Misaimed Moderation on the App Store ⇥ tirania.org
John Voorhees, MacStories:
Apple has published new online resources about the App Store and its developer program. The new webpages cover a wide range of topics related to the App Store and developing for it, and include several new facts and insights about the Store.
‘About the App Store’ is a page meant for consumers that explains the advantages of Apple’s Store, starting with the lead tagline: ‘The apps you love. From a place you can trust.’ The page covers the Store’s editorial curation, search functionality, global reach, privacy and security features, and the benefits of App Review. […]
Apple cites many legitimate benefits on this page as it pitches the App Store model as the best way to distribute apps to a varied market often wary of new technologies. But, though Apple promotes how many bad actors and unapproved business models its reviewers have caught, there are still plenty of instances of malware and fleeceware getting into the store while inconsistently applying new and seemingly arbitrary restrictions.
Since the App Store launched, developers have complained about the review process as too strict. Applications are mostly rejected either for not meeting requirements, not having enough functionality or circumventing Apple’s business model.
Yet, the App Store reviews are too lax and they should be much stricter.
I am not sure this framing is right; I don’t think many developers would criticize the App Store as being “too strict”, but misaligned in the objectives of that moderation. There are some great examples in this piece of the factors that are not working as well as they ought to.