Apple has revised their App Store guidelines for developers and it contains some pretty simple language. I took a few moments to read through this and I actually found these quite humourous, almost like it was straight from the mouth of Steve Jobs. This straight from the hip language is reminiscent of what Steve would reply to in an email. Take a gander at the intro:
- We have over 250,000 apps in the App Store. We don’t need any more Fart apps.
- If your app doesn’t do something useful or provide some form of lasting entertainment, it may not be accepted.
- If your App looks like it was cobbled together in a few days, or you’re trying to get your first practice App into the store to impress your friends, please brace yourself for rejection. We have lots of serious developers who don’t want their quality Apps to be surrounded by amateur hour.
- We will reject Apps for any content or behavior that we believe is over the line. What line, you ask? Well, as a Supreme Court Justice once said, “I’ll know it when I see itâ€. And we think that you will also know it when you cross it.
- If your app is rejected, we have a Review Board that you can appeal to. If you run to the press and trash us, it never helps.
This is a living document, and new apps presenting new questions may result in new rules at any time. Perhaps your app will trigger this.
It’s great that Apple is finally clarifying what they expect from developers. With 250,000 apps and growing, the focus now should be on quality apps and not just on quantity. My biggest beef with the App Store is trying to find those “hidden gems”. Yes, we have Genius to help us decide, but most of the time my favourite apps have been passed down the chain from friends.
What do you think of these blunt points in the App Store Guidelines?
