New Apple Developer Guideline Might Kill Apps That Promote Other Apps

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developer

Apple’s developer guidelines have always had weird caveats that Apple uses to protect the quality fo their own products first. Their newest strategy is to protect the App Store by putting in place a new guideline that might kill any app that promotes other apps. App recommendation apps, like FreeAppADay, and Daily App Dream might soon find themselves banned from the App Store if Apple begins to enforce the new guideline.

According to TechCrunch, on September 12th Apple added a new clause to its iOS developer guidelines that states, “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.”

Many marketing apps fall in violation of these new guidelines. Developers routinely pay a marketing agency a large sum to get their app into promotional apps like FreeAppADay. By being included in a daily freebie app, app developers can expect to see a high number of downloads in one day, and then watch their app climb the App Store charts, which means even more app downloads where they’re then able to recoup their initial marketing investment.

By slowly banning apps that promote other apps, Apple is trying to strength the quality of the App Store by removing the ability of developers to game the Top Charts sections. However, promoting your app through a daily free app service doesn’t guarantee your app will make it into the Top Charts because the App Store is so fiercely competitive.

What do you think? Are Apple’s changes fair to developers? Or are you glad that the Top Charts section of the App Store will actually reflect the true number of downloads? Let us hear your thoughts in the comments.

Source: TechCrunch

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