Template-Based Apps guidelines updated by Apple Inc.
Shortly after updating the Apple guidelines on template-based applications, Apple once again has revised its policies for developing these apps. Earlier the movie was taken to scale down the number of low-quality applications. Unknowingly, the decision impacted a wide market of other apps. Small-scale businesses that were either developing apps from scratch or adding improvement to their business and restaurant based applications also got impacted with the decision that forced the technology giant to revised its policies on template-based apps development.
The Apple App Store guidelines have also been updated to offer clarity on types of applications that will become a part of the Apple store.
Prior to this revision, the 4.2.6 Apple App Store guideline stated:
4.2.6 Apps created from a commercialized template or app generation service will be rejected.
And, the revised policy goes as:
4.2.6 Apps created from a commercialized template or app generation service will be rejected unless they are submitted directly by the provider of the app’s content. These services should not submit apps on behalf of their clients and should offer tools that let their clients create customized, innovative apps that provide unique customer experiences.
Another acceptable option for template providers is to create a single binary to host all client content in an aggregated or “picker” model, for example as a restaurant finder app with separate customized entries or pages for each client restaurant, or as an event app with separate entries for each client event.
With this revised Apple guidelines, the giant has cleared that Apps in the App Store should only be published by the businesses behind the applications. This makes it compulsory for businesses to actively take part in the app publishing process.
For Apple, it is pretty fine if a middle-man aids businesses in template building services unless the app development violates the app publishing process. For Apple, it is absolutely not a concern about how the apps are being developed, all it cares about is “the end result”. It is only the high-quality experience that the company cares about.
Apple states that apps in the Apple store should not look identical or the clones of other applications. Additionally, the apps should also not feel like web or serve purposefully as businesses’ web pages.
