Apple Amends its App Store Guidelines Regarding Templated Apps

Last week, it was reported that Apple is banning apps created using a commercialized template or app generation service from the App Store, a move that also caught the attention of the Congress as it was blocking a large number of small business apps. Today, Apple has announced that it is revising those App Store guidelines which resulted in templated apps getting banned, TechCrunch is reporting.

The company’s updated guidelines are meant to offer better clarity on what sort of apps will and will not be accepted in the App Store. Before, the 4.2.6 App Store guideline read that “Apps created from a commercialized template or app generation service will be rejected”. But now, Apple has revised the wording to clarify how it thinks about templated apps.

4.2.6 Apps created from a commercialized template or app generation service will be rejected unless they are submitted directly by the provider of the app’s content. These services should not submit apps on behalf of their clients and should offer tools that let their clients create customized, innovative apps that provide unique customer experiences.

Another acceptable option for template providers is to create a single binary to host all client content in an aggregated or “picker” model, for example as a restaurant finder app with separate customized entries or pages for each client restaurant, or as an event app with separate entries for each client event.

So basically, Apple wants every app on the App Store to be published by the business or organization behind the app, and not the app templating services. Apple will also waive its $99 developer fee in early 2018 for all government and nonprofits starting in the U.S. to make this transition easier.