Astro HQ, the creators of AstroPad Studio – a popular drawing app for the iPad – on Wednesday issued an announcement saying that Apple has rejected their plans for a ‘Camera Button’ feature.
The company’s smart idea to turn the front-facing camera on an iPad into a working software button was scheduled for announcement in the next update of AstroPad Studio. But, Apple has now turned its back on the idea, saying it contravenes their App Store review guidelines.
Astro made the announcement in a post in Medium.com. The post entitled ‘RIP Camera Button’ merely stated that the smartphone giant has rejected the idea of a camera button because it broke Apple’s iOS software rules.
“We planned to introduce the Camera Button in an update to Astropad Studio going out today. However, we are disappointed to report that the Camera Button was rejected by Apple’s App Store review under Section 2.5.9.”
This section states that apps that disable or change the functions of standard switches, including the Ring/Silent and Volume Up/Down buttons or other native behaviours or user interfaces, will not be accepted in the App Store.
Astro should perhaps not be very surprised: Apple is, after all, notorious for its near-religious adherence to its own App Store rules. The announcement is, however, likely to be a huge disappointment to supporters of AstroPad’s upcoming Luna display adaptor, which converts an iPad into a fully-fledged wireless extended Mac desktop.
The creators had initially planned to integrate the Camera Button feature in the new Luna software, but they will no longer be able to do that.
In spite of the latest disappointment, Astro HQ stated that their ‘urge to innovate’ will not end here, and that the company remained ‘committed to pushing the boundaries of software and hardware engineering so that we can create the best productivity tools possible.’