In a message on its developer portal, Apple outlined a number of new changes to its App Store review guidelines – including requiring developers to sign in users to track users with IDFA (Advertiser ID) device identifiers.
That particular change is expected soon; Apple has announced that it will be launching iOS 14.5 in the ‘early spring’ and has released a dedicated support page just for the release. Apple has developer APIs, called the Tracking API Transparency APIs, to manage these required directions.
Of course, this is not the only change to the App Store review guidelines. Among other things, Apple “clarified the ban on the promotion of certain substances”. The guidelines state that apps should not encourage the use of tobacco and vape products, illegal drugs or ‘excessive amounts of alcohol’.
Furthermore, the “facilitation of the sale of” marijuana or tobacco is not permitted, and controlled drugs may only be sold through programs owned by licensed pharmacies.
Apple has also included a more explicit requirement for app developers to submit a detailed, accurate privacy page with app submissions, as well as maintain descriptions of apps, screenshots, privacy information, and so on, along with ‘new versions’ of the app, and updated.
Many reports have pointed out that the new, nutrition-label-like privacy pages that have been associated with apps in the App Store since the launch of iOS 14 are not always accurate. It is unclear how much this change will help the concern.
The guidelines state that gift cards, certificates, vouchers, coupons and tips for developers must be made through Apple’s payment system.
It’s also striking that Apple’s App Store policies for streaming gaming services such as Google’s Stadiums or Microsoft’s cloud game component of Game Pass are clearer. Here, however, is no important new information; Apple has just adapted the language. As previously known, these services can still exist in the App Store, provided they list each game as its own title in the App Store for review, and they should be designed to avoid double payment by a subscriber and should harm non-subscribers not. customers. “
Both Google and Microsoft have chosen to offer their game streaming services fully via the mobile web browser on iOS and iPadOS to circumvent these restrictions.
These updates to the App Store review guidelines follow Apple’s significant controversy. The company had a dispute with the largest game maker and company Epic Games over development tools over its revenue, as well as a public relations fiasco over the same issue, but with a smaller (but still notable) developer named Basecamp.
In response to these controversies, Apple has promised more transparency, adjusted its revenue-sharing model, adjusted some of its guidelines, and created new feedback channels for developers to raise grievances about the said guidelines.
And then there’s an ongoing battle between Apple and Facebook over the IDFA detection mentioned above. Mark Zuckerberg, CEO of Facebook, claimed that the change posed a serious threat to Facebook’s business and, as a result, the continued existence of numerous Facebook-dependent small businesses. He also claimed that Apple’s policy is a common problem with competitive competition, and one report indicated that Zuckerberg could, among other things, prepare a major lawsuit to challenge Apple over its App Store policy.
In turn, Apple CEO Tim Cook delivered a speech last week in which he cited Facebook’s business model (which relies on trackers like IDFA) as a source of division and violence.