curated

Two 'curated' stories April 2013 - July 2014

NPR One app arrives on iPhone with curated public radio streams

Alongside the release of its new app for Android today, the new NPR One app has just arrived on the App Store for iPhone users.

NPR One is the new audio app that connects you to a stream of public radio news and stories curated for you… Great storytelling and rigorous reporting that informs, engages, inspires and surprises—from the ends of the earth to your own city or town—available to you whenever, wherever.

Not to be confused with its NPR News apps already available for iPhone and iPad, the new app offers users a more personalized experience by providing a curated stream of news based on your preferences. It also focuses solely on audio streams rather than mixing written stories like its full news app. It does so by curating stories from public radio stations around the country while mixing in local station news:

*Features*
– A personalized stream of NPR and local station news and stories
– Skip, rewind, pause and share
– Search for your favorite shows, stations and podcasts
– International, national, regional and local content
– A simple, intuitive interface

The new NPR One app is available as a free download for iPhone now.

Notification abuse, too, led to AppGratis’s push out of the App Store

This past weekend, popular application discover app AppGratis was removed from Apple’s App Store. Many had correctly assumed that the application was pulled from the store because of Apple’s Developer Guidelines 2.25 clause:

2.25 Apps that display Apps other than your own for purchase or promotion in a manner similar to or confusing with the App Store will be rejected.

Any app that functions too similar to Apple’s own App Store, even if it routes users to complete the download via the App Store, will be rejected. If they already exist on the store, they will be removed. This Apple policy became stringent following the release of iOS 6 last fall.

While the app was removed for breaking this policy, AllThingsD reports that Apple has confirmed that the app was also removed for abusing Apple’s push notification system.

5.6 Apps cannot use Push Notifications to send advertising, promotions, or direct marketing of any kind.

Discovery apps that utilize a different, non-promotional business model seem to be safe.