hand PieterGen’s sentiment does make sense in that informed customers and developers buying into apple’s walled garden should have known this when they committed to a restricted platform. They don’t really have the right to be “surprised” when apple uses it’s control selfishly to restrict users from doing things that aren’t in apple’s interests. This is what apple does.
I do wonder how many apple customers actually were informed. It would be very interesting to conduct a poll about this on the streets to see what ordinary consumers know. I can imagine many have no clue this is happening.
Edited 2015-06-04 15:26 UTC
Except that it’s not unfair competition; if you don’t like the way Apple does business, there are companies with competing platforms that will happily take your money. Am I happy with the way Apple has things set up? Not at all. That’s why I use Android.
WorknMan,
I obviously also avoid Apple products for the same reason. But having mostly a market duopoly is kind of like having bipartisan politics. It allows those in power to blame the customers & electorate for choosing what they got, while glossing over the fact that when faced with the lack of choices, customers & voters are forced to make choices using the “least bad” principal rather than the “this is what I stand for” principal.
This distinction is subtle, yet extremely important to understand why choosing a product does NOT imply an endorsement of the company’s faults or policies. It’s why healthy competition is so extremely important. Both apple and google device owners would benefit from more app stores, not to mention developers, who are desperately in need of more stores competing for them.
Edited 2015-06-05 00:30 UTC
You mean like multiple app stores on the same platform? That just sounds like a mess, esp. if some app stores get exclusivity for some apps, and you have to install several of them just to get all the apps you want.
WorknMan,
Why? People deal with this “mess” all the time in real life when they go shopping. Believe it or not some people actually enjoy having many stores and appreciate having choices. The alternative, having no choices and being stuck with a monopoly store is lame. Specialization is good because it means stores can better tailor to specific demographics. It also means the stores are forced to, you know, compete for customers. When a device only allows commerce from a monolithic store, you are forced to tolerate their policies whether it’s good for you or not. You know what Apple reminds me of today? Exactly the distant, cold, impersonal corporate stereotype they were rebelling against in their “1984” ad. They have become the machine that controls us and what we’re allowed to do. It’s a starting transformation when you really think about it…that’s what too much control does.
Yeah, we’ll just have to agree to disagree on this one. You apparently want half a dozen app stores running on your phone, polling for updates and draining the battery. That’s cool, I guess.
At any rate, there are several different alternative app stores on Android you can choose from, if you’re into that kind of thing:
http://joyofandroid.com/android-app-store-alternatives
WorknMan,
But that’s just it, at least you’d get to use whatever app store you wanted instead of being locked into one. You haven’t lost anything, so I see no reason for you to disagree
Even if you never switch stores, you’d still benefit from having competition. For example, I might always fuel up at the same gas station, but the simple fact that there are others prevents them from abusing the market. I assert that the applies to app stores, but if you disagree with this then can you explain why?
Edited 2015-06-08 00:48 UTC
The Pebble Watch app has now been approved by Apple and is available in the store. Nothing to see here. Just another article designed to stir up an argument.
Edited 2015-06-05 21:48 UTC
Or, the negative media attention lit a fire under an executive’s ass at Apple, and they capitulated.
But either way, you’re right: Problem solved, on to the next scandal!
That’s ridiculous. It was approved prior and pebble rejected it.