Earlier quoted context omitted.
What did Apple recant? The rules weren't special. The new exception allowing parental control apps to use MDM is. The intended use of MDM was always clear. Apple admitted abuse wasn't on their radar until 2017. Cracking down right away would have left users without a replacement. Do you have any examples that are still in effect?
I'm having trouble finding the 2017 version of the guidelines where they added the rule but they specifically targeted competing parental control apps and mention that update and the subsequently-contrived violations here: https://www.apple.com/newsroom/2019/04/the-facts-about-paren... > We started exploring this use of MDM by non-enterprise developers back in early 2017 and updated our guidelines based on that work…
Screen Time was introduced in 2018.
Recanting means renouncing a belief. Changing a policy because of backlash doesn't mean they think the old policy was wrong.