points by rvz 6 years ago

It appears that Facebook for programmers now has an official app which has finally surfaced on the App Stores.

However, this may be terrible news for other third-party apps since Apple, Microsoft and Github can work together to forcibly shut down any unauthorised clients with legal action due to this release.

saagarjha 6 years ago

How?

  • rvz 6 years ago

    Well, I see no third party apps for having a full client for Snapchat, Instagram, Facebook or Discord at least on the iOS App Store due to this rule [0], but I certainly won't be surprised if they do the same for Google Play if they succeed on the App Store with Apple.

    GitHub can easily file a complaint and Apple will happily remove any infringing app off of the App Store.

    [0] https://developer.apple.com/app-store/review/guidelines/#int...

    • saagarjha 6 years ago

      > If your app uses, accesses, monetizes access to, or displays content from a third-party service, ensure that you are specifically permitted to do so under the service’s terms of use.

      GitHub provides an API to access all of these things.

      • rvz 6 years ago

        True, but the same was said for Instagram and Twitter. They both still have a public API for developers and then cracked down on the third-party apps and clients on the App Store with a policy change. Sure, developers can still use these public APIs as long as they don't release an app that is a full clone of their official apps.

        If Instagram, Snapchat, Twitter and Discord can draw the line on third-party clones, with the release of the official GitHub apps, they can also do this too.