Apple Says App Store ‘Welcomes Competition’ in New ‘Principles and Practices’ Post

Apple has published a new press release explaining and extolling the App Store’s guidelines and developer program.

Faced with a recent Supreme Court ruling that has opened the door to antitrust lawsuits over its App Store commissions and policies, Apple today launched a defense in the form of a web page spotlighting its app platform’s principles and practices.

“We created the App Store with two goals in mind: that it be a safe and trusted place for customers to discover and download apps, and a great business opportunity for all developers,” begins the Cupertino company.

The page shares specific details on App Review practices, including the following stats:

• Every week, 100,000 apps are reviewed
• Of those 100,000, 60 percent are approved, and 40 percent rejected
• The most common rejections are due to bugs, followed by privacy concerns
• The App Review team makes ~1,000 calls per week to developers to help resolve rejection issues

The company explains that its “rigorous app review process” uses a combination of human experts and automated systems and has removed over 1.4 million apps due to compatibility issues alone.



Apple also outlines the different business models apps can utilize on the App Store and notes that 84 percent of apps are free. It’s unclear if this percentage includes apps with In-App Purchases and subscriptions.

Lastly, Apple states that it welcomes competition on the App Store. System apps like Calendar, Mail, and Apple Music are listed alongside popular third-party competitors; Fantastical, Spark, and Spotify are a few third-party alternatives that Apple singles out.

“We believe competition makes everything better and results in the best apps for our customers,” states Apple. “We also care about quality over quantity, and trust over transactions. That’s why, even though other stores have more users and more app downloads, App Store earns more money for developers. Our users trust Apple — and that trust is critical to how we operate a fair, competitive store for developer app distribution.”