> Apple’s own Health app uses Critical Alerts for its medication reminders, so I assumed my use case would qualify. I submitted a request for access to the API, but it was rejected.
I think what is being developed is a competitor to a space that Apple are in and want to be more involved in, and that is why you will not get permission to use the necessary API.
I use "Apple’s own Health app" medication reminders and from what I can see, they do not use Critical Alerts. They behave differently from the app I use that prompts me of the sugar levels of a relative (that app does use Critical Alerts, and the difference is very clear.)
I don’t know if a pill reminder app rises to the level of importance where a critical alert is needed.
There are only five apps on my phone, out of over a hundred, that use critical alerts.
PulsePoint, if someone near me is having a heart attack
Messages, if one of my kids is in trouble
Health, if I am having a heart attack
Home, if my smoke alarm is going off
ActiveAlert, my fire department’s dispatch notification app, which will tell me where to drive the ambulance if someone is having a heart attack
If I’m in a darkened theater and someone nearby needs cpr, my house is on fire, or one of my kids is in trouble I want the phone to make a sound.
I want someone else’s phone to make a sound if they get those notifications, too.
If it’s time to take their atorvastatin I don’t give a shit their phone better stay shut the hell up.
If someone’s calendar app slipped through the cracks and got permission to issue critical alerts, THAT is the problem, not the fact that a pill reminder app can’t.
If I miss the dosing window by more than an hour or so it'll either ruin my sleep or ruin my day after lunch, I have responsibilities and can easily lose track of time for an hour or two while working or in meetings, so the iOS medication reminders are very useful to me personally, at least.
edit: though if I remember or see the initial reminder and log it, it obviously won't go off with sound. If it pings, I've basically always already forgotten.
With all due respect and without knowing your clinical history at all, this level of sensitivity to a statin probably warrants a review of your med with your provider.
I understand and share your feeling, however I think OP question is interesting enough to deserve a more complete response. Trying to frame it another way:
Is that specific non-par feature voluntary from Apple or might them just didn’t thought about it yet? If that’s voluntary, what’s the logic that make them think it’s better for their business to not allow that feature?
>> By this logic, even the Health app shouldn't be allowed to use it.
Apple is well known for giving their own apps permissions that no(or few) other apps can get - it's an unfair advantage and they keep getting slapped for it in courts but clearly not enough for them to stop doing it.
I could shorten this to "I can't understand Apple" much of the time. I love Apple products, but they do make some wacky decisions that surely make sense somehow (probably due to scale, regulation, or business aims) but the reasoning is entirely opaque nowadays. One thing I thought Steve Jobs did reasonably well was at least try to justify Apple's decisions, but they don't have anyone who levels with people in that way anymore.
I have checked all apps on my phone. Besides Apple first party apps such as Home and Message, only one earthquake alert app has this level of notification.
Or more likely, Apple reviewers aren't paid so well and have 3 minutes to review each submission so they just reject for the first reason that comes up.
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> Apple’s own Health app uses Critical Alerts for its medication reminders, so I assumed my use case would qualify. I submitted a request for access to the API, but it was rejected.
I think what is being developed is a competitor to a space that Apple are in and want to be more involved in, and that is why you will not get permission to use the necessary API.
Deleted Comment
There are only five apps on my phone, out of over a hundred, that use critical alerts.
PulsePoint, if someone near me is having a heart attack
Messages, if one of my kids is in trouble
Health, if I am having a heart attack
Home, if my smoke alarm is going off
ActiveAlert, my fire department’s dispatch notification app, which will tell me where to drive the ambulance if someone is having a heart attack
If I’m in a darkened theater and someone nearby needs cpr, my house is on fire, or one of my kids is in trouble I want the phone to make a sound.
I want someone else’s phone to make a sound if they get those notifications, too.
If it’s time to take their atorvastatin I don’t give a shit their phone better stay shut the hell up.
If someone’s calendar app slipped through the cracks and got permission to issue critical alerts, THAT is the problem, not the fact that a pill reminder app can’t.
edit: though if I remember or see the initial reminder and log it, it obviously won't go off with sound. If it pings, I've basically always already forgotten.
Doesn't that depend a lot on the types of pills a person takes and their mental needs?
> If it’s time to take their atorvastatin I don’t give a shit their phone better stay shut the hell up.
I have it on good authority that some people's phones even make sounds when they get something as trivial as a phone call
Is that specific non-par feature voluntary from Apple or might them just didn’t thought about it yet? If that’s voluntary, what’s the logic that make them think it’s better for their business to not allow that feature?
Apple is well known for giving their own apps permissions that no(or few) other apps can get - it's an unfair advantage and they keep getting slapped for it in courts but clearly not enough for them to stop doing it.
It's possible they will find reasons to reject your app indefinitely.
Or more likely, Apple reviewers aren't paid so well and have 3 minutes to review each submission so they just reject for the first reason that comes up.
b) Standards has been in place for over a decade: https://developer.apple.com/app-store/review/guidelines