Apple revoked developer account for 2.5 years and counting

You said other apps are fine, but are those other apps advertising themselves as parental controls or as stalking software?

I took a look at your website https://truple.io and... there is very little mention of this being for parents. TBH looking at the website is... deeply concerning for anyone that would legitimately want to use this product. Especially on a spouse?!?

I am willing to bet part of the issue is the targeting for this app. The functionality is likely second, but they may have special rules when it comes to parental apps. But there is a very very fine line there that can be dangerous when it comes to surveillance.

Last... I find your focus on "online filth" insulting.

Hmm, ages ago we added a cannabis related app on Apple/iOS -- and there were loads of other (small-ish) already on there -- to help grow, or find (to buy) or to review cannabis products.

Ours was for regualtory compliance -- a legal obligation for cannabis businesses. REJECTED! And after a 6mo appeal/review process -- with moving goal-posts -- we were allowed back in. YAY.

And then they started getting into the application and making demands -- one was to use their payment systems -- which was BS, because our clients get into the App, and use it most of the time outside of Apple devices (ie: Desktop in Browser). So another round, 3mo later and they'd not force the payment issue.

And the next review required us to remove any details about pricing from our application -- not our app pricing -- but the pricing for the inventory under management. So, users, in-app, couldn't see the regulatory compliance data: price of product sold; in the APP. But we pushed through! and finally got published in the App Store!! Yay!

And one month later we had to renew our Apple Developer -- cause this whole thing took 11 months of back/forth with Apple.

Then we got clients using it (finally!) and the clients were all grumpy cause the features were gone. Then another two more years with us trying to Apple trying to improve our App.

An last year, we just bailed on the App Store and have given up.

What's super frustrating is since we initially tried our process (starting in 2016) -- other cannabis apps, with pricing and online ordering and all this stuff that we were NOT allowed to do are in the store.

I‘m sorry for You. I can see how you‘d think that your software is providing society a service. And yet from my perspective your software is malware. I don’t think you have considered the legal ramifications of your software in all markets where the app store is offered. Aside from the legal risk to You, there is also a reputational risk to Apple, a company trying to rebrand itself by focussing on privacy (CSAM nonwithstanding). Do you have safeguards that can 100% rule out the use of your App as spyware ? I think you should move on with your life.

Sorry, but "others got away with it" is not a good argument. I would personally view your software as invasive malware, no matter how good your intentions may be. The right course of action here is to report all similar apps to Apple and have them taken down as well.

I don't understand why people are trying to guess the reason why Apple is doing this. I'm not a fan of this concept, but I wouldn't label it as malware to be used by abusive spouses and parents.

If you read the FAQs on the website, it clearly states:

   Can I hide the Truple notification icon?
   No. Truple is voluntary use software, and is not intended (or allowed) to be used as spyware. All of our applications require a persistent notification.

And if Apple thinks this is malware or might be a legal liability, why can't it be transparent in its communication with the developer?

I think what's really happening is your app is in a grey area. There's similar apps on the market which haven't been removed, and a mountain which have. Now yours has been removed since someone thought it straddled the line the wrong way too far, and there is no incentive to restore it. That would require affirming that they specifically condone it again. Nobody has any special interest in doing so.

No matter how much you make concessions and try to obey the rules, a surveillance app is always shady. Much like brothels still have a shady atmosphere even where it's legal. Some markets are so.

You could observe how Corporate MDM solutions approach the problem? For example, a replacement web browser, after forcing them to use the webapp? Actually use the MDM APIs?

As an aside, shaming someone out of a impulsive habit may not be sustainable. I'd say that you're trying to cure a symptom rather than create room for self-reflection and encourage them to chase down the missing pieces and identify the root cause.

Your software sounds like malware. If I came across it I would probably make a YARA rule against it to purge it from any managed network I control.

Some may not agree with the use of parental control/accountability software. That's fine. Truple is not designed for you. There are tons of people who are negatively impacted by technology and they desperately need/want help. They should have the option to get it, and there should be competition in the space to deliver the best product for them. In today's world, using the internet is a part of life, and isn't something you can reasonably go without. Truple was built to help people learn to use technology responsibly with the help of their loved ones.

If someone with access to the phone installs the app, will the monitoring be obvious to a user who is the handed the phone?

AKA if someone can install the app is it possible to use it to monitor someone without their knowledge?

Your app constantly surveils a subject and sends frequent random screen captures to a controller - no matter the activity.

In order to eliminate a few sexual behaviors you’ve created an application that has serious potential for abuse and control. A well functioning adult will simply have a burner phone and the infected phone will only be used for “approved” uses. A minor or abused adult will stop using the phone and probably be isolated as a result. Which of their friend or family will want to have even benign communication with the subject knowing this app is installed (because they will).

You’re not a victim here.

Fortunately you have an android app, so you are able to use available statistics to estimate loss of earnings.

That may be enough to generate enough interest for you to find some form of "no win no fee" legal representation on a matter which I admittedly have no clue about.

Good luck!

This is the main reason why I am not interested in being an app developer. Your business is in the hands of someone who can cut you off and get away with not even giving you the time of day. Not worth the risk.

(That being said: I'm not sure I would have approved an app like yours since it is designed to invade privacy)

Parental control sounds like something the OS should do, not an app. From that viewpoint, I think you chose an application that inherently has a risk of being taken over by Apple, and frankly, you should not be surprised that something like this happened.

Sounds like an invasion of privacy that will be forced on people who can't provide meaningful consent.

2.5 years sounds pretty extreme. Not from Apples part (its pretty on-brand), but on your part.. To me it sounds like it would be time to just leave the platform behind and move on with your life? Ask yourself is it really worthwhile to fight the uphill battle against Apple to get your app approved?

You develop stalkerware, Apple booting apps like you is one of the few good aspects of the app store.

Read other Reddit+HN threads on what other people have done in your situation.

The main way that people get accounts reinstated in cases like these are the situation blowing up on HN and a lot of people getting upset (at Apple/Google (the other major offender)). This is unlikely to work in your case, because (judging by the comments) a lot of people are offended by the very idea that you'd develop an app to help people overcome a porn addiction, and additionally are withholding useful advice and making false/deceptive claims[1] as a result.

Your best shot is to look for actual legal advice given to other people in your situation and see if you can follow it.

Kudos to you for developing something like this, by the way - I might use the Android version to get accountability for myself. If you look carefully, you'll see the the majority of objections that the other comments are making are riddled with misunderstandings, deception, and moral outrage - I can't see a single legitimate argument that your project is actually harmful.

[1] https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=29571229

Yikes, this app is gross. Good on Apple for keeping you off their store.

I make rather nerdy music and art apps full time, and being shut down by Apple still worries me. What if I said the wrong thing on twitter? Very unlikely but it pisses me off that they can push the cancel button on by business. I didn't really realize this until the past few years, with significant time invested in the platform.

It seems like this discussion should be raised up a level. We can debate the merits of the app itself, but then that leads to opposing, valid arguments. The app's creator can assert the numerous beneficial uses of the app. Detractors can note the potential for misuse/abuse. Neither is necessarily a winning argument in an objective sense. And thus, we need some arbiter. In this case, that arbiter is Apple, who in this case, must anger some subset of the people on this thread.

So really, the debate is "who is a valid arbiter?" On what basis should the authority to deny access to a platform/market be granted or revoked? It seems that discussion is, to date, wholly inadequate.

This sucks. :(

Apple is a closed ecosystem, and building on a closed ecosystem always carries the risk that the ecosystem owner will decide an individual or company just can't play. But that doesn't make it better; it's just a risk to be aware of.

Apple, Google and Microsoft might just stop you as they get a better cut from the multimillion dollar app partners. Or your app might have some libraries that are having security issues.

This is going to sound facetious, but at what point do you have to create an entirely new identity for yourself? Change your name, perhaps get a passport from another nation that legally sells citizenship, perhaps get a new SSN, just to get around issues like this?

I guess an alternative would be to rent the identity of a homeless person, or perhaps the ID of someone on death row?

Many people have warned against mechanisms like app notarization. Ironically the few exceptions that can warrant such a system are apps like yours.

Some still say that is makes computing secure, but I think the arguments are mostly stupid or dishonest.

I don't know what you could do, I would not buy into their ecosystem.

Stop tending other peoples' gardens. I don't write software for any device if I need to ask permission from some faceless billion dollar corporation. I write software I can manage myself.

Small claims court?

Well what you encountered here is IMHO a problem of power, not a problem with your App, guidelines, your marketing, or whatever. The problem is that a third party has the power to stop your customers from using your software. Many people don't have a problem with that until they are negatively affected by it: It's fine to block [insert whatever kind of shitty software you don't like], it's for the users own good afterall.

You are under apples control on the iOS market. And, in my opinion, that's a bad thing. We should try to denormalize this kind of power.

To answer your question: I don't think you can do anything about that especially since your app(judging form the other comments here on HN) ended up on the wrong side of history.

This situation reminds me of a nice little poem by Martin Niemöller:

First they came for the Jews and I did not speak out because I was not a Jew.

Then they came for the Communists and I did not speak out because I was not a Communist.

Then they came for the trade unionists and I did not speak out because I was not a trade unionist.

Then they came for me and there was no one left to speak out for me.

Wow, what an absolute mess of a thread. Awful comments.

That is a seriously creepy app.

Glad to hear you were blocked.

Short version: Nothing.

Long version: Nothing; get over it.

Also, you've been paying for a locked developer account for 2.5 years?

I think we will be moving back to web apps (PWA). The app store was always a hack and the web3 movement is incompatable with app stores.

I'm working on a mobile browser for PWAs https://apps.apple.com/ca/app/wapps-private-minimal-browser/...

I'm not in support of censorship, surveillance, locked-down devices. I think you should have moved on within months of being banned for creating this thing. Your responses are odd to me as well. Use some self-control and restraint and stop looking at porn if it's an issue to you. While I would certainly not wish for anyone to lose their livelihood, to me it seems that you've had plenty of ample time to go off and develop something else on another platform. Best of luck to you. Please don't make any more censorship/surveillance apps.

Edit to add: I've also got several children and have been married for 12 years. I would not install anything like this for any of them. If you can't trust your wife, you can't trust your wife. Just the way it is. Spying on her, and spying on your children is gross and does not create any sort of trust.