So, I released Jettison 1.2.3 three weeks ago. It fixed some problems that Jettison was having with Mac OS 10.8.

I simultaneously submitted version 1.2.3 to the Mac App Store, since we sell it both directly from our website and through the App Store. Then I waited for it to be reviewed and approved. And waited. And waited. Customers who purchased Jettison through the Mac App Store sent emails, asking when the update would be available for them. The version available from the web site didn’t know that they’d purchased Jettison from Apple because we’re required to use a different licensing scheme for the Mac App Store vs. our direct-sale version.  “I don’t know,” I replied, “I’m waiting for Apple to review it and approve it for sale.” These customers were understandably annoyed, since the version they have doesn’t work well on Mountain Lion.

Yes, notice the present tense in that last sentence. “The version they HAVE…”  Folks who bought Jettison through the Mac App Store still don’t have an update, three weeks after it was finished and submitted for review.

So I’m sick of waiting and telling our customers to wait for the update to be available via the Mac App Store.  Here’s Jettison 1.2.4 – it fixes a sound problem when you’ve got your speakers muted, but more importantly, it recognizes the receipt embedded in versions of Jettison purchased through the Mac App Store. That means that people who purchased Jettison via the Mac App Store can now upgrade to this version by simply downloading a copy and running it once from the disk image before copying it to their Applications folder to replace their old copy.

I have no idea why Jettison 1.2.3’s status in iTunesConnect is still “waiting for review.” When I asked, Apple sent a non-committal email saying “Please be assured that your app has not been forgotten. Unfortunately we cannot provide an estimate of when a review will start or how long it will take to complete due to the variety of factors that contribute to the review process.” Thanks guys.

If you want real customer service and timely updates, buy software directly from the developers. We want to support our products and give you timely updates. The Mac App Store makes it harder to do that.