Update (June 6th, 2012): We do have some definitive answers, though not great news, discussed in this post.

While last week’s post was intended only to provide information about Apple’s removal of Airfoil Speakers Touch to our existing and future users, it’s been picked up by many sites across the web, igniting many conversations about the App Store. There’s also been plenty of feedback and speculation by outsiders as to why Airfoil Speakers Touch was pulled. Unfortunately, we still have no hard answers direct from Apple. It’s worth reviewing a few things though.

Was Airfoil Speakers Touch pulled because it duplicates functionality coming in iOS 6?

While this was the most popular theory floated, it’s likely off-base. We don’t know what iOS 6 contains, but there’s little precedent for Apple pulling already-accepted applications from the store because future versions of iOS will contain similar functionality.

What exactly did Apple say the problem was?

When we spoke to Apple last week, they told us that we were in violation of the rule stating “applications may only use Documented APIs in the manner prescribed by Apple and must not use or call any private APIs”. However, despite repeated questions, they’ve been unable to tell us which specific APIs we’re misusing.

As we’ve stated, to the best of our knowledge we’ve implemented Airfoil Speakers Touch using only publicly-available APIs, and in full accordance with the developer agreement. We’ve continually asked what non-public APIs they believe we’re using and have received no response.

Indeed, there seems to be something of a communications problem with Apple, as we haven’t heard from them since May 23rd. Apple apparently did have time to contact The Verge about this issue on May 25th, however, repeating their claim that we’re using non-public APIs.

Maybe Apple considers the ability to receive audio from iTunes and iOS a “non-public API”?

It seems possible, though it doesn’t make much sense. We’ve certainly never seen a network protocol referred to as an API before.

An API (Application Programming Interface) is a set of interfaces that provide access for a 3rd party application like Airfoil to interact with underlying system libraries. A protocol on the other hand, is an agreed-upon method of communication between two different applications.

If Apple is suddenly referring to network protocols as a “non-public API”, it’s a gross abuse of both the terminology and the license agreement. Furthermore, if that is the case, what protocols are fair game? Apple doesn’t provide a list of which protocols are allowed and which are not.

What’s next?

Right now, we’re still working within Apple’s process. We’ve submitted an appeal to the App Review Board, per Apple’s instructions, and we hope to hear back on that soon. Unfortunately, both the App Store and the review process are entirely controlled by Apple, so there’s not a lot else we can do at the moment. We’re definitely concerned Apple may just silently stonewall on this, so we’ll keep discussing it here.

Update (June 6th, 2012): We do have some definitive answers, though not great news, discussed in this post.

Since 2009, Airfoil Speakers Touch has made it possible to send audio from your Mac or Windows machine to your iPhone, iPod Touch, or iPad, using Airfoil and its audio streaming capability. Last month, we introduced Airfoil Speakers Touch 3, which added the ability to receive audio directly from other iOS devices, as well as iTunes. Users and reviewers alike have loved Airfoil Speakers Touch, particularly the new version. For our part, we’ve been thrilled to be able to provide this much-desired functionality.

Today, we’ve been informed that Apple has removed Airfoil Speakers Touch from the iOS App Store.¹ We first heard from Apple about this decision two days ago, and we’ve been discussing the pending removal with them since then. However, we still do not yet have a clear answer on why Apple has chosen to remove Airfoil Speakers Touch. Needless to say, we’re quite disappointed with their decision, and we’re working hard to once again make the application available for you, our users.

As far as we can tell, Airfoil Speakers Touch is in full compliance with Apple’s posted rules and developer agreements. We’ve already filed an appeal with Apple’s App Review Board, and we’re awaiting further information. Unfortunately, Apple has full control of application distribution on iOS, leaving us with no other recourse here.

As some users may recall, we have been through this before, with Airfoil Speakers Touch no less. We hope to be able to resolve things in similar fashion, and once again provide you with this top-notch tool.

Footnotes:

1. We have not recently submitted a new version for approval, so this removal was not connected to any pending review caused by an update. Indeed, the removed version (3.0.0) already went through the review process, and was approved back in April. Further, Airfoil Speakers Touch has been repeatedly approved by Apple’s review process since its introduction way back in 2009. ↩

Rogue Amoeba’s been in the news in a few separate ways which might just interest you.

First up, the Ryan Montbleau Band has been getting good press recently, in part due to their use of two of our tools, Audio Hijack Pro and Nicecast. Their interesting setup makes it possible for them to record and broadcast their shows, and was originally covered in the New York Times, with additional coverage from Ars Technica and Mashable.

Next up, Federico Viticci has an in-depth look at Apple App Stores, particularly focused on search and discovery. There are a few quotes from yours truly, as well as many smart things from other developers.

Finally, I took part in a discussion of WWDC and what might be coming, on the Macworld Podcast. The discussion provides a useful overview of some of the issues developers will be facing with Mountain Lion and iCloud.

Once again, it’s time to staff up here at Rogue Amoeba. Right now, we have an open position for a Senior Windows (.NET) coder. If you’re interested, you can get the full details on our Jobs page.