According to this post from the iphonedevsdk.com forum, Apple apparently has not been paying a number of developers within the contract-mandated 45 days, and some are starting to discuss a possible class-action lawsuit. One developer, trying to get paid, was even accused by an Apple employee of “borderline harassment”.
A number of developers are hopping mad, and who can blame them? Apple owes some of them over ten thousand dollars by some accounts. One developer as of this month hasn’t been paid a dime since he started selling in December. Most are reporting that Apple has either been ignoring their emails (unless they threaten legal action), telling them to stop emailing them, or giving them apparently bogus information on the status of their account. Some want to sue. Some might stop developing for the iPhone.
Interestingly enough, what I did NOT see anyone threatening was to abandon the App Store and develop for jailbroken iPhones – especially now that Cydia supports paid apps. It will be interesting to see if any defect to the Apple-free App world.
Personally, I’m a bit conflicted over this as a consumer: Do I continue to buy apps through the App Store, or do I withhold purchases in protest over Apple’s across-the-board shoddy treatment of developers? It might make little difference since apparently the developers won’t get paid on time either way. I have to say that between not paying them, delaying and/or rejecting their apps with little or no reason, and lack of OS support for promised features such as background notification, I think a class-action lawsuit and major defections might be what’s required to get Apple to start treating these developers fairly. What do you think?
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