UPDATED 08:49 EST / NOVEMBER 12 2010

Apple’s Hands-on for Applications Approval: Steve Jobs On Call

After being rejected by Apple, Ram Arumugam’s iPad application is now a top  financial app in the Apple Store. This was due to a personal conversation that the developer had with Steven Jobs after complaining via email to Apple’s CEO.

The issue of  the app, Economy for iPad, laid in the fact that it utilized a public API, a reason for which Apple rejected the application. The telephone reply directly from Steven Jobs was surprising and it also ended up with a modification of the code, so that the app can be sold via Apple Store.

Commenting on the implication of the executive in this case, the former Microsoft developer reportedly said “Steve himself I would say is a very conscientious guy, and a very hands-on executor. Very few people CEOs would take the trouble of reading e-mails and actually calling a developer.”

The success of Cascade Software’s CEO, Ram Arumugam’s application is not unexpected, as the iPad developer has also in personal portfolio much other successful software, mainly in the financial domain.

Although the story has a happy ending, Apple is experiencing several complaints with the approval process of apps and it has recently mitigated the regulations, without disdaining the safety control. This decision is meant to open the access to developers and to also meet the set of rules recently imposed by FTC (Federal Trade Commission).

The disquiet in Apple’s heart is also regarding patents of censorship technology, which will imply a more advanced filter of communication on its devices. The patent is intended to filter the content, appropriate for protecting the child use and to restrict the number of sent text in a certain language.

Apple’s mechanisms of enhancing the apps usage for teens or children, combined with the recent regulations regarding the control of the apps, is debatable whether it improves Apple’s position on the apps market is giving Android a chance to gain influence.


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