There's always been only one place to get an app for an iOS device without jailbreaking. Apples's App Store. It's perhaps the single greatest reason for the incredible popularity of the devices. Users can trust that apps have been verified by Apple to be safe and functional.

So what happens when apps submitted by developers to the App Store are approved and released by Apple into the store, only to be broken by Apple? That's the scenario that played out for Instapaper creator Marco Arment and many others yesterday. His blog post spells out in detail what happened to cause developer apps to crash immediately and repeatedly after being updated.

It's not the worst failing in the world, even though it can cause a great deal of trouble if people's data is lost. Honest mistakes happen. What Apple should be incredibly embarrassed about is their handling of the matter. Rather than releasing an official public statement about the problem, they chose to have a spokesman contact AllThingsD and Macworld. In this case, Apple needs to step up and do the right thing by their developers, who bore the brunt of customers frustrations. Apple, don't be evil. Even if it means you lose a little face.

Hat tip to MacStories.