Apple, Google: Google Now not submitted to App Store
Both companies tell CNET that the app was never brought to the App Store's submission service, despite Eric Schmidt indicating it might have been.
Google Now has not been submitted yet to Apple's App Store, the iPhone maker told CNET. And Google itself has now confirmed this.
Earlier today, Google Executive Chairman Eric Schmidt spoke at the Big Tent Summit in India and was asked when Google Now would be made available to iOS devices. In a coded response, Schmidt stopped short of calling out Apple but did seem to hint that the iPhone maker was playing a role in the app's availability on its platform.
"You'll need to discuss that with Apple," Schmidt said. "Apple has a policy of approving or disapproving apps that are submitted into its store, and some of the apps we make they approve and some of them they don't."
However, Apple told CNET that the Google Now application was never submitted for approval to its App Store. And now Google has confirmed this, with a representative telling us that, "Yes, I can confirm for you: We have not submitted Google Now to Apple's App Store."
Apple and Google have been fighting an odd war of words over the App Store and its approval process since the iPhone maker kicked Google Maps out of iOS. Soon after, reports swirled that Apple was holding up Google Maps from being approved for the App Store, though Apple denied those claims. Google Maps was allowed into the App Store and quickly became the top app in the marketplace.
Google Now debuted at last year's Google I/O conference. The app can access calendar information, as well as e-mail, news, and transportation feeds, among other data, to deliver relevant information based on a user's location. The app currently works on Android and Chrome.
Update, 2:42 p.m. PT: Adds Google's confirmation that Google Now had not been submitted to the App Store; recasts headline, summary, and story itself to reflect that information.