iPhone Facebook App Developer is Done with App Programming. Blames App Approval Process

Thursday, November 12, 2009

Facebook’s iPhone App has been a smashing hit! Millions of people has downloaded it, and its latest version has been getting raving reviews over its great user interface enhancements and unique features. But, Joe Hewitt, the head engineer for the Facebook app, has announced that he will no longer work on the Facebook iPhone app.

“My decision to stop iPhone development has had everything to do with Apple’s policies. I respect their right to manage their platform however they want, however I am philosophically opposed to the existence of their review process. I am very concerned that they are setting a horrible precedent for other software platforms, and soon gatekeepers will start infesting the lives of every software developer.”

“The web is still unrestricted and free, and so I am returning to my roots as a web developer. In the long term, I would like to be able to say that I helped to make the web the best mobile platform available, rather than being part of the transition to a world where every developer must go through a middleman to get their software in the hands of users.”

Joe Hewitt’s exit from iPhone development has an enormous impact on the iPhone developer community. Since the Facebook app is probably the most popular app on the App Store, the developer’s exit and his subsequent comments may further spark anger and controversies from developers and app users alike toward Apple’s app distribution platform. Apple already has a terrible reputation on their app approval process. Along with mountains of apps to compete, a talented app developer may decide to launch his apps on platforms other than the App Store to avoid headaches in dealing with Apple.

For now, Apple really need to step up their efforts to aid developers through their app approval program. Their recent efforts to make the app status tracking more transparent is a good start. Keep it going until we don’t hear stories about disillusioned developers anymore.

Via TechCrunch

This is a post by The Apps+Machine