I have some questions regarding Apple's rules...

Discussion in 'Public Game Developers Forum' started by RoanHorse, Nov 27, 2012.

  1. RoanHorse

    RoanHorse Member

    Nov 2, 2012
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    I know the basic rules for app submission, but I have this... rather crazy idea/question that I've been having trouble finding an answer to.

    Can a developer put a sequence in their application that intentionally crashes the application?

    On a less crucial note, can an application use the front-facing camera to take a picture of the user without their explicit consent?
     
  2. DannyTheElite

    DannyTheElite Well-Known Member

    Oct 13, 2012
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    ....
     
  3. psj3809

    psj3809 Moderator

    Jan 13, 2011
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    Looking forward to the answers to this !

    Why would you want a crash to the app purposely ?

    "On a less crucial note, can an application use the front-facing camera to take a picture of the user without their explicit consent?"

    Please tell me the name of your app as i'll happily contact my lawyer and start sueing !

    Seriously, an app which takes a picture of the person without their consent (and then does the photo get sent somewhere without the users consent ?) Sounds crazy
     
  4. AlexsIpad

    AlexsIpad Well-Known Member

    Jun 23, 2012
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    I can see why you might want to crash the app intentionally, as part of some angle to the game, not sure if you can do it though. Regarding the camera, I think it would probably be okay, just as long as you aren't using the photos for anything and maybe ask them when they first open the app, like when apps ask you for permission for using notification and things, just ask, "this app would like to take photos of you" accept/decline haha
     
  5. DannyTheElite

    DannyTheElite Well-Known Member

    Oct 13, 2012
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    Read again and just said
    WTF did I just read
     
  6. psj3809

    psj3809 Moderator

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    Why would anyone accept that ? I mean an app asking to spam your facebook/twitter is one thing but an app asking to take pictures (or not asking) is terrible.

    I hope RoanHorse tells us the name of his apps so i can stay away from ANY of them
     
  7. DannyTheElite

    DannyTheElite Well-Known Member

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    This isn't some kind of troll app that shows a scary face takes a picture of their reaction and closes is it?
     
  8. RoanHorse

    RoanHorse Member

    Nov 2, 2012
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    Alright, allow me to explain myself. I want to make a game about 'decking'. You know, hacking into stuff, the incredibly incorrect portrayal of hacking that the movies have been peddling since computers became a thing in the average American's home.
    >photos
    I want to do something like The Heist, where the player is contacted by an NPC. Specifically, I need a picture of the player for immersion. Taking it without their consent makes it a very surreal experience. The picture would not be uploaded to anywhere.
    >crashing
    Immersion. The first time you (inevitably) fail, the application would crash. When you open it up again, you'd be contacted by an NPC expressing his/her worry over you 'going offline suddenly'.
     
  9. mkpred

    mkpred Well-Known Member

    Oct 15, 2012
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    #9 mkpred, Nov 27, 2012
    Last edited: Nov 27, 2012
    dont think the OP will tell the name of his app if there is any but if it is possible than i dont feel safe using apps now but i doubt apple will approve an app like that but we have seen apple rejecting good apps and approvings crapps , crap + apps = crapps :)


    EDIT : ok just saw the OP replied back , seems to be different from what i was expecting.but i will leave the judging to others
     
  10. RoanHorse

    RoanHorse Member

    Nov 2, 2012
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    Actually, the planned name of this app is "GuberDeck," but that's dependent on the legality of the term 'decking' and the actual scope of the game (The "guber" suffix refers to gubernational, specifically local government).
     
  11. psj3809

    psj3809 Moderator

    Jan 13, 2011
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    I can understand now a 'bit' better about what you want to do but i'm sure you couldnt purposely crash an app. If that happened to me i probably would think 'forget this then' and move onto the next app. Surely you can 'simulate' a fake crash.

    A game in the 80's (Brian Bloodaxe) would pretend to reset the computer after it was loaded but it had a slight change in the text for the 'reset screen' so you wouldnt instantly think 'damn' and reset your computer and try again.

    So i would do a 'pretend' reset but make it obvious its part of the game and dont make it too authentic or there'll be lots of people moaning to Apple about the app.

    As for the photo its very well saying it wont go anywhere else but you hear so many nightmare stories of corrupt Android apps, granted this is Apple but it would make people paranoid. And anyway i'm certain Apple wouldnt let you do this. In everyone of my 600 apps i have on my ipod the games which have a 'picture' of the player are just cartoon/fake ones, none of them need to have the photo of the player.

    A game back in the 80's (The Hacker) was great, not many instructions, you had to work out what to do. Something similar would be good but i wouldnt go so far to get photos of the user or purposely crash the app. 'Pretend' to crash the app and go to a standard homepage of an ipod/iphone.
     
  12. Pman

    Pman Well-Known Member

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    I really hope apple wouldn't approve an app like this. A picture of my face without me knowing coming from some app developer I don't even know is creepy as all get out.
     
  13. RoanHorse

    RoanHorse Member

    Nov 2, 2012
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    Alright.
    As far as the photo stuff goes (and possibly getting that "this is more than it appears to be" vibe), what if the application opens, for the first time, with an ominous set of messages? Like, you get the standard ones for access to location services, and anything else that requires access (photos), and then the user receives one about... consent?

    For crashing, I really want to make it so, at the very least, the player has to leave the application (possibly close it in the multitasking menu... thing. Is there a better term for it?). Can I kill the application, forcing the user to do this? I'm not asking for advice here, just, whether or not this is actually allowed by Apple.
     
  14. mkpred

    mkpred Well-Known Member

    Oct 15, 2012
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    hmm good if i get a message so i know that the app deserves to be deleted IF the name will be different from guberdeck since i am going to stay away from that named app.
    sorry no offence but i give importance to privacy more than some other things if you know what i mean.:)
     
  15. Pman

    Pman Well-Known Member

    May 2, 2010
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    I would try contacting apple directly, as going through here, I do not thin you will find someone who has ever even attempted to put something like that in their application.

    By the way, I think it's great you are thinking outside of the box. It's creative and I love that in apps. Maybe let the user take their own front facing photo through the application, or upload one from their photos? I don't know, just my thoughts.
     
  16. Can a developer put coding in an app to crash to protect from piracy? Like detecting if a device is pirated, it will crash on launch rather than run?
     
  17. chunkyguy

    chunkyguy Active Member

    May 16, 2011
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    Even if it's possible, I don't think as a gamer I would love my own crappy photo in the game. Rather, it would pull me out of the game world.

    Like, every other popular game I've seen uses a fictional character that we have to play. If you're making a Heist game, the character should make the users closer to their fantasy character, not themselves.

    When someone plays GTA as a thug, doesn't means that they want to be thugs in real life. There is a huge gap between fiction and reality, that is going to collapse with the gamers' real photo of laying on the couch with his cat crawling in the background while listening to the mission briefing.

    How would you feel, if you're watching some future James Bond movie and with the technology they swap the face of James Bond with your unsolicited one, while you were sipping cola.
     
  18. AlexsIpad

    AlexsIpad Well-Known Member

    Jun 23, 2012
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    #18 AlexsIpad, Nov 27, 2012
    Last edited: Nov 27, 2012
    To be honest I'm not sure many people would understand the crashing thing, they would just think there was a problem with the app, unless you made it REALLY obvious. Otherwise you may see your app on the app store rated 1 star due to confused people. Oh, and I actually highly doubt that taking a photo without consent is legal. I suppose you could contact apple somehow and ask them about it. However nowadays it could be legal, here in London there are cameras every 2 metres haha, it's like 1984
     
  19. DannyTheElite

    DannyTheElite Well-Known Member

    Oct 13, 2012
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    You could have it crash to a picture of their home screen for 5 seconds and then re open
     
  20. bigrand1

    bigrand1 Well-Known Member

    Apr 23, 2010
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    I'd never advocate doing either of those things at all. No reason why anyone would want that to happen to them. Let me know as well, then it's time to sue, baby, SUE! Put an end to that stupid crap!
     

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