Apple allows previously banned 'Camera +' back into iPhone App Store

More than four months after it was banned for allowing users to snap a picture with the iPhone's volume buttons, the application "Camera +" has been allowed back into the App Store by Apple.

The application from developer TapTapTap is once again available in the App Store at an introductory price of 99 cents. Dubbed "Camera + 2," the application was announced on Wednesday with more than 50 new features.

The post on the company's official blog by TapTapTap head John Casasanta makes no mention of developer's previous dispute with Apple, which led to the iPhone maker removing Camera + from the App Store. Those who owned the previous version of the application will receive the update for free.

"We've been pretty busy for the past several months working on the latest and greatest version of our flagship app, Camera+," the blog post reads.

New features include sliders for adjusting effects on photos, the ability to export geolocation and metadata when saving pictures to the camera roll, and a faster startup time. Not likely among them is an "Easter egg" or physical shutter button option.

The popular application was pulled from the App Store by Apple in August after it was discovered that the software violated Apple's developer agreement terms. The previous version of the software had an "Easter egg" feature that allowed users to make an iPhone volume control button act as a shutter button to take pictures.

The developer had previously attempted to include the feature, called "VolumeSnap," in a more direct way, but Apple rejected it. The company, which approves every application made for sale on the App Store, said that the volume shutter button could result in "user confusion."

Instead, TapTapTap included the feature in Camera +, but hid it. It revealed via its official Twitter account that entering a URL into the Mobile Safari browser on the iPhone could activate the feature.

Before it was pulled from the App Store, the popular application grossed nearly a half million dollars in its first two months of availability. As of Wednesday morning, it is the ninth most popular paid iPhone application on the App Store.


Information retrieved from: http://www.appleinsider.com


(C) 2010 Sam Oliver