Apple Rejects App For Using An Icon That Somewhat Resembles An iPhone

The number of times I get pinged about an iPhone app getting rejected is almost catching up to the number of times I get pinged for ones accepted. Obviously, it's a very small percentage that get rejected, but developers are getting increasingly annoyed -- and for good reason in some cases. Take one of my favorite apps, Instapaper , for example. Developer Marco Arment submitted version 1.4 of Instapaper several days ago for approval into the App Store. He's had several other versions approved in the past, but this one was rejected. Why? Well, he decided to use an small icon within the app that looks like it could be an iPhone. Considering this app has been made for the iPhone, it seems a bit silly that you can't use its likeness in any way. First of all, icons like this can certainly help user experience. Secondly, the icon in question could almost just as easily be a G1, or any number of other smartphones for that matter. But this is the same problem that derailed the popular game Pocket God, last week, as Arment writes on his blog. And, apparently, it's not always enforced. It would seem to be a problem that's only brought up if the person looking over the app happens to notice it.