Is Apple's "Volume Shutter" about to be banned in all 3rd party camera replacement apps?

I'm a little bit behind on this post, but I wanted to see how it panned out before writing it up. Some of you may have seen my post back at the beginning of November announcing the introduction of the new "Volume Shot" feature in Camera Genius. At the time, I said Camera Genius was "the first 3rd party camera replacement to legitimately utilise the +volume button on the iPhone 4", however just over 2 weeks later the app was updated and this feature removed, with the following statement: "Removal of Volume Shot as requested by Apple."

I found this statement a little strange, as during the 2 week period the app was available with "Volume Shot", ProCamera also introduced their equivalent, "Volume-Trigger", and the dev's behind Camera+ were teasing us with their, "VolumeSnap".

So following the removal of "Volume Shot" from Camera Genius, I contacted the developer, and was told that he had been contacted by Apple and told that 3rd party developers could not use the volume shutter feature, and that his app had been approved by mistake. The developer was then given just 1 week to remove the feature and resubmit Camera Genius minus the "Volume Shot" feature.

Based on what we know so far, it would appear that Apple are yet again making a lot of "mistakes", as just 2 days before this update hit the App Store, Camera+ with its update arrived, proudly stating "VolumeSnap is back, beyotches!!"

What will be interesting, is how long will it be before Apple spots the approval mistakes it made with ProCamera and Camera+, and forces these dev's to remove their volume shutter features, or will Apple when faced with more annoyed dev's reverse what essentially is a ridiculous decision. Either way, if you're a fan of the volume shutter feature, and use either ProCamera or Camera+, then make sure you have the latest update, and if you're a user of Camera Genius, then avoid the latest update.

I'm sure this story will rumble on for a bit more yet, so stay tuned for the latest news, as I get it.

Comments

[Richard Earney]

Perhaps more bizarre is that Camera+ introduced it, Apple banned it, then introduced it themselves. That gets followed by its reintroduction by 3rd parties then Apple banning them.

All a bit odd!

[espekayen]

Apple's approval procedure is definitely getting worse. And I agree that it makes little sense to ban developer's from using the volume snap feature; but then Apple are renowned for making these bizarre decisions so it doesn't surprise me at all. This is why I will be gobsmacked if they ever allow iPhone users to customise the camera shortcut icon on the lockscreen to launch a camera app of our choosing.

[Ridwan]

This is the part when I really start to hate Apple. Whatever, it seems the VolumeSnap feature is implemented pretty well in Camera+.

[Rob]

I love Apple, but they definitely do things that make no sense, and this is one of those things. Is it possible that Camera+ and ProCamera used an Apple-approved method to create the volume snap whereas some apps used a hack? It's easy to think of ways hacks could interfere with iOS. Of that's NOT what's going on here, then this move by Apple makes no sense.

[Richard Earney]

I think it is not Apple being bad, so much as someone just interpreting the 'rules' oddly, without thinking about the bigger picture.

What is interesting with Camera+ is that to disable it you have to use a web address method, which is one of the reasons they got told to change it in the first place!

[jorge]

i hope apple don't make a dumb decision and force Camera+ to remove the volume snap feature, cause I really really like it, so instead of complain here I think if we all go to the app review of the app we use and make comments about it, we may help the developers to keep the features we like.

[John V. Keogh]

Not sure if I like volume snap. Pressing a physical button would necessitate supporting the phone from the other side to counter the movement, like holding a real camera. Brushing a virtual button should produce sharper images.

[Rod Chester]

Let's hope common sense wins and the 3rd party apps are allowed to keep the featuret. One of the things I like about it is that I use my iPhone headphones as like a remote cable. Hit the volume up button and I take a picture, with either Camera+ or the 6x6 app which also has the feature