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"Finder for Airpods" Not Allowed in Apple's Walled Garden

posted by cmn32480 on Tuesday January 10 2017, @11:52AM   Printer-friendly
from the can't-let-you-find-money dept.

takyon writes:

An app allowing users to locate their lost AirPod wireless earbuds has been removed from Apple's app store without explanation:

Mobile app developer studio Deucks Pty released the app, called "Finder for Airpods," last week. The app used the iPhone to track the Bluetooth wireless signal emitted by the two AirPod units to help locate the lost piece, displaying a line showing whether the user was getting closer or farther away based on signal strength. Excitement about Apple's new wireless earphones has almost been matched by anxiety about how easy it could be to lose one of the two unconnected mini speakers. So there was an initial burst of enthusiasm about the new app, which quickly garnered a rating of four and a half stars.

But on Monday, the app had vanished from the Apple App Store—and developer Raajit Sharm at Deucks Pty says it's not coming back. "Apple determined the 'concept' of people finding their AirPods with the app was deemed 'not appropriate for the App Store,'" Sharm wrote in an email to Fortune. "The app will not return back."

A new pair of AirPods costs $159 and a single replacement costs just $69.

Also at The Verge.

Original Submission

 
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  • (Score: 1, Interesting) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday January 10 2017, @03:03PM

    by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday January 10 2017, @03:03PM (#452068)

    I'm no Apple fan, but do you have an argument for "poorly-engineered"?
    In this particular case, I'd say poor design choice (don't make tiny expensive things that can be lost), but I doubt it was an engineer who decided to actually build these things; engineers just build to specifications.

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  • (Score: 2, Interesting) by Arik on Tuesday January 10 2017, @06:54PM

    by Arik (4543) on Tuesday January 10 2017, @06:54PM (#452178) Journal
    Poor engineering can come just as easily from not letting engineers do their job as from hiring ones that are not good at engineering.

    And I'm not just talking about these earbuds, I'm talking about Apple crap in general. There was a time they were rightly known for relatively good designs and execution but that was ages ago now. Every apple device I've set my hands on in years has been junk. Execution in terms of visible, external polish remains fairly high but the moment you pop them apart you can see they're now assembled by drunk retarded monkeys just like everyone else, worse in some cases. And the designs, in a technical sense, are utterly atrocious. The only defense I can see is everyone else sucks there too, but that doesn't make them any less crappy.
    --
    If laughter is the best medicine, who are the best doctors?