iPhone App Store: Teachable Moments

While I have mixed feelings about Apple’s decision to approve (or not) apps to run on its iPhone platform, I do think the stories coming out of those decisions are educational. Take for example the recent “available”/“not available” status of the Offender Locator App. The app (in free and paid versions) locates sex offenders within 5 miles of the device’s location.

The paid app was in, then out because it may have broken California laws. For now, the California data has been removed and the app is back while things get sorted out. This story highlights a few issues for developers (and everyone else):

- just because you can present data based on location, doesn’t mean the data itself is legal to share
- different states have different laws on the books, so building a nationwide (or even worldwide app) may require some extra research and/or legal fees
- a big media discussion like this provides great advertising
- you can serve the greater good: 10% of proceeds from the app go to “stop child predator” organizations
- a new version (with hopefully all the legal issues sorted out and new features) may warrant a doubling in price ($.99 to $1.99)

- C|net