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Apple's iOS Developer Guidelines Now Targeting Third-Party App Discovery and Promotion Tools

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macrumors bot
Original poster
Apr 12, 2001
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app_review_guidelines.jpg


PocketGamer.biz highlights a recent addition to Apple's iOS developer guidelines revealing that the company is now specifically targeting third-party apps intended to serve as repositories of information on other App Store apps, whether it be in the form of curated app discovery, promotional listings, price drops, or other similar app directory features.

The new guideline was added in a quiet update to Apple's developer documentation alongside the iPhone 5 media event last month.
2.25 Apps that display Apps other than your own for purchase or promotion in a manner similar to or confusing with the App Store will be rejected.
Click to expand...
TechCrunch has more on the situation, with industry experts suggesting that such apps will likely remain in the App Store but that Apple will no longer approve updates for them, allowing them to fade away over time.
Historically, Henschel notes that changes like this one don't result in apps being taken down right away from the App Store. Instead, he says to expect updates to begin to be refused, resulting in gradual obsolescence as hardware and iOS versions continue to change and software is no longer compatible with new versions. But even without immediate action, the financial impact could be huge, since he says that these marketing strategies represent millions of dollars in revenue to companies like Tapjoy, for instance.
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App discovery has long been a challenge for Apple given the sheer number of titles in the App Store, and Apple's acquisition of Chomp earlier this year was seen as a sign of renewed efforts at improving that experience. Apple has implemented some aspects of the Chomp interface in the App Store under iOS 6, but discovery of new apps remains difficult for many users.

Article Link: Apple's iOS Developer Guidelines Now Targeting Third-Party App Discovery and Promotion Tools
 
Article Link
https://www.macrumors.com/2012/10/01/apples-ios-developer-guidelines-now-targeting-third-party-app-discovery-and-promotion-tools/
APlotdevice

APlotdevice

macrumors 68040
Sep 3, 2011
3,145
3,861
WTF? In what way does helping consumers find and purchase apps hurt Apple? They're going to get their percentage either way!
 
zman2100

zman2100

macrumors regular
Apr 26, 2009
237
14
Florida
What does this mean for AppShopper? I'm anxiously awaiting the iPhone 5 update and hope this doesn't stop that from happening.
 
B

bobobenobi

macrumors regular
Feb 4, 2010
202
0
If iOS 6 would've made the app store experience better instead of worse, I wouldn't mind this news. The new app store is so slow that I cannot casually browse it as I did before.
 
Y

yonis

macrumors member
Jun 30, 2009
42
0
Services like Tapjoy are sure to be hit hard by this.

They game the App Store by taking money from developers who want to boost their App Store ranks, and then place those apps into lists of other apps inside of games, like so:

devices.png


Players then earn in-game currency for installing and launching those apps on their devices, which boosts App Store rankings. It's pathetic.
 
APlotdevice

APlotdevice

macrumors 68040
Sep 3, 2011
3,145
3,861
Radio said:
if it means less obtrusive in app ads for other apps im all for this.
Click to expand...

After reading this post the decision suddenly makes more sense. It could be that they are trying to kill off third party advertising services which compete with Apple's own "iAd".
 
lord patton

lord patton

macrumors 65816
Jun 6, 2005
1,052
12
Chicago
You know what would aid app discovery? Free trials.

Not to mention give users a great metric: apps that have been "tried" but not bought are likely crap.

The current system of "lite" apps just crowds the store.
 
blizaine

blizaine

macrumors 6502
Sep 17, 2003
355
157
I think the only fair thing to do is offer AppShopper and TouchArcade millions and millions of dollars and then integrate them into iOS.
 
N

nickn

macrumors 6502
Jun 17, 2011
386
0
Yet another **** move by Apple. When will the consumers stand up against this **** company. First, Apple is going to go against TapJoy and such. Next, it will be against other ad platforms, at which point IAd will suddenly be pushed more, while of course exempt from the rules so apple can collect their troll toll money...
 
P

petsounds

macrumors 65816
Jun 30, 2007
1,493
519
Chomp, huh. So this is why the iOS 6 app store is a complete clustertruck. It's hard to understate what a disaster it is, especially on the iPhone. Many developers are reporting significant (30%+) losses in revenue since the new app store rolled out.

Horizontal scrolling, no flick physics, tiny buttons, non-curated new releases hidden behind several levels of clicks -- these things together have destroyed natural app discovery.
 
Glideslope

Glideslope

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Dec 7, 2007
7,942
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The Adirondacks.
APlotdevice said:
WTF? In what way does helping consumers find and purchase apps hurt Apple? They're going to get their percentage either way!
Click to expand...

Simple: If your the CEO of BMW, how would you feel about your automobiles sharing data with Audi about their drivers favorite experiences from driving a BMW?

Probably would want your automobile's ECU to stop sending the data to Audi, no? ;)
 
B

baleensavage

macrumors 6502a
Aug 2, 2005
622
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On an island in Maine
On the plus side, this might get rid of all those "1001 free apps" or "get a free app daily" apps that are cluttering up the store. On the other hand for legitimate and useful apps like App Shopper, this is really bad news. The app store is terrible for finding apps and any app that aids that process is benefitial to Apple, Developers and Consumers. It will be a real shame to see those kind of apps gone.
 
J

jman240

macrumors 6502a
May 26, 2009
798
243
bobobenobi said:
If iOS 6 would've made the app store experience better instead of worse, I wouldn't mind this news. The new app store is so slow that I cannot casually browse it as I did before.
Click to expand...

Because of how bad the appstore is now I tend to use a 3rd party app to browser for apps instead of the official appstore. Right now I'm pretty set on Appsfire Deals (they have a great search thing) but there's also AppAdvice, AppShopper and Chomp.

The official app store is based on Chomp but chomp runs sooooo much better. I don't know how apple could have f'ed that up soo much.

Well *****.
 

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rohitp

rohitp

macrumors regular
Oct 9, 2003
156
25
Austin, Texas
bobobenobi said:
If iOS 6 would've made the app store experience better instead of worse, I wouldn't mind this news. The new app store is so slow that I cannot casually browse it as I did before.
Click to expand...

Try this to speed up your app store:

Apple is known for sneaking in automatically enabled features after updates, and it seems that this is the culprit for the slow application store. Genius for Apps is a new iOS 6 feature which personalizes recommendations on applications that users may be interested in based on the applications already installed. A feature like this can slow down your phone when using 3G or very slow Wi-Fi.

How to Disable the App Genius
To turn off Genius for Apps on your device:

Go to Settings -> Privacy -> Location Services -> System Services (scroll ALL the way down to find it).
From the System Services screen, turn off Genius for Apps.
 
J

jman240

macrumors 6502a
May 26, 2009
798
243
rohitp said:
Try this to speed up your app store:

Apple is known for sneaking in automatically enabled features after updates, and it seems that this is the culprit for the slow application store. Genius for Apps is a new iOS 6 feature which personalizes recommendations on applications that users may be interested in based on the applications already installed. A feature like this can slow down your phone when using 3G or very slow Wi-Fi.

How to Disable the App Genius
To turn off Genius for Apps on your device:

Go to Settings -> Privacy -> Location Services -> System Services (scroll ALL the way down to find it).
From the System Services screen, turn off Genius for Apps.
Click to expand...

I think that just turns off Genius' ability to recommend apps based on location data and doesn't turn off genius itself. Besides, genius shouldn't be trying to recommend apps unless I'm looking at that tab.
 
VPrime

VPrime

macrumors 68000
Dec 19, 2008
1,722
86
London Ontario
Glideslope said:
Simple: If your the CEO of BMW, how would you feel about your automobiles sharing data with Audi about their drivers favorite experiences from driving a BMW?

Probably would want your automobile's ECU to stop sending the data to Audi, no? ;)
Click to expand...

Probably the worst analogy ever.
 
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