The story of one game, or a call from Cupertino
Attention! Topic restored. Who did not have time to get acquainted - welcome, who wanted to ask questions - I am ready to answer.
Today I would like to tell you not just about one thing, I hope, an interesting project, but also about how funny the censors of Apple are when they meet something non-standard.
How did it all start?
It all started in September last year, when my warm feelings for the technology of the apple company requested an exit in the form of creating something for the iPhone. Of course, something unusual and at least stunning. And the first thing you had to deal with and what a little cooled the heat was the complete lack of information in Russian at that time (what else can you put up with), and the impossibility of even talking to someone about application development. Considering that the development and the very learning of the Objective-C language began with a clean slate for me, the lack of support was tolerated quite hard. Fortunately for me, soon in one apple forum I met a wonderful man, Stas (also known as bronenos), who had and continues to give me considerable support, both in word and in deed. As the first project, it was decided to make a game like Lines for Windows Mobile, and as the main chip - real prizes that players could win in a special mode (with Stas’s permission, these prizes were promotional codes for downloading his IM client for iPhone MobiQ IM). After six months of the ever accelerating process of developing, debugging and creating design, the game Crash Balls was ready. After a rather tedious (and sometimes confusing) procedure for sending Apple all the necessary documents and details - I am already the official iPhone Developer. It's time in the AppStore!
Censors guarding the boundaries of the AppStore
At the first attempt (as, however, and at the second) to pass censorship, the game Crash Balls in the AppStore was not missed for a rather unexpected reason. The censors demanded that the game clearly state that Apple has nothing to do with the raffle. What is the problem - we write in the description of the application: “NOTE, that Apple is not a sponsor of or responsible for conducting, the promotion”. It seems to be a hat? Nooo. The same phrase should have been written EVERYWHERE where there is a mention of prizes - in the rules, in congratulations on winning, in Russian, in English ... And, of course, the censors could not say this immediately - only after the second attempt to send the application and more two weeks of waiting. Nevertheless - all comments are taken into account, that Apple has nothing to do with it, except that it’s written on the download screen - we send it. Hooray - May 27, the application has begun to be sold in the AppStore!
')
We collect feedback and improve everything
Over the next two months, the game was advertised moderately, and also collected user feedback. The most powerful impact, oddly enough, was from users and members of the iPhones.ru forum. The number of wishes and all sorts of comments (often contradictory) was simply hardened. I myself knew that the game is quite cheese and that even a high-quality product still has to work and work. Nevertheless, user reviews have pleased - calm design, clear rules and, of course, the prizes found their response in the hearts of users. It was especially pleasant to receive rare (;)) letters of winners. By the end of June, plucked up
A decent list of improvements to be made in the next version. Most of all, users wanted more prizes (and not just more, but MUCH more!), Various themes, animation (preferably everywhere), support for all screen orientations (also everywhere), a choice from a larger number of color sets, etc., etc., and other Plus, in connection with the release of the iPhone 4, Retina technology support was needed. Immediately after the completion of all minor matters (such as passing the state examination), I began to implement all the wishes and began to search for developers who could join the project and support it with the promotional codes of their programs. What is surprising - there were as many as 12 of them, and not only individual developers, but also companies with a more than decent set of applications! As a result, at the beginning of August, not only the completely revised application was prepared with all the wishes taken into account, but 19 bonus applications and 100 prize codes were also prepared! In anticipation of a miracle, I sent an updated game to the censors for review. After two weeks of her being in “In Review” status, the expectation of a miracle somehow wore off. And she did it right: in the last days of August I received a letter from one of the censors demanding to explain the origin of the prizes, the system of their issuance, and other intimate details. In the answer I explained in detail how the client-server part of the application works, which is responsible for issuing only one code to one device, how this code changes to the promotional code for downloading the application selected by the user, how all requests are encrypted and with whom specifically, how (and for how much; )) I agreed. Two more weeks of waiting stretched ...
Call
In mid-September, the call from the number starting with +1 (408) is heard ... Cold and forgetting English as I go, I pick up the phone. In the purest American, a little lazy and thorough voice (no, not Steve;)) wonders if he can hear the developer iWe? Without regaining consciousness I answer that, they say, it is he who is with the apparatus. Further, a lazy voice gives out one long word, which I am no longer able to divide into components, and I ask you to speak more slowly. Why did you ask? .. In a slow and even a little gentle voice (well, you know, the aborigine who just got off the palm at the end of the line) explains to me that "sorry", that "we can't approve your app", that de “the disturbance of the license agreement” and they would be happy to help, but… Inserting Russian “well” and “mmm” instead of English for excitement, I wondered: what am I actually breaking and where? Dear censor did not deign to specify a specific agreement and clause, saying only that as a prize I can only use my own promotional codes for my own applications, and nothing else. Yeah, and the first version of the application, apparently, was written in tandem with the distinguished Stas, since they did not find fault ... Having wished all the best, the lazy American voice was disconnected, leaving me alone with myself.
Do not give up!
Well, since we have been forbidden to use someone else’s promotional codes, but we don’t have ours yet ... let's take radical measures! Three days later, a revised version of the Crash Balls was sent for review, where ALL ALL APPENDICES of the AppStore, not exceeding $ 4, were offered as prizes. The version of the game for the iPad also offered to compete for any application costing up to $ 8 inclusive! Two weeks of anxious waiting, and Hurray !!! The application is already in the AppStore, and customer reviews are changing to 4 and 5 star! Thank you, dear censors - even though you have delayed the release of the game by almost 1.5 months, but thanks to you my game has one exceptional detail, which even slightly distinguishes it from the general background :)
findings
Dare - and Apple will turn its back on the forest, and to you - the facade;)
References:
IPhone and iPod Touch Version: itunes.apple.com/us/app/crash-balls/id370406144?mt=8
IPad version: itunes.apple.com/us/app/crash-balls-hd/id370532006?mt=8
Today I would like to tell you not just about one thing, I hope, an interesting project, but also about how funny the censors of Apple are when they meet something non-standard.
How did it all start?
It all started in September last year, when my warm feelings for the technology of the apple company requested an exit in the form of creating something for the iPhone. Of course, something unusual and at least stunning. And the first thing you had to deal with and what a little cooled the heat was the complete lack of information in Russian at that time (what else can you put up with), and the impossibility of even talking to someone about application development. Considering that the development and the very learning of the Objective-C language began with a clean slate for me, the lack of support was tolerated quite hard. Fortunately for me, soon in one apple forum I met a wonderful man, Stas (also known as bronenos), who had and continues to give me considerable support, both in word and in deed. As the first project, it was decided to make a game like Lines for Windows Mobile, and as the main chip - real prizes that players could win in a special mode (with Stas’s permission, these prizes were promotional codes for downloading his IM client for iPhone MobiQ IM). After six months of the ever accelerating process of developing, debugging and creating design, the game Crash Balls was ready. After a rather tedious (and sometimes confusing) procedure for sending Apple all the necessary documents and details - I am already the official iPhone Developer. It's time in the AppStore!
Censors guarding the boundaries of the AppStore
At the first attempt (as, however, and at the second) to pass censorship, the game Crash Balls in the AppStore was not missed for a rather unexpected reason. The censors demanded that the game clearly state that Apple has nothing to do with the raffle. What is the problem - we write in the description of the application: “NOTE, that Apple is not a sponsor of or responsible for conducting, the promotion”. It seems to be a hat? Nooo. The same phrase should have been written EVERYWHERE where there is a mention of prizes - in the rules, in congratulations on winning, in Russian, in English ... And, of course, the censors could not say this immediately - only after the second attempt to send the application and more two weeks of waiting. Nevertheless - all comments are taken into account, that Apple has nothing to do with it, except that it’s written on the download screen - we send it. Hooray - May 27, the application has begun to be sold in the AppStore!
')
We collect feedback and improve everything
Over the next two months, the game was advertised moderately, and also collected user feedback. The most powerful impact, oddly enough, was from users and members of the iPhones.ru forum. The number of wishes and all sorts of comments (often contradictory) was simply hardened. I myself knew that the game is quite cheese and that even a high-quality product still has to work and work. Nevertheless, user reviews have pleased - calm design, clear rules and, of course, the prizes found their response in the hearts of users. It was especially pleasant to receive rare (;)) letters of winners. By the end of June, plucked up
A decent list of improvements to be made in the next version. Most of all, users wanted more prizes (and not just more, but MUCH more!), Various themes, animation (preferably everywhere), support for all screen orientations (also everywhere), a choice from a larger number of color sets, etc., etc., and other Plus, in connection with the release of the iPhone 4, Retina technology support was needed. Immediately after the completion of all minor matters (such as passing the state examination), I began to implement all the wishes and began to search for developers who could join the project and support it with the promotional codes of their programs. What is surprising - there were as many as 12 of them, and not only individual developers, but also companies with a more than decent set of applications! As a result, at the beginning of August, not only the completely revised application was prepared with all the wishes taken into account, but 19 bonus applications and 100 prize codes were also prepared! In anticipation of a miracle, I sent an updated game to the censors for review. After two weeks of her being in “In Review” status, the expectation of a miracle somehow wore off. And she did it right: in the last days of August I received a letter from one of the censors demanding to explain the origin of the prizes, the system of their issuance, and other intimate details. In the answer I explained in detail how the client-server part of the application works, which is responsible for issuing only one code to one device, how this code changes to the promotional code for downloading the application selected by the user, how all requests are encrypted and with whom specifically, how (and for how much; )) I agreed. Two more weeks of waiting stretched ...
Call
In mid-September, the call from the number starting with +1 (408) is heard ... Cold and forgetting English as I go, I pick up the phone. In the purest American, a little lazy and thorough voice (no, not Steve;)) wonders if he can hear the developer iWe? Without regaining consciousness I answer that, they say, it is he who is with the apparatus. Further, a lazy voice gives out one long word, which I am no longer able to divide into components, and I ask you to speak more slowly. Why did you ask? .. In a slow and even a little gentle voice (well, you know, the aborigine who just got off the palm at the end of the line) explains to me that "sorry", that "we can't approve your app", that de “the disturbance of the license agreement” and they would be happy to help, but… Inserting Russian “well” and “mmm” instead of English for excitement, I wondered: what am I actually breaking and where? Dear censor did not deign to specify a specific agreement and clause, saying only that as a prize I can only use my own promotional codes for my own applications, and nothing else. Yeah, and the first version of the application, apparently, was written in tandem with the distinguished Stas, since they did not find fault ... Having wished all the best, the lazy American voice was disconnected, leaving me alone with myself.
Do not give up!
Well, since we have been forbidden to use someone else’s promotional codes, but we don’t have ours yet ... let's take radical measures! Three days later, a revised version of the Crash Balls was sent for review, where ALL ALL APPENDICES of the AppStore, not exceeding $ 4, were offered as prizes. The version of the game for the iPad also offered to compete for any application costing up to $ 8 inclusive! Two weeks of anxious waiting, and Hurray !!! The application is already in the AppStore, and customer reviews are changing to 4 and 5 star! Thank you, dear censors - even though you have delayed the release of the game by almost 1.5 months, but thanks to you my game has one exceptional detail, which even slightly distinguishes it from the general background :)
findings
Dare - and Apple will turn its back on the forest, and to you - the facade;)
References:
IPhone and iPod Touch Version: itunes.apple.com/us/app/crash-balls/id370406144?mt=8
IPad version: itunes.apple.com/us/app/crash-balls-hd/id370532006?mt=8
Source: https://habr.com/ru/post/108501/
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