Apple Pulls WiFi Hotspot Location Apps Over Private Framework Issues: Reports
Developers of such apps as WiFi-Where, WiFiFoFum, and yFy said that Apple banned their apps for using private frameworks to access wireless information, according to Softpedia, an online forum focused on free software downloads.
Softpedia wrote on Thursday that the developer of WiFi-Where told the organization that the app seems to have been pulled over concerns that it used private frameworks for accessing wireless information, and that the same situation seems to also apply to the other pulled apps.
"Hopefully Apple will allow this functionality in a future SDK," Softpedia quoted the developer as saying in an email.
According to the iPhone Wiki, frameworks are folders which contain a dynamic library and related resources such as images and localization strings.
The iPhone OS has both public frameworks, which are endorsed by Apple for use in its App Store apps, and private frameworks, which are intended for use only in original Apple apps.
The WiFi-Where app used both GPS and cellular triangulation as well as the built-in 802.11 radio to find hotspots wherever the user is, Softpedia wrote.
However, a number of other WiFi hotspot location apps are still available from the App Store which use the iPhone's GPS or network triangulation capabilities, which lead Softpedia to speculate that the 802.11 radio functionality caused the private framework issue.