Apple has pretty strict guidelines around its App Store. Just last month, it removed a popular app to be named after a drug, a move it had to stop after the public backlash. Now the company is tapping into apps with ‘irrationally high prices’.
Over the past few months, there have been numerous posts in Apple’s developer forums in which developers claim that their applications have been removed to set high prices. One such developer has a subscription offer of $ 39.99 / month to $ 99.99 / year with a reported retention rate of 60%, but is still reprimanded by Apple.
A new 9to5Mac report cites a similar case in which a developer’s submission was rejected for the same reason. Apple sent the following email to the developer:
Customers expect the App Store to be a secure and reliable market for purchasing digital goods. Apps should never betray this trust by trying to break down or deceive users in any way.
Unfortunately, the prices you choose for your app or products in the app purchases in your app do not reflect the value of the features and content offered to the user. Asking irrationally high prices for content or services with a limited value is a distraction for customers and is not suitable for the App Store.
[…] To resolve this issue, we recommend that you take the following steps:
- Review your app or in-purchase products to provide more value to the user during the purchase
- Choose a price for your app or products purchased in the app that accurately reflects the value provided to the user
- Once you have made the appropriate changes, resubmit your app for review
Subsequent submission of this app may require longer discussion time, and it will not be eligible for an expedited review until this issue is resolved.
Although the developer was able to release their app by explaining to Apple that they use expensive APIs that increase most of the cost, it certainly shows an increasing trend of the company to remove apps that its customers believe ‘rip- off ‘.
Indeed, the App Store Review Guidelines state that:
There are many ways to earn your app in the App Store. If your business model is not obvious, you need to explain it in the metadata and the App Review notes. If we do not understand how your app works or your in-app purchases are not immediately obvious, it will delay your review and may be rejected. And while you set the price, we will not distribute apps and articles for in-app purchases that are clear. We will reject expensive programs that try to cheat users with irrationally high prices.
The wording above is undoubtedly unclear, as it does not define any threshold that Apple considers ‘irrationally high prices’. This seems to be a growing pain point for honest developers who rightly charge high prices for their services. Other older forum posts have also highlighted cases in which Apple takes a long time to respond to justifications offered by developers and to reinstall apps.