Last week, I launched an iOS app called SuperDose — a simple medication reminder that sends notifications to users when it’s time to take their meds.
For the app to function properly, it needs access to the Critical Alerts API. Critical Alerts allow notifications to bypass silent mode and Do Not Disturb, which is esse
17 Comments
DecentShoes
It's easy to understand: Apple is deliberately abusing its power to gain an unfair competitive advantage.
gambiting
>> 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.
dinkblam
> What’s even more confusing is that I’ve seen general-purpose to-do or reminder apps on the App Store
that somehow got approved for Critical Alerts, even though their use case seems far less urgent
thats because App Store review is a.) random and b.) they play favorites so the same rules don't apply to everyone
we got rejected because of "Mac*" in the name. we pointed them to a dozen others that had it, where it seemingly was no problem. didn't help.
indianmouse
They seem to shoot based on vague reasons. And they don't reason. If it is a no, it is a no.
Time for an alternative app store. It is needed across the world. Single point of failure and control is not good for any ecosystem. Too much dependence on one single entity if one wants to exists in that is really some sh*ty concept.
Break free and break good! EU has to help here…
Zealotux
Why can't I, the user, give a special permission to a specific app to override the silent mode just like I can with my emergency contacts?
nottorp
You have functionality that is overlapping with something provided by Apple.
It's possible they will find reasons to reject your app indefinitely.
zug_zug
Sounds like apple really needs a better review/appeal process, official set of standards, etc. Seems like it's bad for their ecosystem at this point.
nazgu1
The same is with CarPlay for example. You need to apply form entitlement. For me this is weird, it is user choice if he would like to have critical alerts, CarPlay UI and so on. And Apple have review process to not pass apps that abuse this mechanisms./
SuperShibe
This seems like something you could fix by reminding them that the DMA exists (if your app is available in the EU)
petercooper
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.
xtajv
Ok sorry, I'm going to state the obvious.
The "Apple Critical Alerts" API is clearly intended as a replacement channel for cellular emergency alerts[0]. (If not a "replacement", then perhaps a "supplemental" option. Redundancy is good when we're talking about whether "911" works).
The "Apple Critical Alert" API policy, restricting who's allowed to call the API, is a good thing. You just do not get performant public notifications if you allow just anybody to broadcast. (Milli)seconds count, people.
I hate Singleton patterns as much as anybody. And I hate when business happens behind closed doors, with limited public access, and restricted opportunity for public comment.
But again, if we're talking about the choice between
"""
locking down this one special channel, because it's responsible for real-time public safety alerts
"""
vs.
"""
asking how many broadcasters can possibly share that channel, before contention and congestion result in human-perceptible delays to alert delivery.
"""
Then I would opt for the former.
—
[0] You know how your phone will buzz REAL loud if there's like, an Amber Alert or Tsunami or something? That's a feature of the cellular system. To my knowledge, emergency alerts and 911 calls go over a separate dedicated mini-channel, which has gone by various names through POTS/2G/3G/5G and beyond.
A.K.A.s:
– Public Warning System (PWS)
– Wireless Emergency Alerts (WEAs)
– CMAS (Commercial Mobile Alert Service)
uni_baconcat
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.
bitpush
People should realize that Apple plays favorites and lets their own apps use private APIs. Developers that bet on Apple platforms (iOS in particular) are at the mercy of Apple, and the company doesnt even try to play fair most of the time.
mimsee
If this reminder app to take meds can't access this API, how can HomeAssistant's iOS app access it where, I the user, can base the trigger for a critical notification on virtually anything?
os2warpman
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.
bArray
I think the main point is being missed here:
> 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.
lapcat
For some reason the submission title is labeled (2023) even though the blog post is dated 08 May, 2025.