App Store doesn't accept “too simple” apps
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App Store doesn't accept “too simple” apps
1–10 of 364 posts
Re: App Store doesn't accept “too simple” apps
#2It's a bummer obviously, but is there an actual reason not to just use the website?
Re: App Store doesn't accept “too simple” apps
#3Mildly frustrating to see the author waste so much time and energy before coming to the correct conclusion:
> But I think they just don't like the idea of the app, and no matter what I add to it, they won't accept it.
It's awful how gatekeepers usually behave this way instead of coming out and telling you that you should stop and they're never going to approve your product, since that usually is how it works.
On the bright side if he was actually using Google Sheets as his data backend, Google was going to shut the sheet down permanently eventually and maybe ban the account, so he dodged a bullet.
Re: App Store doesn't accept “too simple” apps
#4I don't agree with apple that this should be rejected, but it does seem like something that would work better as a web app. Also then it would be available to people on other platforms as well.
Re: App Store doesn't accept “too simple” apps
#5I don't agree with apple that this should be rejected, but it does seem like something that would work better as a web app. Also then it would be available to people on other platforms as well.
They have a weird little back and forth going in this regard, lots of the stuff on their app store is basically a webpage (or literally one, if it's a webview app) but then they keep holding features back from Safari so you need to be on the store to access them. I don't envy people in that situation, where you've got a good website but your iOS users want one or two small features that can only be offered via the app store.
Re: App Store doesn't accept “too simple” apps
#6What a joke, if they reject it then there should be concrete reasons given to the developer otherwise this is just nonsense.
Re: App Store doesn't accept “too simple” apps
#7It's a bummer obviously, but is there an actual reason not to just use the website?
Apps are more monetizable.
Re: App Store doesn't accept “too simple” apps
#8They've done this since the early days of the app store. Mostly-content apps without really broad appeal have long carried a high risk of rejection.
> Homescreen widgets: utterly useless, but can't get more iOS-y and less webapp-y than this, right?
This especially, but really the whole post reads like the system working as intended.
Granted (as the author notes) way too much shit gets through anyway, but that's not an excuse to do even worse. I do, as a user, wish they'd tighten up the rules a lot and improve enforcement. I'm quite sure it'd improve my experience on the store (and probably on the web—imagine how much better the Reddit site would get, probably overnight, if their app got pulled over not being well-justified).
Re: App Store doesn't accept “too simple” apps
#9Yep, I got this rejection when I made this tipping app (https://apps.apple.com/us/app/tip-69/id1460610078).
I went on to add OCR detection for receipts so you don't have to type in the amount, I added more tipping modes, I added split bill functionality, and eventually added an entire social network with the ability to share your receipt for the world to see, like or comment on.
Must have spent months trying to get approved by Apple.
I'd rather no one ask me why.
Re: App Store doesn't accept “too simple” apps
#10Apple, by walling their garden, have essentially used their hegemony to steal billions of dollars in potential revenue from developers. Think of how much innovation has been blocked by them intentionally gimping iOS Safari to prevent web apps from competing with native ones.
Remember this when reviewing job applications, folks. Apple, Google, and Facebook employees, current and former, are morally derelict and have profited from harming our society - treat them with reciprocity.