Free42 for iOS likely to end soon

[Thomas Okken]

UPDATE, 4/29 8:38 PM EDT: Apple have reversed their decision and allowed the update. No reason was given, but I am happy about the outcome.

I submitted a Free42 update to the iTunes App Store last night, and it was rejected for a reason I hadn't seen before: because of the word "Free" in its name.

Really. I shit you not.

Read this and weep:
https://venturebeat.com/2017/03/28/apple...the-price/

OK, so I guess Apple wants to get rid of free apps, because they make no money off free apps. (That's not quite true, actually: I pay them $99 per year, plus tax, for the privilege of putting stuff in the App Store. They get that money regardless of how many people install my app and how much they pay for it.)

They know it would be horrible publicity to just ban free apps outright, so instead, they prohibit developers from highlighting the free-ness of their apps.

It is a bit ironic that the "Free" in "Free42" never even stood for "free of charge" -- it stands for "free" as in "liberty," i.e. the freedom to obtain, modify, and re-distribute the source code.

I am appealing this rejection, but if they stand firm, I'm done with Apple. I'll ditch my iPhone and get something Android instead, and I'll pull Free42 from the App Store. Life is too short to waste time on supporting this kind of BS.

[Ángel Martin]

(04-29-2017 04:10 AM)Thomas Okken Wrote:  I am appealing this rejection, but if they stand firm, I'm done with Apple. I'll ditch my iPhone and get something Android instead, and I'll pull Free42 from the App Store. Life is too short to waste time on supporting this kind of BS.

Way to go. I never got into the "i-Nonsense" wheel even if initially I was using i41CX on my iPOD - then could not do updates without buying a new model so i decided it was going to be "the path not taken"back then, and have been glad ever since.

Cheers,
ÁM

[Werner]

That would be even worse!
I, for one, would gladly pay for the privilege of continuing to have (Free)42 on my iPhone. Don't let Apple read this though.
Also, I think you misread: the price cannot be part of the name, so they don't like free apps to be called 'free-something'. Nowhere does the article mention that they want to get rid of free apps. What would they do with phonebanking, shopping (amazon), public transport etc. apps?

(so if you charge, say, 0.99€ for Free42 you can keep the name, as the price is no longer mentioned ;-)

Cheers, Werner

[Gerald H]

You're a smart guy, Werner.

[Thomas Okken]

(04-29-2017 05:11 AM)Werner Wrote:  I think you misread: the price cannot be part of the name, so they don't like free apps to be called 'free-something'.

Yeah, right. I'm also sure they're soooo concerned about all those OneDollarWeather or TwoEurosSolitaire apps.
You're really reaching there. :-D

[kusmi]

I’m also an iOS dev here: I just heard there were some abuse with “free” in the name, e.g. some “free” games which charge in-app-purchases or otherwise generate money. So actually they are not “free”. So I guess this is just this US legal system where they want to prevent class actions suits...

So they now seem to hunt down apps with “free” in its title.

[Thomas Okken]

(04-29-2017 06:27 AM)kusmi Wrote:  I’m also an iOS dev here: I just heard there were some abuse with “free” in the name, e.g. some “free” games which charge in-app-purchases or otherwise generate money. So actually they are not “free”. So I guess this is just this US legal system where they want to prevent class actions suits...

So they now seem to hunt down apps with “free” in its title.

If that's the case, they're being unbelievably sloppy about it. When you submit an app to the App Store, you have to declare whether or not your app has in-app purchases. Which Free42 does not have, and never did.

[anetzer]

(04-29-2017 05:11 AM)Werner Wrote:  I, for one, would gladly pay for the privilege of continuing to have (Free)42 on my iPhone

+1

Also looking forward to an emulated Swissmicros 42 for when I'm on the road btw...

[pier4r]

While the point about the "Free" was covered by others, I throw some idea:

- F42 (an 'aircraft-like' name for something that does heavy math, legit to me, since airplanes are no trivial things as well as the Free42)
- 42Simulator
- Free42 + small price tag (0.99 $ or less down to 0.10 $ ?)

[AlexFekken]

I just made a modest contribution to your Android phone. I have been a happy user of the Android version for quite a while now (and planning to get a DM42P) so it was long overdue anyway... :-)

Thanks for all your efforts.

[Vincent Weber]

I too would pay for it !
Thomas, I really understand your frustration, but it would be really too bad for iOS users to remove it ! Could you rename it, like Liberty42, or Unchained42, or Our42, My42, Your42,... ?
Cheers

[John Smitherman]

Open42

[Thomas Okken]

(04-29-2017 11:35 AM)Vincent Weber Wrote:  it would be really too bad for iOS users to remove it ! Could you rename it, like Liberty42, or Unchained42, or Our42, My42, Your42,... ?

I can think of a couple of options I like better: those iOS users could become Android users, or Apple could back off from this Orwellian scheme of trying to sabotage the Free Software developers who are a big part of their platform's success.

I'm not just talking about iOS apps with the word Free in their names, either: https://developer.apple.com/library/cont...D/BSD.html

Quote:The BSD portion of the OS X kernel is derived primarily from FreeBSD, a version of 4.4BSD that offers advanced networking, performance, security, and compatibility features.

And they are now banning the word Free from their platform? That's a level of chutzpah no one should be willing to support.

[Hsilop]

Greed may be good - or not, but it's certainly annoying. Sadly I don't expect Google to be any less greedy.

Problem solved. DM42.

[Vincent Weber]

I can see your point, Thomas. Believe me, as a French in current times I really appreciate people with political integrity and uncompromised values.
It still... I like the "Open42" suggestion

[Massimo Gnerucci]

(04-29-2017 12:55 PM)Thomas Okken Wrote:  those iOS users could become Android users

(04-29-2017 12:55 PM)Thomas Okken Wrote:  , or Apple could back off from this Orwellian scheme of trying to sabotage the Free Software developers who are a big part of their platform's success.

unlikely

[Luigi Vampa]

(04-29-2017 04:10 AM)Thomas Okken Wrote:  I submitted a Free42 update to the iTunes App Store last night, and it was rejected for a reason I hadn't seen before: because of the word "Free" in its name.[...] Life is too short to waste time on supporting this kind of BS.

I fully agree. That is why I installed Ubuntu+Aqua interface in my 2007's iMac. It works really smooth. I use it everyday at home, though according to Apple I should have rather bought new HW many years ago.

[Hans-Peter]

F...42
And everyone can fill their letters :-)

not serius

Hans-Peter

[Thomas Okken]

Thank you all for your kind words!

I sent this email to Tim Cook:
(this post edited 4/29 11:26 PM EDT to include relevant message headers)

Quote:From: thomasokken@gmail.com
To: tcook@apple.com
Date: Sat, 29 Apr 2017 09:56:25 -0400
Subject: Apple banning the word Free from iOS app names

Dear Mr. Cook,

I am a professional software developer, who has also devoted thousands of hours of his free time to Free Software development. My most substantial contribution to this altruistic mode of software creation is an application called Free42, which I first released for Linux, Windows, and PalmOS in November 2004, and which I first released for iOS five years later. The app has somewhere between 50,000 and 100,000 active users across the five major platforms, MacOS, Windows, Linux, iOS, and Android.

Last week, I submitted an update to iTunes Connect; the 22nd since the initial release in November 2009. This update was rejected, because of the word "Free" in its name. Apparently, that word runs afoul of article 2.3.7 of the App Store Review Guidelines, and Apple, apparently, has decided to tighten its interpretation of that article, so that a name that no one has had a problem with for over seven years is suddenly ruled inadmissible.

I would like to ask you to consider the wisdom of applying that rule in this manner. Yes, my app has the word Free in its name, and it is in fact free, both in the $0 sense, and in the Free Software sense: it has been released under the terms of the GPL from the very beginning. But is there anything unfair or misleading about that name? Or is it considered problematic that there are not-for-profit developers who are proud of what they're doing, and advertise that fact?

For a company that owes the existence of its platform to a famous piece of software with the word Free in its name, FreeBSD, this new policy, or its newly strict mode of enforcement, is incomprehensible, and I sincerely hope that you will reconsider it.

Thank you for your attention to this matter.
Yours sincerely,

Thomas Okken

I don't expect much, but who knows.
"Nee heb je, ja kun je krijgen" -- Dutch maxim
"No is what you have, yes is what you might get."

[Carlos CM (Mexico)]

Best42 or
ThOkken42

Thanks for your contribution.