Bother won't be on the Mac App Store

I thought I would have a version of Bother available on the Mac App Store quickly after I released the non-MAS version. Sadly it got rejected by the App Review Board, so it won’t be available at all.

Foreword

Before I begin, I would like to point out that this isn’t meant to be a “App Review Board hate” blog post. Even though I’m a bit annoyed that my app got rejected, I understand why it happened.

I’m mostly writing this post to be transparent about why it’s not on the Mac App Store, since I already added download links on the website.

Rejected

About one week after it was uploaded, it got rejected because of a bug (the same that was fixed in 1.0.1). It was small and didn’t crash the app so it seemed a bit overkill, but I fixed it and waited for another review.

This is the message I received after the second review:

The app does not achieve the core functionality described in your marketing materials or release notes.

The app does not perform core functionality without Notification Center. The app should use the alternative means of Notification Center.

At first I didn’t understand what they meant. Was there a typo in my description so they misunderstood the point of my app? Or did they not like that I used Notification Center at all for this purpose?

I took a look but couldn’t find anything that was wrong in my description, I even had a screenshot with a huge notification so I thought everything was pretty clear. So I decided to submit an appeal to the App Review Board. I’m afraid that I don’t have a copy of the full message I wrote, since the appeal is done through a web form. I was basically asking what for more details on what they meant, and mentioned that those who had tested the app liked the way it used Notification Center.

Here’s the response I got from that:

Hello Marcus,

We are writing to let you know the results of your appeal for your app, Bother.

The App Review Board evaluated your app and determined that the original rejection feedback for the current version of your app is valid. Your app does not comply with:

2.3 Core Functionality

The app uses Notification Center as mandatory functionality for the app to work.

Also, the issue applies to the following guideline:

6.1 Human Interface Guideline

Notification Center Misuse. We have found that the app uses Notification Center in a manner that is inappropriate. Specifically, The app is using Notification Center for the app to record working time to Calendar.

We hope you will consider making the necessary changes to be in compliance with the App Store Review Guidelines and will resubmit your revised binary.

So in the end, it seems like Apple doesn’t think notifications should be used for anything else than that; notifications. I feel like they are treating notifications on OS X the same way as on iOS, which is a shame since I personally feel like there are a lot more room for these kinds of tasks on a desktop environment.

Bother is still available to purchase on my website. Check out the 7 day trial if you haven’t already!