Duerr persisted. "Is there something we can change or alter in order to regain compliance and get back in the Store?" he asked.

"I can't say," responded Richard.

VoiceCentral was approved by Apple for the App Store in late April, and although it had not sold in large numbers, sales had been on an upswing in the last few weeks, Duerr said, after Google announced it was offering its own application for the .

On Thursday, Duerr was still obviously upset at the treatment Riverturn received. "My sincere belief [Tuesday] was that I got through to them, and that someone from Apple would actually talk to me about this," he said, referring to a repeated requests to Richard that he ask his manager to contact Riverturn. "But no, we haven't heard a thing from them."

Apple has a checkered history in its dealings with iPhone developers. Other applications, such as , have been yanked with similar cryptic explanations.