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Apple recently provided download stats for developers on the App Store, but it seems that not all the fruit is ripe in the orchard.

Nullriver, of recent NetShare fame, has yet to find out why NetShare is not available on the App Store. In an update to their site they detail their difficulties.

We still haven’t gotten any answer from Apple as to why NetShare was removed from the App Store. Calls to ADC yield wait times of a few hours and we’re forced to give up. E-mails to various contacts at Apple and the developer program have also given us no response. Is this acceptable business practice? We don’t think so. When an application fails to be approved or even more importantly so, when an application gets removed from sale, Apple should be required to provide a valid reason.

But Nullriver isn’t the only developer having communication issues with Apple. Box Office, a popular app for finding local movie times and ratings, has also been removed from the App Store with no reason from Apple to the developer.

In both cases, the developers have made more than an honest effort to contact Apple but neither have received any notifications or reasons for the disappearance of the apps. I agree wholeheartedly with these developers. Apple needs to communicate better. You can’t have a great App Store without great apps, and you can’t have those without great developers. Apple should be treating developers much better considering how much of a selling point great apps are for selling the iPhone and iPod Touch.