[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s_xpeAXCfLc[/youtube]
A few weeks ago there were rumors indicating that Apple is about to withdraw the Evi application from the App Store which largely reproduces the functionality of the personal assistant Siri. In the end, the information turned out to be wrong because Apple did not withdraw the application but decided to work with its developers to change the elements that would generate confusion among users. He did not receive the same treatment the developer of an application called Voice Answers which was denied "access" to the App Store because its application offers a functionality much too similar to Siri.
Apple announced that all applications of this kind will not be approved in the App Store and it seems that the rule applies without discussion and Voice Answers has now arrived on the Android platform. Voice Actions offers users the opportunity to perform searches using the Wolfram Alpha platform, just like Siri, but the application would work on iOS 4.2 and would offer users the opportunity to teach the "assistant" answers to questions it does not know. The application would use a word recognition system that would work better than the one in Siri, but the great news is that this system recognizes many more languages/accents from around the world.
It is clear that Apple does not want competition for its personal assistant Siri and has every right to refuse access to the App Store to those who generate this competition, so apart from the Evi application, I don't think we will see many others that have really useful functionality.
We found that your app does not comply with the Guidelines for Using Apple's Trademarks and Copyrights, as required by the App Store Review Guidelines.
Apps that relate to Siri are not in compliance with the App Store Review Guidelines as Siri is an Apple product, and therefore covered by our Trademarks and Copyrights guidelines.
It would be appropriate to revise your app concept, app name, and marketing text to address these trademark issues.
For app design information, check out the videos: “Getting Started video: The Ingredients of Great iPhone Apps” and “iPhone User Interface Design,” available on the iOS Developer Center, And the iOS Human Interface Guidelines in particular, the sections, "Great iOS Apps Embrace the Platform and HI Design Principles" and "Human Interface Principles".
8.3
Also, we found that your app includes a feature, or features, that mimic an iOS interface or behavior, which is not in compliance with the App Store Review Guidelines.
Specifically, the app is too similar to Siri.
It would be appropriate to remove or revise these features to make them distinctly different from the iOS behaviors and interfaces to avoid causing user confusion. While the guideline specifies iPod interfaces, the spirit of the guideline includes all iOS interfaces and behaviors.
