One of the most popular pages on this blog is App Store Rejection Reasons. Since Apple refused to tell us what the “real” rules for the App Store approval process were, I shared my experiences in the hope that other developers could avoid making the same mistakes. The page ends with call to Apple to release all the hidden rules. Today Apple finally listened. 🙂
Here are finally the App Store Review Guidelines. The language of the guidelines is surprisingly informal; definitely not a product of Apple’s legal department. This makes it all the more believable that this is the actual internal checklist that reviewers use.
Daring Fireball has a nice collection of extracts from the guidelines that are funny, frank or puzzling.
I hope that Apple will start referring to these guidelines in their rejection emails, instead of the more diffuse paragraphs of the Developer Program License Agreement. This would also force them to add to the list as soon as apps are rejected and there’s no matching guideline to point to.
Apple also instituted an App Review Board where you appeal any app rejections. Obviously this is not an independent third party board, so don’t set your hopes too high. But instituting a formal review board is a great move by Apple. Hopefully the result will be less randomness in the approvals and rejections.
In another good move today, Apple also updated the iOS Developer Program License Agreement. Many of the egregious paragraphs that were added this spring with the apparent intent to stifle competition, have been removed. Bravo!
Now let’s hope that the HIG rules will still keep most of the bad Flash apps at bay…