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Aaron :apple_inc: :isles:

@cabel @drahardja I swear, the current App Review system is beyond broken.

It worked great when the App Store was 1-3 years old but it cannot sustain itself given the deluge of apps being submitted. There is no good way in the current system to distinguish between good apps, scammers, copycats, and nonsense.

I really wish the entire App Review process was torn down and rebuilt from the ground up.

PS: My partner and I LOVED Untitled Goose Game. Even now, we'll still randomly HONK at each other. 🤣

6 Mar 2023 at 17:06 | Wall-to-wall | Open on social.aaroncrocco.com
7 comments
Rich Felker

@Aaron @cabel @drahardja A variant on the theme of garbage tech companies designing things that obviously need moderation/curation and not being willing to pay people to do that (despite taking a cut so large they could afford a spectacular team to do it).

6 Mar 2023 at 17:09 | Open on hachyderm.io
Aaron :apple_inc: :isles:

@dalias @cabel @drahardja I think for a long time, Apple did have that large team. I heard stories all the time of App Review taking weeks, then months as time went on. I sincerely think Apple's team was hand-reviewing every app.

Wonderful in practice, terrible at scale.

So what does Apple do? Automate X% of the process where X = > 50% of what a human would do. This speeds things up greatly, but at the expense of nonsense like Cabel mentions.

IMO under the current system, no amount of tinkering can fix ti all. A full, structural change is needed to make review times realistic but also a positive process for all.

@dalias @cabel @drahardja I think for a long time, Apple did have that large team. I heard stories all the time of App Review taking weeks, then months as time went on. I sincerely think Apple's team was hand-reviewing every app.

Wonderful in practice, terrible at scale.

So what does Apple do? Automate X% of the process where X = > 50% of what a human would do. This speeds things up greatly, but at the expense of nonsense like Cabel mentions.

6 Mar 2023 at 17:13 | Open on social.aaroncrocco.com
Rich Felker

@Aaron @cabel @drahardja Taking weeks means they didn't have a large team. Rather an overloaded small team attempting to do detailed review.

6 Mar 2023 at 17:15 | Open on hachyderm.io
Dave Rahardja

@dalias @Aaron @cabel IMO the fundamental problem is that Apple sees App Store review as a cost center first and foremost, a way to gatekeep undesirable apps from reaching users second, and a developer gateway a distant third.

If developer satisfaction were important, Apple would brag about its “DevSat” as well as its “Customer Sat” figures.

6 Mar 2023 at 18:19 | Open on sfba.social
Aaron :apple_inc: :isles:

@drahardja @dalias @cabel YES! THAT!

Meanwhile without devs, the iOS ecosystem would be down to stock apps and trash from get-rich-quick schemes. That 30% cut would dry up real quick.

I love Apple, but god they have such a one-sided relationship with devs.

6 Mar 2023 at 19:11 | Open on social.aaroncrocco.com
njvack

@Aaron @cabel @drahardja There’s no foolproof way of distinguishing good stuff from crap, but “this is a well-known indie game already available on several other platforms” should probably trigger the “let’s make sure it’s not a third-party ripping off the real publisher and then release it” reflex

It’s… not like Apple is unaware of the existence of Panic in general

6 Mar 2023 at 18:50 | Open on ruby.social
Aaron :apple_inc: :isles:

@njvack @cabel @drahardja Not foolproof, but what Cabel describes is stupid. Apple should have opened a dialogue with him / Panic to understand the issue and work it out. Solves a ton of problems.

I also think Apple needs to create a “Trusted Dev" system that allows known good devs with a LONG track record to gain expedited review.

6 Mar 2023 at 19:10 | Open on social.aaroncrocco.com
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