Rejection of apps made with CoronaSDK

CoronaSDK, the wonderful few lines of code to achieve it all has integration to the OpenFeintSDK kit which offers achievements, leaderbaords etc. So making a game is a breeze, right? well, ehre are a few issues that I have run into trying to get an OpenFeint integrated.

This is not exactly a Bug but a post on how complexities and relience on several technologies can cause issues.

1. RetroBalls (yet to be released as on June 25th 2011) was created using CoronaSDK
2. To make it interesting, OpenFeint was added to provide achievements
3. a Binary was uploaded to iTunes for approval
4. The Openfeint switch was flicked to enable it.
5. One achievement was to post scores on Facebook, which was rejected by OpenFeint as it is beyond the GamePlay. Understandable. So OpenFeint rejected, requesting for the changes.
6. So, code has to be changed to cater for that, Made the changes and uploaded a new binary to iTunes
7. Remembered that the offline settings have to be updated too, so downloaded the offline settings XML file and uploaded a new binary to iTunes
8. Realised there was a spelling error and that *NEW* achievement would never work, so created a new Binary and uploaded to iTunes store.

Till here, the point was that one small change broke the chain of calm and thought.

9. Apple start to review the app.
10. Apple rejects the app as it does not do as advertised. [Sorry, what???]
I never advertised GameCenter, I have a big fat button that says OpenFeint, where the *&^$ did GameCenter come from?? OpenFeint enables GameCEnter, right!!!
11. Now Apple suggest that I have to do nothing but just enable GameCenter in the App settings and respond to the Resolution Centre message.
12. Did the needful and send them a message, the binary is still rejected, not changed to inReview

I have noticed onething about apps on the iTuens store. One earlier app created in Objective-C, Equity Reports has never seen the light of the day. Apple rejected it because the icon looked different. I updated the icon several times, checked the binary by inspecting the package and the files, for some reason they would just reject it again and again stating that the icon was different. So there are some of those reviewers and then there are some of the ones that understand and help developers.

The point of this post was to explain that OpenFeint started the trouble, and it caused more trouble. I hope that the resolution was as simple as just enabling the GameCenter in the app settings.

Game Center has customisable ID's, so one can duplicate the ID's from OpenFeint onto GameCenter, if CoronaSDK can integrate GameCenter directly, not only can we get the GameCenter functionality but also the turn-by-turn etc new features that GameCenter is adding.

While on the topic of approvals, I understand that many ue openfeint due to cross platform requirements, on iOS and Android,

1. an If statmenet can be used to use the same ID's but use GameCenter on the iOS and OpenFeint on the Android

I tried to compile one of my iOS games FREE for the Android, It was on Android Market for a while and there were quite a few installs of the same, however when I tried to put it up on the Amazon store, it got rejected. That was in a way Good and Not so good.

The reasons for rejection were
1. The OpenFeint scoring was not enabled for Android
2. A link to my webpage was created that listed all my apps for the iOS and took the user to one of them on the iOS store

now that would be a bit odd, if someone went to the iPhone store on an Android app. Even I had forgotten about that. So the testing conducted by the Amazon store was good in the sense that it made me realise the things that I had forgotten.

In summary, I can say that the apps were not rejected because they were made in CornaSDK, but due to the fact that they relied on a 3rd party tech integrated into Corona and users not having the power to utilise or change things. This feeling of helplessness is a bit frustrating. And with every tech being able to approve or reject the app, it is a process where one must *NOT* work in sections, first with one tech, get their approval, then the next, keeping the iTunes or Amazon marketplace for last, and keep like a month for all these dramas, before the app is approved.

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