Is Apple Preparing to Yank ‘Cook-Cutter’ Apps from AppStore?

Ed Sutherland ()

Is Apple Preparing to Yank ‘Cook-Cutter’ Apps from AppStore?

Apple has begun cracking down on App Store developers hawking ‘cook-cutter’ applications with little or no advantage over similar Web-based apps, according to a Monday report. The tighter requirements are likely designed to ensure App Store offerings are unique to competitors.

“Last month or so [Apple] has started cracking down on basic applications that are little more than RSS feeds or glorified business cards,” TechCrunch writes.

Developer Medialets figures prominently in the article, which gathered multiple reports from App Store developers.

“Apple wants iPhone apps to be superior to Web experiences because they are extremely sticky and drive people specifically to buy the iPhone over competing smartphone platforms,” Medialets CEO Eric Litman told the blog.

The house-clearing seems focused on app builders which use templates to create apps, which do not offer quality content. Another app builder, Appmakr, welcomes the move, suggesting its use of advanced features will permit the company to gain “trusted” developer status.

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[via MacRumors and TechCrunch]

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About the author

Ed Sutherland

Ed Sutherland is a veteran technology journalist who first heard of Apple when they grew on trees, Yahoo was run out of a Stanford dorm and Google was an unknown upstart. Since then, Sutherland has covered the whole technology landscape, concentrating on tracking the trends and figuring out the finances of large (and small) technology companies.

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  • Tim L.

    Hi Ed,

    it’s really “cook-cutter” and not “cookie-cutter”? If so, do you have any insight into the origins and etymology of this rather curious term?

  • Michael Hanson

    “Cookie-cutter”, not “cook-cutter”, which sounds rather gruesome.

    http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/cook-cutter

    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:Search/cook-cutter

  • Kordan

    I’m almost certain it’s cookie-cutter. A quick Google for ‘cook-cutter’ turns up only this article and Google thinks you wanted to search for Cookie-Cutter.

  • JustaGuy

    I hope they don’t go too overboard with this. I like my RSS Reader and it IS a selling point for me on the iPhone. I would much rather use it than log into my Google Reader account. The beauty of the iPhone is the custom made apps that make the experience better than surfing.

    Perhaps I’m misreading this. I don’t mind some junk app clean up, but at the end of the day shouldn’t it be the consumers that decide what is junk and what isn’t?

  • mick

    @JustGuy, I think they mean apps which are a single-site RSS reader, not a general purpose RSS reader like Google Reader.

  • johnwww

    Concorde Capital releases FinMarkets iPhone application

    FinMarkets is a one-stop mobile portal for the latest market news, videos and trading information, with a focus on Ukraine that reaches beyond. FinMarkets offers index data; equity, bond and currency quotes; the latest market-moving news summaries; and video.

    Concorde Capital’s FinMarkets is the first Ukraine finance-oriented application on the iTunes store. There are no analogues available specifically for other CIS markets.

    FinMarkets features:
    Daily market comment covering Ukrainian equity, bond and currency trends
    Market events monitor – receive the latest up-to-date corporate and industry developments & news that are moving markets every day. Commentary provided by Concorde Capital’s award-winning research team
    Videos by ConcordeTube – bringing you market views, wraps and discussions of hot topics by Concorde Capital’s innovative investment TV channel
    Indices: UX, PFTS, RTS, Dow Jones, S&P 500, NASDAQ 100, FTSE 100, Nikkei 225; Ukrainian Exchange (UX) live
    Equities, bonds and currency quotes

    Concorde Capital’s FinMarkets is currently in Version 1.1. The application is compatible with the iPhone and iPod Touch, and will also be suitable for Apple’s forthcoming iPad.

  • Camperton

    For the love of God it’s Cookie-Cutter! COO-KIE-CUT-TER!