Mastodawn

Folks, I did it. I just submitted Short Circuit to the App Store. 🥲

A fully native app for ChatGPT with Siri and Shortcuts support, on iOS, iPad, and Mac. It took @Soroush and I only 19 days to build out the app and server, but I didn't skimp on the details. There's a lot you can do with the app, and even more features coming soon.

I'll share more information in the coming days, but I've been working 10-12 hour days for the last 3 days, so I'm going to take a nice walk and then get some rest.

Welp, Short Circuit was rejected, and for no reason. Guess I’m going to spend my morning resubmitting the app and waiting to see if Apple accepts it this time.

Rejected again… for reasons that were already corrected, and another that is clearly not an issue for other apps. 😤

What we’ll probably end up doing is submitting a version of Short Circuit missing one feature and then appeal to Apple, but it’s pretty frustrating that they don’t seem to understand the domain of LLMs enough to understand why what we’re trying to do is helpful to users.

What special hell is this? Short Circuit has finally been approved after six rejections, but the in app purchases are still waiting for review. I mean, come on.

At least I'm using this time effectively rather than twiddling my thumbs. I just added markdown support with the ability to copy code snippets, you’ll be able to use it WHENEVER APPLE APPROVES THIS VERSION.

Got a phone call from App Review and it was… very polite and productive. The Apple employee agreed that it was "a little silly" to use his words that Apple kept rejecting us over perfectly valid wording choices, and they're going to allow us to bring resubmit the Lifetime Unlock feature that was being rejected. We even brainstormed the best ways to accomplish this, and he gave me his phone number that in case we get rejected again. Overall A+ experience after a very, very, very frustrating week.

Adam Wulf Mar 28, 2023

@mergesort very glad to hear it! what a frustrating experience 😞

Michael Critz Mar 28, 2023

@mergesort Breaking the narrative! It shouldn’t have taken so long, but glad you got help.

@pixelscience Thanks! Still waiting on a review (and then another for the functionality we want to add) but it's the first time I've felt hopeful in a few days. ❤️

Simon B. Støvring Mar 28, 2023

@mergesort This has also been my experiences the times I have had a phone call with App Review. They are very kind people who are great at their job and it seems like it’s somehow their systems, guidelines, and politics that are getting in the way when communicating with them through App Store Connect. It’s too wildly different experiences at least.

Dr. Juande Santander-Vela Mar 28, 2023

@simonbs @mergesort pinging @pschiller so that the good parts of App Review can be helped to avoid the bad parts of App Review…

@simonbs That all sounds right to me, at least based on this experience. 😓

Greg Gardner Mar 28, 2023

@mergesort That is great to hear. It must have been Bill.

@gregggreg Richard actually. 🤔

Greg Gardner Mar 29, 2023

@mergesort wow that is surprising. The last time I spoke with Richard he was not empathetic or helpful in any way. Good to hear that has changed. I hope for a quick resolution for you and I'm sorry to hear you had to deal with this.

Felix Lapalme Mar 28, 2023

@mergesort I initially wanted this app but now I NEED it

@Lapfelix That's what I keep saying!!

Felix Lapalme Mar 28, 2023

@mergesort that’s how you’re trying to convince Apple to approve it? 😂
“No you don’t understand! People NEED this app”

@Lapfelix I'm willing to try anything at this point. 😭

Soroush Mar 28, 2023

@mergesort thank you king!

Pierre Mar 28, 2023

@mergesort this looks gooood! Tangentially related: are you using a swift package for markdown support? I desperately need one for one of my projects!

@_pierre_ Thank you Pierre! It's a third party package, I only had an hour or two so I took the default styling and played with it a little bit until it looked like something I could ship. https://github.com/shaps80/MarkdownText

GitHub - shaps80/MarkdownText: A native SwiftUI view for rendering Markdown text in an iOS or macOS app

A native SwiftUI view for rendering Markdown text in an iOS or macOS app - GitHub - shaps80/MarkdownText: A native SwiftUI view for rendering Markdown text in an iOS or macOS app

GitHub

Pierre Mar 28, 2023

@mergesort thanks, will look into it!

Brandon Horst Mar 28, 2023

@_pierre_ @mergesort I’m using swift-markdown-ui for a very similar purpose, and I’m having a good experience with it. https://github.com/gonzalezreal/swift-markdown-ui

GitHub - gonzalezreal/swift-markdown-ui: Display and customize Markdown text in SwiftUI

Display and customize Markdown text in SwiftUI. Contribute to gonzalezreal/swift-markdown-ui development by creating an account on GitHub.

GitHub