Negotiating Apple’s in-app purchase rules stalled one app for two months, even though it was similar to the company’s iPhone app which made it through the approval gauntlet in just a week.
The app in question, ShareFile, is a file-sharing and backup platform app. Users pay anywhere from $29.99 to $499 a month for the service, but the app is offered gratis.
While the iPhone version was given the OK in a week, the iPad edition languished in approval limbo for weeks before getting rejected for not incorporating the in-app purchase rules which entitle Apple to a 30 percent cut of revenue.
CEO Jesse Lipson told Information Week in a detailed article recounting his app approval saga he was “blindsided” by the objection, since the company’s previous experience with Apple had been so fast and simple.
“It was a very big surprise to us. We were totally shocked,” Lipson said. “We were also disappointed that they took so long to get back to us.”
Lipson decided to appeal the decision. Fortunately for the 70-person startup, Apple decided that while it would rather ShareFile implement IAP, it could be in the store without it, as long as every link to sign up for a trial subscription on ShareFile’s site was removed.
In comparison, the ShareFile Android app took half an hour to make it to the store.
“It will certainly be nice if [Apple] starts having a little bit less power and a smaller market share, and they have to start falling in line with what the other guys are doing,” Lipson said.
Source: Information Week
Nicole Martinelli is a San Francisco freelance writer who heads up Cult of Mac Magazine, our weekly publication available on iTunes. You can find her on Twitter and Google+. If you’re doing something new, cool and Apple-related, email her.
