When news broke earlier this week that Apple and their dictatorial App Store policies had not accepted, if not banned, the Google Voice application on the iPhone (and iPod touch), you could tell there would be hell to pay. Then, just yesterday, several online blogs and news sites reported that the FCC, amongst other investigations (into carrier-phone exclusivity, fees, and other things), would be looking into Apple (and, if they played a role, AT&T) blocking the new Google Voice application from the App Store. If I had to guess, many of the higher ups at Apple didn’t expect such a rash response to this decision, but they got one. Now it’s time for me to explain some things.
In some regards, people are misinformed about what exactly Google Voice does. Yes, it does allow you to make free phone calls and text messages, and it also allows you to link multiple phones (such as your home, work, and mobile) to a single number. If someone attempts to call you via that phone number (supplied by Google), all of your phones (or some, based on your settings) would ring so you can answer the call at any phone. Among the telephone services offered by Google Voice, it also provides free SMS messages in the United States, both from the web interface and its associated, platform specific, applications. As a former GrandCentral user, and one of the first to gain the opportunity to try Google Voice back in April, I was pleasantly surprised and pleased about the new features Google was offering its users for free. But, what a large number of people discussing this latest set of incidents haven’t realized, or fail to understand, is that, for the end user, the calls they make via Google Voice are not free. Google simply acts as a proxy for the calls, in order to set the phone number used for others to recognize.
Let me explain this in terms of the iPhone: If someone were to load up the Google Voice application on the device and select a contact to call, the application would connect to the Google switchboard, set your new ‘outgoing’ phone number to your Google Voice number, then sets up the call on your device using the native Phone application on the iPhone. So, while the call is technically free, you are still using your AT&T minutes to complete the call. So, in essence, these calls are free from Google, but depending on your device and service plan, the actual call may not be free for the end user.
So, while the arguments regarding AT&T not wanting this application on their network due to the free calls may be false, there is also the issue of SMS messages on the device. By default, Google Voice sends your mobile device(s) a SMS message letting you know your Google Voice account received a new text message. But, this can be disabled. So, if you can view, receive, and send SMS messages directly from the Voice application, you can get free text messages on your device. As such, the argument in regards to free text messages can be made, but we also need to analyze not only AT&T’s involvement in this case, but also Apple’s.
The iPhone/iPod touch App Store has been open for a little over a year now, and since its creation and subsequent public release, many developers and consumers alike have targeted Apple’s application acceptance policies for being unreliable, varying, and often downright stupid. For example, when Apple approved the “I Am Rich” application a year ago, with the staggering $1000 price tag, many people wondered how it was able to get through the approval process. After purchasers and observes began to complain, Apple pulled the application from the store and that was the end of it. But, it showed how Apple’s approval practices are downright flawed. Since then, we have had several incidents of how unreliable and varying the approval process is, including the Slingbox application, the NetShare tethering application, and some more adult related applications in recent months. Some applications have been approved, then removed from the store, being forced to change their functions (such as only working over WiFi), only to be allowed back into the store that they were originally allowed to be in in the first place.
The lack of solid, clear rules not only affects the consumers who wish to use these applications, but also the developers, who are the backbone and support of the App Store. Without the developers, the App Store wouldn’t have been such a large success as it was. For example, a developer may spend a few thousand dollars, as well as hours and hours of their time, to develop a title for the App Store, only for it to be denied for a vague reason that isn’t part of the open rules of the store. If developers don’t have a clear and concise list of rules and regulations that all developers, including small companies and large corporations, have to follow, and rules that Apple enforces evenly and consistently, then these application creators might as well get up and leave the platform all together. Why? To spend the time, money, and effort into creating a product that may or may not be allowed into the only viable, approved means of application sale and distribution on the platform can be considered a risk too big to take. If Apple would enforce their rules evenly, and explicitly state what is and isn’t allowed, then developers would be able to create products that follow the rules set in place by Apple.
I think its clear where the true problems related to Google Voice apply: the App Store. If AT&T ordered Apple to cut the application down, then fine. But, Apple’s App Store policies need to be fixed and enforced so other developers don’t violate the ‘hidden’ rules of the store.