IOS app approvals

Submissions for mobile apps for iOS are subject to approval by Apple's App Review team, as outlined in the SDK agreement, for basic reliability testing and other analysis, before being published on the App Store. Applications may still be distributed ad hoc if they are rejected, by the author manually submitting a request to Apple to license the application to individual iPhones,[1] although Apple may withdraw the ability for authors to do this at a later date.[2]

Non-disclosure agreements have always forbidden developers from publishing the content of their rejection notices, but Apple has now started labeling their rejection letters with an explicit non-disclosure warning.[3] Apple later changed the NDA[how?] citing that "it has created too much of a burden on developers"[4] but they did not reverse the decision to forbid publication of rejection notices.[5] Some applications are not available outside region specific App Stores at the request of the developer.[6]

In addition, Apple has removed software licensed under the GNU General Public License (GPL) from the App Store after complaints from one of the program's developers (the VLC media player), claiming that the App Store's terms of service are inconsistent with the GPL.[7]

  1. ^ Sande, Steven (2008-09-15). "Podcaster app distributed via Ad Hoc after Apple rejection". Tuaw.com. Archived from the original on 2009-02-10. Retrieved 2009-12-02.
  2. ^ Palmer, Robert (2008-09-23). "Podcaster dev can't provision any more licenses". Tuaw.com. Archived from the original on 2010-02-13. Retrieved 2009-12-02.
  3. ^ "Apple Extends Non-Disclosure to App Store Rejection Letters". Mac Rumors. 2008-09-23. Archived from the original on 16 January 2010. Retrieved 2009-12-02.
  4. ^ "Apple Drops iPhone Non Disclosure Agreement (NDA)". Mac Rumors. 2008-10-01. Retrieved 2009-12-02.
  5. ^ Hansell, Saul (2008-10-01). "A Slice of Glasnost at Apple - Bits Blog - NYTimes.com". Bits.blogs.nytimes.com. Retrieved 2009-12-02.
  6. ^ "Eye-Fi Forums • View topic - Outside US". Forums.eye.fi. Archived from the original on 2009-03-15. Retrieved 2009-12-02.
  7. ^ David Murphy (8 January 2011). "Apple Pulls VLC Player from App Store Due to GPL". PCMag.com. PC Magazine. Archived from the original on 11 January 2011. Retrieved 8 January 2011.