Behind The Apps: Google Courting iPhone Devs for Android

In our first (actually, beta) episode of our weekly chat with iPhone app developers, we've already learned a few interesting nuggets. This beta installment of "Behind The Apps," we talked with Aaron Kardell, creator of iGaragesale, and Jason Izatt, creator of Matchtunes and MileBug.

Jason discussed Google contacting him to bring his app MileBug to Android, and added that he knew other developers were contacted as well. (Jump to 11:55, and 13:35 in the video)

Jason and Aaron also discuss their future plans, whether they'll make the jump to Android, and their predictions for the leading Mobile OS in the future.

So enjoy, and bear in mind this was our first show, recorded the night before the iPad announcement.

Some other highlights:

App Approval Issues: 5:10                 

Developer Contacts at Apple: 8:35

Developing for Android:  9:54

Leading mobile OS in 3 years:  14:25

Favorite apps from other developers:  18:44

Overview of Jason and Aaron's apps:  21:40

iGarageSale for the iPhone and iPod Touch Video Review

We previously told you about the iGarageSale app  in terms of Apple's decision that it needed to be rated as a 17+ plus app due to the inclusion of a search box.

Well, we put all of that silliness aside to look at the app with fresh eyes for today's app review. iGarageSale draws upon craigslist garage sale and yard sale listings, then overlays them on a map, showing location relative to you. A few years back, I went on a retrogame-buying frenzy, and countless hours (literally, unfortunately) were spent plotting sale locations on a map and then figuring out how to best plan my route.

If this app had been around then, it would have been a godsend for me. If you're an occasional sale-goer, the app might be overkill for you (try the lite version) and because the listings are pulled from online sources, it will have limited usability for those living in more remote locales, without vibant online sale postings

In short , iGarageSale is straightforward, and delivers on what it promises, provided you live in an area that takes advantage of online posting.

Take a look:

Even Garage Sale Apps are Rated Mature

These are crazy app approval days we're living in. Today's exhibit: iGarageSale has earned the 17+ mature rating from Apple's app review process.

I've been to a lot of yard sales in my day, and aside from the occasional risque board game, I've never seen anything I would rate as 17+, although that's just what's happened to iGarageSale (review coming soon), an app that brings together multiple sources of sales, and shows the sales nearest to you.

Aaron Kardell, the developer of the app has a blog entry explaining this most recent odd rating decision:

When we originally submitted iGarageSale to Apple, we used a questionnaire provided by Apple to determine the rating. We came up with a 12+ rating, citing Infrequent Mature/Suggestive Themes and Infrequent Profanity/Crude Humor. Understand, though, that we were doing this to err on the safe side. We have yet to see a garage sale listing with profanity, crude humor, or mature/suggestive themes. However, it could happen and likely will at some point, so we thought a rating of Infrequent Profanity, etc. / 12+ would be safe.

Nine days after submitting our first copy of the app to Apple, we received a rejection notice by e-mail. The rejection notice stated: “iGarageSale 1.0 allows unfiltered access to Craigslist, which include frequent mature or suggestive themes.

Kardell goes on to cite the concern that this rating will negatively affect the perception of the app:

On the one hand, Apple accurately determined that it is possible to get to a search box for all of craigslist within the iGarageSale app. This seems to miss the point, though. The primary purpose of the app is to browse and search garage sales, and it takes a considerably more effort to get to a search box for all of craigslist, than it would to simply open up Safari and browse to craigslist.org.

What can be done? Yes, Apple has a right to "protect" their users from objectionable content, but when the content that can be accessed can be accessed just as easily using an app Apple has included (Safari) how is anyone "protected" from the material.

Tomorrow, we'll tackle some of the possible solutions, and we'd love to hear yours in the comments below.