Apple has continued their campaign against app recommendation apps, as the company is now reported to be rejecting apps that allow users to share apps they’ve discovered with their friends.
Apple has apparently begun expanding its means of enforcing App Store regulation 2.25 — which bars apps from functionalities that bring them into competition with the App Store — and rejecting apps that encourage sharing recommendations, according to PocketGamer. One developer, whose app is focused on such recommendation sharing, related a tale of receiving a rejection notice for the app’s functionality even though the software was shaped to conform with Apple’s rules.
“We thought that basing our recommendations on sharing was suitable for Apple, as it had previously stated that if you bake in social or local into your app discovery, you would be fine,” the developer said. “I think they aim to be the only provider of recommendations for apps, along with being the distributor.”
Apple has been using regulation 2.25 as the basis for rejecting app recommendation apps. It states “Apps that display Apps other than your own for purchase or promotion in a manner similar to or confusing with the App Store will be rejected.”
Apple’s recent effort to crack down on the popular app recommendation services is reportedly aimed at cracking down on developers that are paying for exposure.
Daily app recommendation service AppGratis was pulled from the App Store back in April. The incident even caught the attention of France’s digital industry minister, who has raised the issue of whether or not the company is being fair in its policies.
