Tim Cook's company has sent a letter of apology to the developer of an app after it was removed from the App Store, a removal that Apple claims was due to an error. The application in question is Sm'algyax Word, an application aimed at promoting the indigenous language Sm'algyax.
From Apple they accused the developer dishonest and fraudulent acts and they removed it from the application store, an application that has not had any problem in the Play Store, where it has been available since last July, the same month it was launched in the App Store.
This app is a dictionary of phrases and words of Sm'algyax available on FirstVoices.com and its aim is to preserve the language for generations to come. This app was pulled from the App Store when it reached 600 downloads, making it to the top 10 most downloaded apps in the Education category.
Brendan Eshom, developer of the app, contacted the App Store supervision team on several occasions but received no reply, so he finally chose to contact Consumer Matter, who if he had more luck in his request to Apple
Apple responded to the request Information from Consumer Matter stating that the closure of Eshom's developer account was an error:
Maintaining the integrity of the App Store is a responsibility we take seriously to ensure the safety of our customers and give each developer a platform to share their brightest ideas with the world.
Sadly, this developer's app, which is a great example of how technology can be used to bridge cultural understanding, was mistakenly removed from the App Store.
We regret this mistake and apologize to Mr. Eshom for the inconvenience it has caused him. We have since reinstated your developer account and application, and we will continue to strive to improve our processes to ensure this does not happen again.
