Sunday, 28 September 2014

I regret to inform you that my app, Launcher - Favorites at your Fingertips, is no longer available on the App Store. Apple contacted me on September 23, 2014 and told me that they have decided to disallow any Notification Center widget that lets you launch other apps. Their only reason was that it is a 'misuse' of widgets, even though there are no written rules to this effect and the app was originally approved by them.
Apple told me I could release an update without the Notification Center widget or they will take the app off of the App Store in 'a number of days'. I submitted a fix for the app which I thought to be a valid compromise where every click on the widget always goes back to the Launcher app first which then redirects you to your target app. This was submitted on Friday, September 26 and within an hour, Apple rejected the fix and then took Launcher down from the App Store.
I was hoping to be able to give everyone more of a heads up that the app might be taken down, but I didn't think that Apple was going to immediately reject the compromise that I had submitted. I thought there was a chance they would accept the compromise or at least wait until next week to review it before they rejected it.
If you have Launcher installed, it will continue to function, but you can no longer purchase the Pro Version. I plan on continuing to support Launcher as long as I can (see the FAQ below for more details). My apologies that I am unable to get any bug fixes out to you anymore. There were several important fixes in the update that Apple rejected.
Thank you to all of our loyal users who gave me such great feedback and encouragement over the last week. It was really awesome to hear how much you loved my app that I put so much time and effort into. Seeing the success of Launcher and the positive feedback made this last week one of the best weeks of my life.
Please see the FAQ below which will hopefully answer all questions that you have.
Sincerely,
Greg Gardner
Founder, Cromulent Labs

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