{"id":33666,"date":"2021-09-16T16:44:45","date_gmt":"2021-09-16T20:44:45","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/mjtsai.com\/blog\/?p=33666"},"modified":"2021-09-17T21:12:42","modified_gmt":"2021-09-18T01:12:42","slug":"flicktype-sherlockd","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/mjtsai.com\/blog\/2021\/09\/16\/flicktype-sherlockd\/","title":{"rendered":"FlickType Sherlock+’d"},"content":{"rendered":"

Tom Maxwell<\/a> (Hacker News<\/a>):<\/p>\n

\n

But one, seemingly minor product announcement has caused a stir in the developer community: the new full software keyboard that Apple is adding to the Apple Watch.<\/p>\n

It was just last month that Kosta Eleftheriou, the developer of FlickType, announced that his swipe-based keyboard for the blind would be pulled off the App Store<\/a> over objections by Apple. Its reasoning was unclear[…]<\/p>\n

A separate version for the Apple Watch would remain, but then Apple pulled that one as well, telling Eleftheriou that keyboards aren’t allowed on the Apple Watch.<\/p>

Now Apple has announced its own, nearly-identical keyboard for the Apple Watch — and seven years after the smartwatch was introduced, no less.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n

Kosta Eleftheriou<\/a>:<\/p>\n

\n

So now we know. See you in court, @Apple.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n

Dave Mark<\/a>:<\/p>\n

I’m mystified by this decision by Apple, especially given the ratcheted up scrutiny they are under. Did they think no one would make the connection? Or did they not care about that, Sherlock business as usual?<\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n

This is much worse than a regular Sherlocking. In the past, Apple would just build a popular third-party feature into the operating system. You can argue about whether there’s a more or less fair way to do that, but at the end of the day it makes sense to have a built-in keyboard. What’s different here is that, not only does the third-party app have to compete with the built-in feature, but Apple is also using App Review to harass the developer and block updates for no good reason. Competing with Apple on an unfair playing field is difficult, but it can be done and has been many times. But you can’t compete when they won’t let you ship your app and won’t even explain why they’re rejecting it.<\/p>\n\n

Rui Carmo<\/a>:<\/p>\n

\n

Seeing the Sherlocking of FlickType streamed live to the world, however, was a major<\/em> downer (I was one of the Watch beta testers, and loved it). Apple really ought to be better than this, and I expect a fair amount of fallout over the next few days.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n

Joshua Topolsky<\/a>:<\/p>\n

This is really messed up. Apple forced a keyboard designed for the blind off of the App Store... and then announced its own version of it yesterday. COME ON you can do better than this.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n

Previously:<\/p>\n