Apple has made a huge change to the App Store, and it could see massive games like Candy Crush Saga fall foul of the new guidelines.
Apple has decided to start rejecting apps that use specific tactics to encourage users to view ad videos, such as giving them in-game rewards. There is also likely to be a crack down on using similar tactics to encourage social sharing.
Apps that use discovery tools to help users find other apps for download are also likely to be rejected.
Much of this came to light when a developer posted on a question and answer site for programmers, Stack Overflow, about how its app was rejected on an update when the code had previously been accepted four times before. The latest update was simply a reskin, they said.
Apple’s response was to share the following sections from its developer guidelines:
2.25: Apps that display Apps other than your own for purchase or promotion in a manner similar to or confusing with the App Store will be rejected, unless designed for a specific approved need (e.g. health management, aviation, accessibility, etc.) or to provide significant added value for a targeted group of customers.
3.10: Developers who attempt to manipulate or cheat the user reviews or chart ranking in the App Store with fake or paid reviews, or any other inappropriate methods will be removed from the iOS Developer Program.
Following the news, TechCrunch has said that Apple could go back through the App Store and pull existing apps that breach these rules. Considering a wide array of freemium apps use these techniques, we could see game-behemoths like Candy Crush Saga taken down as players are allowed to ask their friends on Facebook for more lives.
Is this approach heavy-handed? Let us know in the comments below…
Source: TechCrunch & MacRumors