The app designed to provide alerts on kidnapped kids in the US is now available, gratis, on iTunes. As we reported last month, Jonathan Zdziarski, creator of the first iPhone forensics toolkit,  developed the AMBER alert . These alerts are issued when missing child cases are granted Amber status –  kidnappings of children under age 17 who police believe to be in danger of  bodily harm or death. The iPhone Amber app provides a real-time feed of recent alerts including victim photos, suspect photos and descriptions, vehicle photos and descriptions and a reporting mechanism allowing users to report sightings. The Amber Alert program was created in 1996 after the kidnapping and killing of nine-year-old Amber Hagerman. The application was approved just two days after Zdziarski emailed Steve Jobs pleading for him to help expedite the app’s approval after waiting over a month, though Apple has not said if his letter had any effect on the approval. Via ars technica

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AMBER Alert app for iPhone Released

Filed under: Analysis / Opinion , Odds and ends , Internet , Apple , Developer , iPhone , App Store , iPod touch Jonathan Zdziarski, who has appeared on this pages before for other iPhone-related hijinx, has written an open letter to Apple about the AMBER Alert iPhone app he’s written. Apparently he’s worked in conjunction with government agencies to set up an iPhone app that can easily and quickly send sighting reports of children gone missing in the United States. And he’s unhappy with Apple, because they haven’t yet approved it. His letter, which you can read in full over here , complains that we’ve got tons of fart apps already approved on the store, but his app still sits in approval purgatory. He actually sounds kind of selfish in the letter to me — he says he doesn’t care about how the App Store works, and that he just wants someone to “pick up the phone” and push his app, which could save children’s lives , through. We’ve got nothing against the AMBER Alert system, of course, and if it’s true that this app can get more reports in and possibly help kids who are in danger, then great. But do we really want Apple picking and choosing which apps get kicked to the front of the line?

Originally posted here:
AMBER Alert appmaker not happy with submission process

Jonathan Zdziarski, creator of the first iPhone forensics toolkit,  has developed a new iPhone app called AMBER alert, aimed at helping find kidnapped children in the US. These alerts are issued when missing child cases are granted Amber status –  kidnappings of children under age 17 who police believe to be in danger of  bodily harm or death. Zdziarski’s  iPhone application will provide a real-time feed of recent alerts including victim photos and information, suspect photos and descriptions, vehicle photos and descriptions and a reporting mechanism allowing users to report sightings. The Amber Alert program was created in 1996 after the kidnapping and killing of nine-year-old Amber Hagerman from Arlington, Texas. The free app is pending approval by Apple. Via MacNN

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iPhone Alert App for Kidnapped Kids in the Works