App Store rejections appear as often as panhandlers around Union Square, but the refusal to let Greg Hughes' Wi-Fi Sync app into the store deserves a special mention. Hughes' application works in tandem with a helper app on your Mac and enable iTunes and your iPhone or iPad Touch to sync wirelessly over your local network.
Why is this notable? First, because it is insanely useful, and something that the iPhone should just do already. Second, because Apple admitted that the application doesn't break any rules. The app is completely legit. An Apple representative told Greg over the phone that "the app doesn't technically break the rules [but] it does encroach upon the boundaries of what they can and cannot allow on their store."
UPDATE 5/14/2010: An Apple spokesperson contacted Wired to say that the app was rejected for technical reasons, including reading and writing data outside the app's container, and security issues.
This is the very heart of the App Store approval problems. Rules are fair enough, however dumb or restrictive they might be, as long as they are made explicit and everyone knows how to play the game. But these arbitrary decisions are the equivalent of Apple playing a game of soccer and then declaring that scoring with your head is now illegal because it means you're winning, and it's Apple's ball. And Apple is going home now, so there.
There is good news. If you're willing to jailbreak your iPhone, you can buy the app for $10. Suck it, Apple.
Wi-Fi Sync for iPhone: now available on Cydia! [Get Wi-Fi Sync]
Wi-Fi Sync app rejected by Apple, headed to Cydia for $9.99 [Engadget]
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