Apple Removing Games From People's Purchase History

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Apple giveth, and Apple taketh away. - The Book of Jobs 10:11

An Apple representative told PocketGamer, "if [developers] remove their apps from the store, they cannot be redownloaded until the app has been resubmitted to the App Store". Until then, games like The Walking Dead, Ghost Trick and BioShock can't be reclaimed by the people who have purchased them.
 
Reason to not buy an apple product #9883890203887453809827435897209834890324789729038872348048938 to the power of 9083209881912730986129078356790871237450979126357961237985
 
So are they going to give refunds to the people they uninstalled the products from? Otherwise I see another lawsuit coming (maybe we'll finally get one testing the legality of ToS).
 
Yeah. This is pretty bullshit. Google's method is to keep the app available to users who already purchased or downloaded them even after the author removes the app (I can still download Flappy Bird to new devices, for example)... except in cases where the account was terminated. Eg, developer fraud.
 
The developer removed the games yet it does not give Apple the right to remove the games people have purchased through the Apple store? No, it does not.
 
The lesson here is: you don't have control over "your" devices. I find that hilarious and sad.
 
AceGoober said:
The developer removed the games yet it does not give Apple the right to remove the games people have purchased through the Apple store? No, it does not.
Click to expand...

Apple doesn't remove the game from any devices.
 
Also Apple will and does refund games and apps if they are removed from the store. I got a refund on the Peace content blocker app that was #1 on the App Store for a day and then pulled by the developer.
 
dgz said:
The lesson here is: you don't have control over "your" devices. I find that hilarious and sad.
Click to expand...

You have far more control over your device with Android than with iOS.

Case in point. You don't need to unlock/jailbreak/root to back up apps and to sideload ones outside of the market.

In this exact situation... I buy "Walking Dead" for Android. Once bought, I can back up the APK and store it anywhere I wish. Developer wants to be a dick and remove it from the store?

1) Google won't remove the app from your device,

2) Google won't prevent you from downloading the app again since you already owned it,

3) Google doesn't prevent you from backing up the original APK on your device,

4) Google won't prevent you from reinstalling the app from your backup, even to another device.

This is an Apple problem.
 
I noticed that Gratuitous Space Battles is no longer available. The game on one of our iPads is corrupted and I was going to reinstall it, but I was going crazy trying to find the damn thing. Its not it my purchased history nor does it show up on the store.

Guess this explains it. But I don't know why the developer chose to removed it.

And this "ability" is baked into almost every single UELA & TOS out there. Something along the lines of "we reserve the right to terminate service or usage of product at any time". So this is not an Apple thing, nor is it the first time they have done it. It has happened with movies as well when content owners remove content.
 
techrat said:
You have far more control over your device with Android than with iOS.

Case in point. You don't need to unlock/jailbreak/root to back up apps and to sideload ones outside of the market.

In this exact situation... I buy "Walking Dead" for Android. Once bought, I can back up the APK and store it anywhere I wish. Developer wants to be a dick and remove it from the store?

1) Google won't remove the app from your device,

2) Google won't prevent you from downloading the app again since you already owned it,

3) Google doesn't prevent you from backing up the original APK on your device,

4) Google won't prevent you from reinstalling the app from your backup, even to another device.

This is an Apple problem.
Click to expand...

Some of these negatives, are actually considered positives by others. Not by you, I get that, but some people like the idea that not just anything can be installed on a certain device.
 
westrock2000 said:
Not by you, I get that, but some people like the idea that not just anything can be installed on a certain device.
Click to expand...

Well, that choice should be left to the user who owns the device and the software. So it really should be irrelevant what the publisher wants if they still allowed it for sale in the first place. If my device is capable of running it, the developer refuses to support the device, then they have no say in how I am able to do it.
 
westrock2000 said:
Some of these negatives, are actually considered positives by others. Not by you, I get that, but some people like the idea that not just anything can be installed on a certain device.
Click to expand...

It can't.. the user has to specifically enable the sideload feature to be able to install stuff not from one of the stores such as Google Play or Amazon.
 
techrat said:
You have far more control over your device with Android than with iOS.

Case in point. You don't need to unlock/jailbreak/root to back up apps and to sideload ones outside of the market.

In this exact situation... I buy "Walking Dead" for Android. Once bought, I can back up the APK and store it anywhere I wish. Developer wants to be a dick and remove it from the store?

1) Google won't remove the app from your device,

2) Google won't prevent you from downloading the app again since you already owned it,

3) Google doesn't prevent you from backing up the original APK on your device,

4) Google won't prevent you from reinstalling the app from your backup, even to another device.

This is an Apple problem.
Click to expand...

Apple "DOES NOT" remove app from "YOUR DEVICE"

I still have those app that developer already removed, not sure why people still try to troll about it...
 
shansoft said:
I still have those app that developer already removed, not sure why people still try to troll about it...
Click to expand...

Missing the point. How are you going to get that app reinstalled or installed onto another device?
 
techrat said:
You couldn't even be bothered to read the article, but not reading the thread title? Come on.
Click to expand...

I am able to to it right now as we speak....

Here is the screenshot

wZtCpdO.jpg
 
http://toucharcade.com/2015/10/07/m...ave-returned-to-app-store-purchase-histories/

Not all of the games have returned, but it's important to remember that there's two degrees of removing apps from the App Store that developers have access to. The first removes it from sale, but still exists for download in purchase histories (which is the case with 99% of apps). The second removes it entirely, which is what developers can use when they want to pull a game completely because it's broken due to server issues, technical problems, or whatever else.
Click to expand...

Again, this is a problem triggered by the developers, not Apple.
 
I am a little conflicted with this one ... all of the affected titles are non-functional due to the new software release from Apple ... they were pulled by the developer so that they can be repaired and they plan to release new patched versions that are functional ...

I don't see a win-win fix on this one ... if the titles weren't removed from the store then a person could download the non-functional version (this would swamp the developer with support requests on a problem they are already fixing) ... unfortunately I think Apple has limited software verification processes to prevent installation if you are using a version of the OS that would be non-functional ... also, Apple only supports the current software release so there are no roll-back capabilities to return to a functional software release

Ultimately this has only become an issue when Apple switched to the cloud ... Apple always removed apps that were no longer available for sale from the store ... however, when you backed up your apps on a PC you had access to the files and could restore them manually ... with the cloud they are gone for download once they are no longer in the store as no cloud version exists ... maybe Apple could consider a special backup service (for which they can charge) that would allow you to store any app files for re installation
 
dgz said:
The lesson here is: you don't have control over "your" devices. I find that hilarious and sad.
Click to expand...

+1

You give up control of your device to Apple for the safety of their "walled garden".
"Walled Garden" is another name for a prison.

To paraphrase an old saying:
A company big enough to give you everything you want is big enough to take it all away.
or
Don't put all your eggs in one basket.
 
shansoft said:
Apple "DOES NOT" remove app from "YOUR DEVICE"

I still have those app that developer already removed, not sure why people still try to troll about it...
Click to expand...

No, but they REMOVE IT FROM YOUR PURCHASE HISTORY.

Which is worse. Because you now can't, reliably track when you bought something. Which makes it a stone cold BITCH to then request a refund for, depending on how long it'd been since you purchased.

Your purchase history is a financial record, and they're basically editing it ad-hoc, rather than simply not making the app available for re-download and putting a message up on the app's page.
 
Chas said:
No, but they REMOVE IT FROM YOUR PURCHASE HISTORY.

Which is worse. Because you now can't, reliably track when you bought something. Which makes it a stone cold BITCH to then request a refund for, depending on how long it'd been since you purchased.

Your purchase history is a financial record, and they're basically editing it ad-hoc, rather than simply not making the app available for re-download and putting a message up on the app's page.
Click to expand...

^Logic is not strong with this one, Congratulations for taking stupidity to a whole new level.
 
Pure-Platinum-190 said:
↑

What he said!
Click to expand...

Do you programme bro. Do you server bro. How can you re install something that doesn't exist anymore. If you want financial records pull it from your bank do not be lazy. You use your istore account to acces the store which stores content on a server. Your info is stored on a database and when developer removes their content it cant be searched nor found.
 
can i call my credit card company and ask for the money back since i got charged that has no record?
 
kbrickley said:
I am a little conflicted with this one ... all of the affected titles are non-functional due to the new software release from Apple ... they were pulled by the developer so that they can be repaired and they plan to release new patched versions that are functional ...

I don't see a win-win fix on this one ... if the titles weren't removed from the store then a person could download the non-functional version (this would swamp the developer with support requests on a problem they are already fixing) ... unfortunately I think Apple has limited software verification processes to prevent installation if you are using a version of the OS that would be non-functional ... also, Apple only supports the current software release so there are no roll-back capabilities to return to a functional software release

Ultimately this has only become an issue when Apple switched to the cloud ... Apple always removed apps that were no longer available for sale from the store ... however, when you backed up your apps on a PC you had access to the files and could restore them manually ... with the cloud they are gone for download once they are no longer in the store as no cloud version exists ... maybe Apple could consider a special backup service (for which they can charge) that would allow you to store any app files for re installation
Click to expand...

Since this is a popular thing now ;) (nothing against you)

YOU CAN BACKUP YOUR APPS TO YOUR LOCAL ITUNES, AND IT WILL STAY THERE, FOREVER.
 
I still have some of those rare porn apps that apple used to have on the appstore. they still download from the app store and get transfered from new phone to new phone, and are able to store data on the icloud. i keep them around for shits and giggles, they are non retina and old aspect ratio.

WxJg4Bs.png
 
jeremyshaw said:
Since this is a popular thing now ;) (nothing against you)

YOU CAN BACKUP YOUR APPS TO YOUR LOCAL ITUNES, AND IT WILL STAY THERE, FOREVER.
Click to expand...

Except the whole point of the cloud is to go cordless ... and I have a PC so iTunes isn't always the most friendly piece of software ... I would pay an annual fee for the space to do an equivalent backup to iTunes in the cloud (if it worked well) :cool:
 
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