In January, Jake Nelson, a London-based developer, submitted a planned update to his popular new word game for iPhone to the Apple App Store, adding support for a number of new languages. It wasn’t his first app, but he wasn’t ready for what followed: it took a month of frustrating discussions with Apple App Store reviewers and 15 more or less random changes to his code before his update was mysteriously approved..
Nelson never found out why his application was first rejected and then accepted. The appeal mechanism that Apple introduced in 2020 after backlash over its control of the App Store didn’t help. The income from his game was about $1,000 a month, but dwindled during the weeks when he could not get users interested in new updates, and he considered not selling iOS apps anymore to make a living. “It seemed to me that it was an endless, completely opaque process,” he says.
survival of independent developers by punishing competitors by blocking access to new ideas
More than a dozen app developers who spoke to WIRED say the app review process has not improved despite Apple’s 2020 introduction of an appeals mechanism that could result in a phone call with an app store reviewer. The company added the process to what appeared to be a moment of remorse, following a dispute with software company Basecamp over the rejection of the email app and a lawsuit from Fortnite developer Epic Games alleging that Apple’s 30 percent reduction in in-app payments is unfair.
Adam Dema, an Apple spokesperson, denied developer reports of inconsistencies in app reviews. “They are based solely on the App Store Review Guidelines and not subjectivity,”he said.
Apple’s app review process highlights the asymmetry between the world’s most valuable company and smaller app developers, especially those who work alone. When Alin Panaitiu received a rejection notice this year for his app that lists music festivals in Romania, he was only told that it had to create a “lasting experience”in order to qualify for the App Store. After a frustrating month of speculative modifications and repeated rejections with formulaic responses, he turned to social media for help.
A few days after Panaytiou’s post gained momentum, his application was approved without explanation. The app was meant to fund his brother’s first year of college, but by the time it hit the App Store, the summer festival season was over. Panaitiou posted it for free.