These apps likely share many basic features and functions.Įssentially, there are questions about how far-reaching this rule would be when applied to the App Store. Heck, even Apple has a deal with IBM that allows it to build apps for enterprise customers. Sounds fine, right? Sure, until you start thinking about how many apps take advantage of development assistance tools like PhoneGap - or even apps that provide super-nifty app construction flows like TapJet. This year the big issue appears to surround rule 4.2.6, which states that “Apps created from a commercialized template or app generation service will be rejected.” AppShopper eventually returned, finding a way around the rule by adding social features - something which the App Store still largely lacks, by the way.
I remember the crushing of apps like AppShopper and AppGratis, for instance, under the boot heel of rule 2.25, which forbid apps from “duplicating” the features of the App Store. This corpus of rules can be, in turns, opaque and explicit, and has caused a decent amount of consternation over the years for developers as they try to read into how Apple might interpret one rule or another.
Every time Apple’s developer conference rolls around we get a smattering of changes to the App Store Review guidelines.
