Apple has launched an RSS feed for iPhone developers, creating a new
communication channel for news and announcements surrounding App Store
submissions and reviews. The announcement of the RSS feed comes days after Apple
yanked a developer from the site, allegedly for posting faked
reviews.
"You can now subscribe to a new RSS feed that will allow you to instantly
receive updates to the iPhone Developer News and Announcements," read a Dec. 8
posting on Apple’s Developer Connection site. "Get the latest information on a wide range of
topics including tips on submitting apps to the App Store, current turnaround
time for app review, program updates, development and testing techniques, and
much more."
Users can subscribe to the RSS feed through this link.
On Dec. 8, Apple also announced that iTunes Connect, the tool used to
manage applications and access reports, would be unavailable from Dec. 23 to
Dec. 28, with service resuming on Dec. 29. The posting on the Developer Connection site offered no explanation for the downtime.
The announcement about the RSS feed comes as Apple makes attempts to
clean up the App Store. On Dec. 7, Apple yanked more than 1,000 apps by
Molinker from the storefront, likely in response to allegations that the developer
had been posting fake positive reviews for its products.
In a Dec. 7 e-mail to the Appfreak
blog, Molinker expressed
confusion over its 1,100 apps being pulled: "We got an e-mail from Apple
yesterday [Dec. 6] which told us our contract is changed to pending status… We
had contacted Apple for [an explanation of] such sudden changes, hope we can get
quick response and actions from Apple."
While Apple has enjoyed considerable success with the App Store—by
November, it boasted 100,000 applications, with the company claiming some 2
billion downloads—that growth has come with increased calls from outsiders to
impose a consistent regulatory framework on the store’s day-to-day processes,
particularly with regard to application approval. When Apple has pulled
applications in the past, it has usually been in response to considerable public
outcry; in April, Apple removed a "Baby Shaker" app from the
store after groups
complained about that shaking a virtual infant on an iPhone was socially
irresponsible.
Whether or not Apple imposes a more proactive system for weeding out
useless applications, and preventing false reviews from being posted, they will
likely have a lot more territory to monitor over the next 12 months: on Dec. 3,
research company IDC predicted that the App
Store will expand threefold by the end of 2010. "The growth in mobile devices
will ignite an explosion in mobile applications, with the number of iPhone apps
tripling to 300,000 and Android apps surging by a factor of five or more," the firm opined in a research note.
Enterprise Mobility News & Reviews 
