Apple recently banned apps it deems "too sexy" from the App Store — and now it's gotten rid of another category of applications: WiFi locators. Apps like WiFi Finder were purged from the store yesterday. The deleted apps were more than databases of known hotpots; they actually used the iPhone's WiFi sensors to detect nearby hotspots.
Unlike the sexy-apps ban, which bans applications that Apple deems too racy, this move is technically motivated. WiFi finders run using private APIs, a type of technology built into the iPhone that may be removed in subsequent phone updates. Maybe this move means Apple is readying itself to release the next generation iPhone. If you're upset about the loss of WiFi-detecting apps, don't worry: there are plenty of products (like this keychain) that can detect a wireless signal.
Wallis
Quai D'Orsay
Halston
That's totally lame. I don't have an iPhone, and this is one of the reasons I never will. Who are they to control what I can/can't do with my tech? Ugh.
1At the wigle.net wardriving database we've seen the iPhone provide a low barrier-to-entry for this hobby. It combines a GPS with a Wifi radio, but it can only work when apps like Wifi-Where, WiFiFoFum and others are allowed to exist.
These apps were inspected for months before finally getting through the nebulous App Store approval process. Some have been available for months or even years. Now, arbitrarily, they are banned. If they use API calls that Apple didn't want them to, why were they approved? Why weren't the developers contacted behind the scenes to address any fiddly technical issues Apple might foresee?
As users all we see is a useful app, that was paid for, that now can not be updated. We can't find the least used frequency channels to set our access points to, can't take surveys of campus wireless coverage or find rogue wifi on a corporate network. And we can't help with wireless mapping projects. There's no app for that.
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