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Numerous Apps Caught up in Apple's New App Store Review Policy to Ban Gambling-Related Apps

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In an attempt to crack down on gambling-related apps in the App Store, Apple has today implemented a new App Review policy for individual developers, but many apps that are being banned as a result appear to have very little to do with gambling at all.

Our newsstand/news/magazine app just got removed from sale from the App Store 24 hours after our 3.0 update was approved. Reason given: gambling/fraudulent activity. We publish a magazine -- nothing to do with gambling or fraud at all. 😞😢😲😱 https://t.co/ewu3mE5FG5 pic.twitter.com/vaKtLthvkW - Wojtek Pietrusiewicz (@morid1n) August 9, 2018
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Apple has been providing affected developers with the following reason for their app's removal from the App Store:
In order to reduce fraudulent activity on the App Store and comply with government requests to address illegal online gambling activity, we are no longer allowing gambling apps submitted by individual developers. The includes both real money gambling apps as well as apps that simulate a gambling experience.

As a result, this app has been removed from the App Store. While you can no longer distribute gambling apps from this account, you may continue to submit and distribute other types of apps to the App Store.
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Apple finishes by saying that "only verified accounts from incorporated business entities may submit gambling apps for distribution on the App Store", and advises developers to visit the Enrollment page to learn more about enrolling an organization in the Apple Developer Program.

Apple just removed WatchPlay from the App Store for being a gambling app....? https://t.co/hL14H3oTFn - Ziph0n (@Ziph0n) August 8, 2018
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The reason that apps unrelated to gambling are being removed appears to be because the ban currently applies to any apps that allow users "unrestricted web access".

When developers submit their app to the App Store, a section called "Rating" asks them to rate their app's content based on a chart and identify how frequently the content appears.

The content marker "Unrestricted web access" in this section applies when a user can access any URL by opening a browser window from within the submitted app.

Ticking it automatically slaps the app with a 17+ age rating if it makes it to the App Store, because it gives users of the app the potential ability to circumvent parental controls.

However, on the face of it, Apple's gambling-related ban today looks to have overreached significantly in this regard. We've asked Apple for comment and will update this post if we hear more.

Article Link: Numerous Apps Caught up in Apple's New App Store Review Policy to Ban Gambling-Related Apps
 
Article Link
https://www.macrumors.com/2018/08/09/apps-caught-up-in-app-store-ban-gambling-apps/
macsrcool1234 said:
after all this time, apple remains incompetent when maintaining their own app store.
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They don't do too bad a job. Nobody does a good job of maintaining app stores when the number of apps is as large as it now is. Just saying. Although it would be great though if there was a FOSS store like there is for Android eg: F-Droid is a really great resource for free stuff that is very polished, with no ads, no bloat and no cost.

On the other hand in MacOS there is no need to rely on the Appstore, except for the convenience of license management you can pretty much install any app separately.
 
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macsrcool1234 said:
after all this time, apple remains incompetent when maintaining their own app store.
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Very incompetent.

It's full of fake apps, viruses, scams and... oh... that's everyone else but Apple...

dantroline said:
FOSS store like there is for Android eg: F-Droid is a really great resource for free stuff that is very polished, with no ads, no bloat and no cost.
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Is F-Droid managed by saints?

Any "App Store" is one cheque away from passing malware and PUAs.
 
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This stuff happens but if it becomes frequent, developers do have a right to be like "omgwtfbbq"
 
Xenc said:
Have Apple announced that they are "eradicating gambling apps"? They're still in the App Store submission guidelines: https://developer.apple.com/app-store/review/guidelines/#gaming-gambling-and-lotteries
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Apple:

Apps that offer real money gaming (e.g. sports betting, poker, casino games, horse racing) or lotteries must have necessary licensing and permissions in the locations where the App is used, must be geo-restricted to those locations, and must be free on the App Store.
 
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What I inferred from reading the story is that some apps are being disallowed for permitting “unrestricted web access”, but the reason coming through to the developer is under the broader term “gambling/fraudulent activity” which is confusing to the developers, as the apps mentioned are not gambling apps.

Therefore it is a problem of the categorisation of the app rejection, and will probably be fixed by Apple by tweaking their rejection email to more accurately categorise the reason for rejection.

Perhaps there has been a modification to the gambling app requirements recently, which has led to some confusion, and this cross-categorisation error.

That’s what I understood this was referring to. Could be wrong though....!
 
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One of my apps (which had nothing to with gambling) was caught up in this today.

Sounds like they were going after gambling related apps where the developer account is an individual, and not a company enrolment.

I don't think it was flagged because of the "unrestricted web access" rating, but because of the "Simulated Gambling" rating I had set (due to some photos coming through the app potentially being gambling related).

They reinstated the app pretty quickly after I contacted them today. Their message was:

"We are restoring your app's availability on the App Store. Please update your app's rating to remove "Simulated Gambling" so that it is consistent with the content of your app."
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Still weird that they would automate this removal simply by going by one of the rating options which had been set for years.
 
as a developer this 'safari web portal is automatically 17+" rule confounds me and frustrated me with my rss apps of old. Even say, a disney park would become 17+ if it opened their web hotel's web page for reservations simply because you could launch links from that site and so on...
 
Apple has a long history of getting app approvals wrong.

They also have a long history of ignoring developers and their complaints about the secretive process.
 
So Safari would be banned under these rules as it both allows access to gambling sites, in addition to many other sites containing illegal content?
 
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It's funny to know there are people buying Apple Watch :) People should waste time on Apple watch and Apple Maps!
[doublepost=1533817252][/doublepost]Safari is another application which run dead slow!...Nobody would care to download it if Apple stops bundling it with their OS.
 
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this is looking at it from both directions..

Apple should be limiting the ban to actual gambling. This is getting crazy...
 
Xenc said:
I can understand why unvetted browser access is now restricted, as it would defeat the purpose of parental controls and Screen Time, but removing them under the guise of "gambling" is nonsensical.
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You are right. The fix should be to not allow children under parental controls to access those apps not to make it impossible for adults to buy them.
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bindle said:
Still weird that they would automate this removal simply by going by one of the rating options which had been set for years.
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Yes, and by telling you to remove that self-imposed rating option, they're encouraging your to not be fully candid about your app.
 
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christarp said:
Sorry but apple is one of the best in class in this regard. This will be handled fairly quickly I'm sure.

You should really check out the sorry state of steam.
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Actually... you are BOTH correct.

1. Apple has a long history of inconsistency and downright mishandling
2. Everyone else sucks more

That's not a resounding thumbs-up for Apple though. Everyone needs to do better.

I suspect that the biggest challenge, as noted by others, is the sheer volume of apps. There is simply no way to enforce logical consistency and the application of rules when you have large numbers of PEOPLE doing the review. So... Apple automates much of this... which then relies on a specific combination of parameters that may and do also appear in non-related situations.

Until AI and Machine Learning can consider a wider range of parameters Apple may be doing the best they can. Or not.
 
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Ugh this is beyond annoying. Probably using some algorithm to determine which ones are gambling apps, because the number of apps to review is massive. You’re a trillion dollar company, so cry me a river. Scale up.
 
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