★ Retraction: The App Store Rejection of the Week That Was, in Fact, a Correct Rejection
My disdain for astrology is so utter, and my esteem for Godier’s previous work so high, that it simply never occurred to me that he might have actually made and submitted to the App Store an astrology app, let alone that he’d then feign surprise and frustration that an astrology app was rejected for being an astrology app.
Yesterday, I published an article titled “App Store Rejection of the Week: Dark Hours”. I have retracted it due to its fundamentally incorrect premise, making correction or editing pointless. The original title was also inaccurate. The original story remains available for transparency, with a preface linking to this retraction. This is the first post I’ve retracted in 24 years of writing Daring Fireball, and hopefully the last.
Terry Godier, whose work I initially covered, brought his astrology-focused app “Dark Hours” (actually named “Asterly”) to my attention in February. Later, I linked to an interactive essay by Godier titled “The Last Quiet Thing”. In April, Godier wrote about App Store’s 5-star review system. I engaged with Godier via iMessage around that time.
Yesterday, Godier posted “Browsers Have Standards, the App Store Has Judgment”. Upon publishing the original article, I received a correction: Apple's rejection was accurate, as the app was indeed astrology-based. My mistake stemmed from trusting Godier’s claim about the app’s content and not thoroughly verifying it before publishing.
Written by urgent.news from Daring Fireball's reporting — not their text. Machine-written — it may contain errors, so check the original before relying on it.
