Apple Pulls Shadow Cloud Gaming Service From App Store for Violating Guidelines

[MacRumors]

Cloud gaming service Shadow has had its apps removed from the App Store after it was found to be in violation of Apple's guidelines.

For those unfamiliar with the service, Shadow allows subscribers to play triple-A titles on their smartphones, tablets, set-top boxes and computers, while high-end remote servers take the burden of processing the graphically intensive games.

The French company that runs the service confirmed via a Reddit post that Apple has removed its streaming apps for iOS and Apple TV from the App Store for a "failure to act in accordance with a specific part of the Apple App Store Guidelines." The Shadow app for Macs was unaffected by the other apps' removal and remains available on the Shadow website.

In the announcement, the company said it was "currently investigating the situation" and would be working on a plan to bring Shadow back to Apple device users as soon as possible.

It's unclear what aspect of Apple's App Store policy the service has contravened, but the situation sounds similar to when Apple rejected Valve's Steam Link app in May 2018 due to App Store review guideline violations related to in-app purchases.

Valve's app eventually returned to the App Store a later, but only after it removed the option to purchase games from within the app.

Article Link: Apple Pulls Shadow Cloud Gaming Service From App Store for Violating Guidelines

 

[redneckitengineer]

Hmm, smells of anti competitive Arcade....

 

[Puppuccino]

I mean, I won’t pretend Apple isn’t at fault and they’re potentially stopping competition for Apple Arcade, but in the same way when you come into my house I’ll make sure you take your shoes off. It’s Apple’s rules.

 

[GeoStructural]

Hmm, smells of anti competitive Arcade....

Absolutely anticompetitive and they need to be stopped.
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when you come into my house I’ll make sure you take your shoes off. It’s Apple’s rules.

No. You pay over $1000 for your phone or tablet, it belongs to you. The App Store has rules, but those rules have to be within the law, with over a billion active devices they cannot monopolize something as harmless as offering games, come on, it is not like they are offering pornography.

As developers they also have to pay Apple to have their application in the store, they have a right to ask and make things fair. There is also no alternative store on the ecosystem, which is not very fair to begin with. Apps installed from the AppStore are NOT more secure, that’s an effing lie, review process is very weak when it comes to privacy and security, they mostly screen for stupid stuffs like “embracing the notch”, “usage of shaking/vibrating” and complying with Apple’s financial advantage.

 

[redneckitengineer]

I mean, I won’t pretend Apple isn’t at fault and they’re potentially stopping competition for Apple Arcade, but in the same way when you come into my house I’ll make sure you take your shoes off. It’s Apple’s rules.

But when you force me into your house at gunpoint.... because you hate your neighbors.... Just saying

 

[Appleman3546]

It’s too bad that iOS on our phones don’t have a way to download apps from the browser like Macs...it is funny that Apple only removed the iOS app where that is the sole distribution method

 

[Scottsoapbox]

Is it really too much to ask that the hourly workers that are deciding the fate of all but the biggest apps list the violated guideline(s)?

Seems bizarre that the default is for the developer to have to guess what they did wrong.

 

[Henrar]

Hmm, smells of anti competitive Arcade....

Arcade doesn’t compete with cloud gaming services.

 

[CarlJ]

But when you force me into your house at gunpoint.... because you hate your neighbors.... Just saying

Who forced you at gunpoint to buy an iPhone? Have they been arrested and prosecuted for doing so?

 

[jclardy]

I mean, I won’t pretend Apple isn’t at fault and they’re potentially stopping competition for Apple Arcade, but in the same way when you come into my house I’ll make sure you take your shoes off. It’s Apple’s rules.

I agree with this on the basis of the App Store itself, Apple should be able to govern what is permitted there. The problem is that the App Store is the only gateway to install software on an iPad or iPhone. Just add a way to allow third party apps (and lock it down with a bunch of scary switches and dialogs that explain the security implications) and then everyone will be happy, and the iOS platform will actually be able to grow.

The problem right now is anything that isn’t permitted in the App Store, or that is maybe “possibly” permissible gets thrown away, because a company can’t risk spending years building a large product to get bullied by apple (Plus the 30% cut making any low margin businesses impossible.) Having a third-party way to distribute your app gives companies an “out” that will allow them to still build professional software and not have to risk their entire company going under because an app reviewer was having a bad day.

If Apple wants the iPad to be the future of computing for most people - it needs to open the boundaries to what is possible on the platform.

 

[victorm1]

I agree with this on the basis of the App Store itself, Apple should be able to govern what is permitted there. The problem is that the App Store is the only gateway to install software on an iPad or iPhone. Just add a way to allow third party apps (and lock it down with a bunch of scary switches and dialogs that explain the security implications) and then everyone will be happy, and the iOS platform will actually be able to grow.

The problem right now is anything that isn’t permitted in the App Store, or that is maybe “possibly” permissible gets thrown away, because a company can’t risk spending years building a large product to get bullied by apple (Plus the 30% cut making any low margin businesses impossible.) Having a third-party way to distribute your app gives companies an “out” that will allow them to still build professional software and not have to risk their entire company going under because an app reviewer was having a bad day.

If Apple wants the iPad to be the future of computing for most people - it needs to open the boundaries to what is possible on the platform.

You could use Cydia...

 

[Pakaku]

Cutting out Steam's storefront from their streaming app has not stopped me from buying games from them anyways, and has not encouraged me to buy games from Apple's store. I don't see that changing for this app either. It's both anti-competitive and anti-consumer.

 

[redneckitengineer]

Who forced you at gunpoint to buy an iPhone? Have they been arrested and prosecuted for doing so?

My employer, not at gunpoint, but Android is considered a data risk and is banned

 

[cmaier]

Absolutely anticompetitive and they need to be stopped.
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No. You pay over $1000 for your phone or tablet, it belongs to you. The App Store has rules, but those rules have to be within the law, with over a billion active devices they cannot monopolize something as harmless as offering games, come on, it is not like they are offering pornography.

As developers they also have to pay Apple to have their application in the store, they have a right to ask and make things fair. There is also no alternative store on the ecosystem, which is not very fair to begin with. Apps installed from the AppStore are NOT more secure, that’s an effing lie, review process is very weak when it comes to privacy and security, they mostly screen for stupid stuffs like “embracing the notch”, “usage of shaking/vibrating” and complying with Apple’s financial advantage.

There are hundreds of thousands of third party games available on the App Store.

“Monopolizing” apparently doesn’t mean what you think it means.

 

[jlc1978]

Absolutely anticompetitive and they need to be stopped.
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No. You pay over $1000 for your phone or tablet, it belongs to you. The App Store has rules, but those rules have to be within the law, with over a billion active devices they cannot monopolize something as harmless as offering games, come on, it is not like they are offering pornography.

As developers they also have to pay Apple to have their application in the store, they have a right to ask and make things fair. There is also no alternative store on the ecosystem, which is not very fair to begin with. Apps installed from the AppStore are NOT more secure, that’s an effing lie, review process is very weak when it comes to privacy and security, they mostly screen for stupid stuffs like “embracing the notch”, “usage of shaking/vibrating” and complying with Apple’s financial advantage.

I disagree. Apple is not the only choice out there, there are plenty of of other venues to sell apps besides Apple's App store. Merely because they represent a lucrativbe market does not make them a monopoly. Apple, like any otehr store, is free to set their own rules underwhich they will carry a product. Developrs can decide wether or not they want to be part of the ecosystem.

Sure there are rules as to how they may act in the market; but the notion that somehow they must be forced to be more open because they control app availability is, IMHO, wrong since they are not a monopoly. You have to look at the entire market, of which iPhone/iPad are but one part; and whose market is very competitive.

 

[vir2l2k]

I have tested shadow many times over the last 2 years, both their systems and service were bad. maybe it was better in the us than in europe. I know they rebooted their service this year but I built a hackintosh and have a proper gaming experience now.

 

[farewelwilliams]

as a developer, the only thing Apple is doing wrong is allowing apps passing reviews that break the guidelines. it’s extremely frustrating when you think your app is fine because it passed the review but Apple pulls it without warning. makes engineering apps extremely difficult

 

[Puppuccino]

But when you force me into your house at gunpoint.... because you hate your neighbors.... Just saying

That makes no sense 🤣

 

[H3LL5P4WN]

I don't see how this is anti-competitive.

Apple Arcade and Steam(link)/Epic/GOG/Shadow/Moonshine/GeForce Now are entirely different services. AA lets you play iDevice-optimized games ala cart, the latter services stream your PC games to your device.

 

[cmaier]

as a developer, the only thing Apple is doing wrong is allowing apps passing reviews that break the guidelines. it’s extremely frustrating when you think your app is fine because it passed the review but Apple pulls it without warning. makes engineering apps extremely difficult

By the time you pass review you've already put the work in.

What would be nice is if Apple would offer an "advisory" review service. You provide them with mock ups, an explanation of what the app does and how it works, and they ask any questions they have. In the end they either say yes or no. If they say yes, then as long as you stick to what you promised you would do, you're in. If no, then at least you haven't put in all the engineering effort (only some of it).

 

[GeoStructural]

I disagree. Apple is not the only choice out there, there are plenty of of other venues to sell apps besides Apple's App store. Merely because they represent a lucrativbe market does not make them a monopoly. Apple, like any otehr store, is free to set their own rules underwhich they will carry a product. Developrs can decide wether or not they want to be part of the ecosystem.

Sure there are rules as to how they may act in the market; but the notion that somehow they must be forced to be more open because they control app availability is, IMHO, wrong since they are not a monopoly. You have to look at the entire market, of which iPhone/iPad are but one part; and whose market is very competitive.

Can you tell me another platform to sell apps in iOS and iPad OS?

 

[_Refurbished_]

There are hundreds of thousands of third party games available on the App Store.

“Monopolizing” apparently doesn’t mean what you think it means.

In the context he’s referring to, the entire App Store, yes, they are monopolizing the platform to distribute games.

 

[Pman17]

Well that just ruined all hope for Cloud Gaming.

& Apple just killed Shadow because I bet it’s because you can purchase games through Steam or any desktop client. They would have to magically block that ability, which is probably impossible.

 

[drcre8tive]

My problem with Apple's hardline stance (on this sort of in-App purchase topic) is that it makes the AppleTV experience weaker, not stronger. Look at the Amazon Prime video app on AppleTV. You can't BUY or RENT a movie using the app, because then Apple would get a cut of the sale. It's just a dumb blanket rule, which hurts us, the consumer. Sure I can go rent a movie using any web browser, then watch it through the App, but its a convoluted work around.

 

[CarlJ]

Can you tell me another platform to sell apps in iOS and iPad OS?

Can you tell me another way to sell products in Target besides going through Target's official channels and following their rules?

iOS/iPadOS are widely known to have an App Store that has some restrictions on what it allows in. Lots of people buy iPhones and iPads knowing and accepting that those rules are in place.

Say a bunch of people you want to talk to go into a restaurant that has a dress code. You can't just say, "but I want to talk to them, so you have to let me in even though I'm not dressed properly." Your choices are to abide by the rules, or don't go in there. You can blame those people for choosing that restaurant, but they chose it. You can go to a different restaurant (there are many). You don't try to pass laws abolishing all dress codes just so that you can get into that restaurant.

I chose iPhones and iPads knowing those restrictions were there, and in small part because those restrictions are there. If that upsets you because you can't then try to sell me your app, too bad.
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My problem with Apple's hardline stance (on this sort of in-App purchase topic) is that it makes the AppleTV experience weaker, not stronger. Look at the Amazon Prime video app on AppleTV. You can't BUY or RENT a movie using the app, because then Apple would get a cut of the sale. It's just a dumb blanket rule, which hurts us, the consumer. Sure I can go rent a movie using any web browser, then watch it through the App, but its a convoluted work around.

It's annoying and frustrating and... understandable. The problem is, Apple is dealing with a volume of literally millions of apps. Tens or hundreds of thousands of developers. If they made a blanket rule that apps could allow purchases of in-app-usable goods from outside, then a huge percentage of the apps in the store would switch to "free with (outside) IAPs to activate all functionality", and the App Store would make effectively zero money. And pretty much any suggestion on how to police it to keep that from happening would involve either only giving the big companies/apps (like Amazon Prime) such a deal, or having to deal with requests for exemptions on a 1-by-1 basis for hundreds of thousands of apps/developers. Come up with a workable solution that still gets Apple substantial money, and scales to millions of apps without requiring manual review of every one, and they may listen.

There are problems with the App Store (some quite annoying), but the solutions aren't always easy.