Josh Begley doesn’t give up easily. After 12 rejections, Apple finally allowed his app Metadata+ to be sold on iTunes. But what the App Store giveth, the App Store taketh away.
Writing on The Intercept about the rejection of an app that summarizes previously published news items about American drone strikes, Josh said:
Over the years, I would occasionally resubmit the app, changing its name from Drones+ to Metadata+. I was curious to see if Apple might change its mind. The app didn’t include graphic images or video of any kind — it simply aggregated news about covert war.
At its core was a question: do we want to be as connected to our foreign policy as we are to our smartphones? My hypothesis was no. Americans don’t care about the drone war because it is largely hidden from view.
The article’s triumphant tone was quickly undercut by the afternoon, with a brief epilogue and screencap: “Apple has removed Metadata from the App Store.”
Image: AK Rockefeller