| Google voice search breaks iPhone App Store rules and gets away with it |
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| by Stephen Withers | |
| Friday, 28 November 2008 | |
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It works by detecting that the iPhone has been lifted to the user's head, records the spoken query, and then ships it off to Google for processing. And that first step is where Google ran foul of Apple's App Store rules. Developers are supposed to use only Apple's official APIs - but there is no official API for the proximity sensor that detects when the user is holding the handset in a speaking position rather than looking at the screen. Instead, Google has admitted using an undocumented API to do the job. (Daring Fireball points out that Google cleverly used a combination of the iPhone's accelerometer and proximity sensor to provide a "very nice" user interface.) Does this matter to users? What about other developers? Please read on. |
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