Google voice search breaks iPhone App Store rules and gets away with it

Stephen Withers
Friday, 28 November 2008 07:49

IT Industry - Market

Apple has blocked some iPhone applications from the App Store for seemingly arbitrary reasons, but it seems that if you're big enough they'll turn a blind eye. Google has admitted that its voice search is in breach of Apple's rules

The latest version of Google Mobile App for the iPhone allows users to speak search terms instead of typing them.

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.