In a move that surprised no one, Apple tossed out an iPhone application that wirelessly syncs music and video libraries with iTunes on a computer.
Developer Greg Hughes will now sell the Wi-Fi Sync app to jailbroken iPhones through the Cydia app store for $9.99.
Syncing with iTunes currently requires a wired USB connection. Speaking from experience, this is pretty annoying, as you're forced to keep one of Apple's proprietary cables handy if you download music with any regularity.
Wi-Fi Sync fixes the problem. Once you install the free computer-side software (available now for Mac, and coming to Windows), opening iTunes on the iPhone automatically opens the program on the computer as well, just as if you've plugged in a cable. Then, you're free to transfer files as you please.
Apple's reasoning for the rejection is vague. According to Engadget, an Apple representative told Hughes that Wi-Fi Sync doesn't technically break any rules, but "it does encroach upon the boundaries of what they can and cannot allow on their store." Whatever that means. The rep also cited security concerns.
I wouldn't be the first to say that Apple's unclear stance on what flies in the app store is a major problem. This has gotten Apple into trouble before, as we saw with its rejection of a Pulitzer Prize-winning cartoonist's app. In that case, Apple said the app was barred because it "ridicules public figures" -- itself a concept not clearly spelled out in iPhone developers agreement. Apple later reversed course in response to the controversy.
The bigger problem is that when the rules aren't clear, developers can't write innovative apps with the confidence that they'll be approved. Examples like Wi-Fi Sync are a warning to developers that their time may ultimately end up squandered, so they should think twice before pushing the boundaries. Who knows what iPhone users are missing because of that.
