We just got off the phone with our buddy Sean Kovacs, aka the Google Voice king of iOS, and he filled us in on the latest with his app and the development and submission process. If you aren’t aware, (please stop reading this site) Apple removed all Google Voice-related applications over a year ago when it decided that the apps “duplicated” functionality on the phone (phone app). People have been debating the real issue behind Apple’s move since then, but with the recently updated and reasonably straight forward developer guidelines now published, Sean Kovacs is deciding to try his hand again. Hit the jump for our conversation.
After reading through the guidelines and making sure there were nothing he’d be violating, he decided to try to appeal to Apple’s new appeal board. Sean filled out the form and that initiated a new review of the app. Since there have been many server-side changes on Google’s end since the app was last available, the app crashed at start up and prompted Apple to email back saying the application wasn’t functional. But, if Sean resubmitted it, Apple would look it over and review it again.
Sean told us he feels pretty confident about resubmitting a newer, more feature-packed, OS 4 compatible Google Voice app. Before, all emails went unanswered, but now Apple is communicating with Sean regularly. If you’re a Cydia user, there’s a good chance the app will be left in the repository, though new updates will probably cease. Also, since the app was deleted and app names can’t be used twice, it should hit the App Store (if it gets approved) as GV Mobile +. There will also be a “free day” around a week after the hopeful release that will allow previous customers to download the app again for free; there won’t be an update to the older one.
Sean has been nice enough to send us builds every now and then over the past couple months in ad-hoc mode for our iPhone, but we’re definitely glad that Apple is not the only one on the right path with their new guidelines and some transparency, but great developers like Sean will be able to share their software publicly again.
