Upon hearing this, Stump says he specifically asked the Apple representative to confirm that these bubbles were in fact trademarked, to which the representative responded, “Yes”. The representative said Stump needed to make the bubbles “less shiny” and also helpfully suggested that he make the bubbles square, just to be sure.
Of course, there are numerous other apps that have used this glossy chat appearance, including Facebook and Tweetie, a very popular Twitter client. The difference in these is that they include small thumbnails of user photos, which Chess Wars doesn’t have. Stump asked the Apple representative if including small photos in the interface would solve the problem by helping to differentiate it from Apple’s native SMS app, but the Apple representative said that it was the bubbles themselves that are the issue. Which means that Apple is either being remarkably inconsistent in its approval policies (which would be nothing new), or they’re about to launch a crusade to eliminate these glossy bubbles from any application that dares use them.
release early, release often
Speaking of things software developers should know…
Hasn’t Apple always released a Human Interface Guidelines document for each of its operating systems for years, like many platforms do?
In other words, for the past 20 years, Apple has encouraged developers to use UI that looks like the operating system so that the experience is consistent for users. It helps the developers and it helps Apple by making sure every use of their operating system flows smoothly, rather than learning a different UI for every application.
So why, all of a sudden, would they want every application built on their platform to have a different interface experience than the platform itself?
I agree,
My guess i that this whole story is more about a “zealous” app approver
It’s ridiculous to think that a single app approver came up with this. People in low-level positions don’t just randomly defend their company’s copyrights. There was probably an internal memo from a higher-up that was ignored by most of the app approvers.
Don’t underestimate a human being’s ability to be petty. Most people will use the full extent of their power once given.
I had always wished my mob show my sms’s with a user as conversation.. compared to good old sent folder and inbox hopping. apple has done it.. be thankful.
You know, Apple wasn’t the first to do that. My Treo 600 had threaded SMS back in 2004.
http://www.treocentral.com/content/Stories/299-8.htm
Nokia “Conversation” adds the feature to nokia devices…
Yes, Apple has guidelines. But those guidelines do not include anything about displaying chat messages. It is very common for a company to trademark images that it wants to use as part of its corporate identity.
Apple is slowly screwing itself against a wall…
I agree to apple slowly screwing itself. I think they have started selling so many products that their constant QC and great personal support has gone down hill. Also, once again they have released new software that is not compatible with any third party software.
Yes they are innovative but sometimes i think they are getting a little greedy and careless…
Quote of the day, awesome
LOL! Love that quote
How the hell can they trademark a bubble. I don’t think this can hold up in court of law, but in the court of Apple, that’s a different story
http://www.traderbots.com/stocks/Stock.aspx?symbol=aapl
It doesn’t matter if they actually trademarked the bubbles, or even of UI elements can be trademarked at all. They have the iPhone platform locked down, they get to enforce whatever “laws” they decide to make up.
How the hell can they trademark an image? It’s very easy. The US has a government has a website for it.
http://www.uspto.gov
Apple’s app approval process attitude is already a cause for worry. Now Apple has to publish a list of trademark designs, shapes, logo’s, and other features which it does not want to be replicated. Looks like Apple is entering the path of losing everyone’s trust.
Agreed, this is becoming ridiculous, can we talk about the Pre now?
OK, I defended Apple on the previous post, but this is just dumb. Don’t they WANT to create some standardized language around their UI? Isn’t that desirable and part of what is considered a good platform?!
Good point. While not part of the Human Interface Guidelines, one would think that consistency would be something they’d like. I mean, they are already very anal about ensuring stock icons like Bookmarks or Favorites are used in such a way that is consistent across the platform. It’d make sense if users were able to assume that those little chat bubbles meant I was having a private conversation with a person or group of people.
Of course, the flip side is that they might want to keep the bubbles on the platform, and the grey area of allowing devs to use the bubbles would tempt them to use shiny bubbles on other platforms.
…. which is already the case in the very popular android app “chomp sms”.
There was a time when the HIGs where the bible of development. It kept Apple applications looking like Apple applications rather than a hodge-podge of UI styles. Truly this is going to be a self-inflicted death!
Would I love to have a web cam set up in the offices of the application reviewers. I can only imagine what goes on in there…
wow apple.
apple is like a restaurant serving a peanut butter and jelly without the jelly.
-Patrick Mandia
AT&T– i dont like strawberries so NO ONE ON THIS FREAKING PLANET IS ALLOWED TO EAT STRAWBERRIES!!
-Patrick manida
I like to put a quote attribution at the end of anything I say
-Arrogant Douchebag
This makes it seem like what I am saying IS REALLY IMPORTANT LIKE THIS SENTENCE WITH CAPSLOCK AND EXCLAMATION POINTS!!
-Arrogant Douchebag
I sometimes like to spell my name incorrectly.
-Patrick Mandible
OMGZ HE SHUD HAVE JUST RELEESED CODE WITHOUT BUGS IN IT
lol +1
you mean he should have done what Apple can’t do? (thus they release updates. . .)
There’s a hole beneath your nose – shove some more twinkies in it.
Haha, good one! I second that.
Feels like the pressure is building up… if only there were another app store outlet with some momentum to help let out some steam.
microsoft, google, blackberry … not yet
Not since comcast have I ever hated a company so much. I hope this company dies.
trademark bubbles ?!?!
that sounds silly.
Whats next? Apple has trademarked glossy/smooth edged/bright icons/windows/buttons/font !??!!
ridiculous.
that was my thought – they’re friggin BUBBLES. . . if anyone should have a trademark on them, it’s the cleaning bubbles – whatever they were.
I was thinking the same thing. I didn’t know you could trademark something like that..
Apple is quickly becoming the laughmg stock of the tech industry. Anybody that supports this disaster of a company is hindering innovation and progress. Expect to be told what you can and cant put on your computer in the next 10 years.
Please…
get a grip.
i support Apple, this is the best brand in whatever they touch. OS X, WebKit are good examples of what the hi-talented people at Apple can do.
I don’t care about this kind of comments, I’ve been there. I hated Apple before I bought a Mac (remember Vista ? that was a really good reason to try something else, even when you were very doubtful about it).
I learned their philosophy and I love it now. Most of the comments I read about Apple are written by morrons who don’t know nothing about Apple. Just like I was…
Yeah Apple’s game console, Pippin, was indeed the best of breed. I mean that thing revolutionized the game console.
The Macintosh TV (not Apple TV), released in ‘93 was also a real gem.
And let’s not forget OSuX itself. What a waste of an OS. Maybe if it ran on more than one type of machine it could be construed as any good.
OSX runs on one more “type of machine” than Windows does. Two if you count iPhone.
Well _excuse_ me.
I guess that I should have said “one brand of poorly designed PC hardware with an extremely limited lineup… oh and a mobile device where you’re free to do none of things an operating system normally gives a user the power to do (if you want to call it an operating system in my case, let’s just say we disagree unless you’re talking about the most basic definition of the word, in which case you’re just being snide).”
Meant to say:
“if you want to call it an operating system in THIS case”
Matt,
Mac’s run MAC OSX whereas the iphone runs OSX, a derivative.
Taking into account all of the derivatives for Windows 2000 you end up with more than OSX. 1) Windows 2000 2) Xbox OS ( based off of win 2k ) 3) Windows 2000 Embedded
Windows XP also has an Embedded version so it would be tied with OSX.
WayneB… your avatar is a windows logo… I’m just wondering if you might be a tad bias here, or if the MS chip in your head made you do that?
Oh I’m a fan of Apples hardware and OS… and switch from windows when Vista came out.. doesn’t mean I have to like Apple and their policies… I didn’t like Microsofts ether, but until something else comes out that I can switch to, I’m stuck using what is currently the best…and as long as they are not actually being evil (although coming close some times) I’ll stick with the best hardware because my livelihood and sanity depend on it.
We do know how they are successful. Anyone have several hundred million to start a new company to produce Apple killer products?
If so, count me in!
Sure is fanboy here. Protip – Windows XP still works fine if you don’t like Vista, did MS releasing Vista somehow make Apple’s overpriced PCs better?
Yeah I remember Vista, loved it until Windows 7 came out. Miles ahead of XP. I originally jumped on the “oooh Vista sux!” bandwagon, but after I was forced to use it (64 bit os for all my ram), I found out that all those people complaining had no idea what they were talking about.
As for best hardware, it’s well known that Apple hardware, while looking shiny and pretty, is notoriously overpriced and underpowered (Except perhaps massive server clusters)
Next reason to still use mac?
PS: I used to use mac
I very much doubt you can “TRADEMARK” a bubble call. At first a bubble by itself means nothing meaningful and it would have to be a real dumb registrar who’d permit it. If you use text then every iteration would be a different trademark…
They could have applied for a design registration. Again, looking at it from registrar point of view, I’d found nothing of a meaningful value on bubble itself.
The only aspect I’d understand is the whole look and feel of the application…
All in all Apple are talking out of their bottom… Although something else strikes me as odd and worrying of late. Until last year, Apple was almost a synonym (for about a decade) for COOL. For products, looks and anything to do with the company. Lately, I’ve been seeing a lot of company paranoia, unpleasant behaviour towards developers, competitors (Google) and users (denying anything wrong with exploding phones).
Has Steve lost his proves, or has somebody else been instilling anew company culture?! Apple shouldn’t forget how fickle are the fortunes of one company… Apple has been there before.
hey its possible – may be the registrar for trademark worked for apple app approval office before he moved there..
Haven’t they been suing every company that releases a product with the letter ‘i’ prepended to the name for several years now?
If Apple hadnt pointed it out, I might have missed it, but on reflection an ephemeral glossy soap bubble is a great trademark for the Apstore.
Apple = paranoid meth addict. Someone help them please.
Keep it up Apple: This is pissing me off now.
No company is too big too fail. Anyone remember myspace?
Apple just keep pissing off the developers until we all switch our time and efforts to Android.
obviously apple is having some issues but comparing them to myspace is a bit absurd. really reaching with that one.
Except for the part where Apple sells products for money.
What exactly is Myspace selling, a convoluted mix of mismatched sites that look like a rehash from Geocities? Myspace could have been even more gigantic if they just progressed. Instead they decided to stick with the same piss poor design, feature and horrible back end.
Apple on the other hand continues to innovate and force the rest of the industry to innovate around them. Exactly how many iPod and iPhone clones are there now?
Apple innovated nothing.
iPod was hardly the first ever portable media player out ther.
And the iPhone? Do you WANT me to laugh in your face? It did nothing I couldn’t already do with my Treo 660 five years ago. In fact, the iPhone does a lot less.
Or are you deluding yourself into thinking the iPhone is the first smartphone ever made like you did with the iPod?
Please, before you call Apple innovative, you should actually look up who did the innovation first.
Apple is liek Microsoft: They don’t innovate, they simply pull together things into a “workable” package.
Actually, that would be great MIk… we need more devel love
(HTC Hero user here).
Android needs more help first! It will be some time before many developers move, but I am spending my evenings loking at the code…
Apple is current the only game in town for most developers.
Android represent a viable application market at some point in the future but at the moment there is no chance to make back the development dollars.
Google should follow Microsoft’s lead and throw some money at developers to guarantee a minimum amount of revenue per ported application to jump start their market.
This represents a fantastic opportunity for all the other “app store” players such as RIM and Android. It amazes me that 2 years after the launch of iPhone and the app store RIM is still struggling to present a strong alternative. They have the distribution and the funds, what is the problem?
I’m going to toss in a (rare) positive review… I submitted my app (http://www.storesync.com) and it was approved within 12 days. I had 0 issues getting the app approved, and it proved to be true in my case that most apps are approved with 14 days.
Having to wait 2 weeks for an app update with bug fixes is a nice way of loosing sales. Just wait until you’ll have to deal with THAT scenario.
@matt I hope you are being sarcastic… If it is approved on time isn’t that supposed to be…well the norm?
Of course, however the App Store seems to get so many negative reviews, that I wanted to offer one bit of positive news.
How can releasing an app in 12 days after completing development be positive?
No no… I mean it was approved within 12 days, development took 3 months.
My app just got approved today as well. It is for Victory Records and it was submitted on May 13th!
http://itunes.apple.com/WebObjects/MZStore.woa/wa/viewSoftware?id=312319713&mt=8
Doesn’t the Android have the same look and feel for the texting feature?
Handcent (a non standard SMS client for Android) has bubbles that look the same.
The trademark claim is probably bogus. But it doesn’t matter, in the app store apple gets to make the rules so if they want to reject it based on “trademarked bubbles”, they can.
crack their head open dude!!!
That really sucks… big time…
Instead of providing a nice environment for developers to produce apps they are pointing dirty fingers…
This is just pathetic. What a joke Apple has become.
I have a trademark on green (#3A9F00) hyperlinks. Techcrunch, back off. I advise you change to #3AA000 immediately. A C&D is on the way.
+1
All your bubbles belong to us!
You cannot be serious… I’m actually kind of dismayed by this
yeah i’m angry but underlying the anger is my disappointment. i didn’t think i would see the day apple went over, but i think they are on the right path of fucking up quite nicely.
It wasn’t as if stiff competition was enough! They needed, well themselves, to f everything up. I cannot believe that I actually supported this totalitarian coproration as some sort of idillic anti-1984/corprorate-speak ode to the web. What a damn eye opener…
I wonder if apple realizes that they’re losing customers this way. Believe it or not i was actually considering buying an iphone a while back, but after reading all the horror stories about the way this company operates (and the way it treats its employeess) i woved not to ever buy an Apple product in my life. I have also sold every single apple share i used to own. I lost a couple thousand dollars in profits because of that, but at least i know that im not supporting a monrolistic, anti-competitive monster. Im only one person, but sooner or later other people will begin seeing this company for what it is.
you have got to be kidding me . how are they able to trademark this?
this is starting to approach comedy!!!
Copyright laws are out of control in the U.S. and Steve Jobs is just being a control freak. Enough already.
Wait! That Twitter button at the bottom of this screen is a shiny bubble. Oh bad Twitter. Spank! Spank!
Mike Gunderloy (http://afreshcup.com/) abandoned Microsoft after they tried to trademark the ribbon.
Apple has gone to fat: they are built on tools that were given freely (starting with C), and they employ all Microsoft hated tactics to bash others using their control on the OS. We should just stop buying iPhones.
So? Apple is not giving it away for free now. Boo Hoo for all the little SW startups and their nose picking apps that won’t run on iphone. Trademark your own stuff if you don’t like it.
Also, Boo Hoo for people who have no intellectual capabilities, who have probably never created anything good in their life.
I’m looking forward to ditching the iphone.
LOL. What’s stopping you?
Our app update for “Connect” just got rejected for using the profile/head icon associated with iphone Contacts.
I guess Apple has trademarked that white head shape also.
What really bothers me is the same artwork exactly was used in the current build and Apple never had a problem with it.
Adam
Crowded Road
are you serious? like this actually happened? i had to read that a couple of times. is that excatly what they told you or are you paraphrasing?
That’s what they told us and even sent a screenshot of the head icon in question.
that is simply amazing. i guess you have to uhm pull things from your ass and become more perceptive about what problems these reviewer guys will present. people keep saying there’s a list of what can and cannot go through…and i keep asking if this is true, because some of the things i’ve heard from developers have been ridiculous.
we had an icon in our app showing syncing between our iPhone app and desktop app. It took apple 4 weeks to revert back with a rejection.