{"id":7894,"date":"2020-08-31T17:12:20","date_gmt":"2020-08-31T17:12:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/aviancetechnologies.com\/blog\/apples-app-war-needs-peace\/"},"modified":"2020-08-31T17:12:20","modified_gmt":"2020-08-31T17:12:20","slug":"apples-app-war-needs-peace","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/aviancetechnologies.com\/blog\/apples-app-war-needs-peace\/","title":{"rendered":"Apple\u2019s App War Needs Peace"},"content":{"rendered":"

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Apple\u2019s App War Needs Peace<\/h2>\n

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I asked for ideas on how Apple could improve the app store from Jacob Eiting, a founder of RevenueCat, which helps app makers design in-app purchases and knows what drives developers crazy.<\/p>\n

Specify how developers can fix rejected apps: <\/strong>Apple says yes or no to each new iPhone app or app update, based on the company\u2019s 12,700-word app rule book \u2014 not including addendums. (The United States Constitution plus all the amendments runs for 7,600 words.)<\/p>\n

Eiting said developers sometimes get rejection letters that simply recite a portion of Apple\u2019s rules. He said it would be more helpful if Apple\u2019s staff offered specific suggestions for what developers could change \u2014 sometimes as minor as tweaking a menu \u2014 to get the app approved.<\/p>\n

Improve Apple\u2019s payments technology: <\/strong>Eiting said it could take weeks or longer for app makers to write software that links their app to Apple\u2019s proprietary system for people to pay for stuff with a fingerprint or face scan. Creating software hookups with other payments technology is much simpler, Eiting said.<\/p>\n

Clarify the gray zone: <\/strong>Apple has two categories of app purchases: When you buy something virtual, like an e-book, Apple collects from the app maker a fee of up to 30 percent on the purchase. When you buy something to use in the real world, like a physical book or an Uber ride, Apple doesn\u2019t charge a fee.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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But an increasing number of apps offer services that are somewhere between real and virtual \u2014 personal training or cooking classes conducted over an app, for example.<\/p>\n

Eiting said Apple needed to clarify when the company will assess commissions on apps that offer these hybrid activities. Confusion over this question is stopping some apps before they even start, he said.<\/p>\n

Consider an independent app review: <\/strong>There are inevitable questions about conflict of interest between app makers and Apple\u2019s own apps that compete with them. The founders of Blix, an email app maker that has fought with Apple, suggested to me that Apple create an independent app review process to make sure it isn\u2019t unfairly punishing rival apps. <\/p>\n

Apple has in the past made changes to its app system to respond to developers\u2019 complaints, and the company told me it\u2019s always open to more. Any tweaks, though, won\u2019t go as far as some app makers want: essentially, to blow up Apple\u2019s control over what apps are allowed on people\u2019s iPhones.<\/p>\n

But it\u2019s still possible to revamp the app system in ways that could bring more calm for Apple, developers and our smartphone-dependent lives.<\/p>\n

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