What you need to know
- Apple has announced that developers can challenge its App Store guidelines.
- The company made the announcement in a press release after the WWDC keynote.
- It also announced bug fixes would not be denied due to guideline violations.
Apple surprised almost everyone by approving the Hey Email app the morning of WWDC after a week of rejecting the app. Now, it appears that Apple wants to make the process of challenging its App Store guidelines easier for developers and Apple itself.
In a press release that talked about new developer technologies, Apple also talked about what it was doing to create a better experience for developers when they ran into guideline issues with the App Store.
The company announced that not only will developers be able to continue challenging if their app violated a guideline, but will now also have the means to challenge the guidelines themselves.
"Additionally, two changes are coming to the app review process and will be implemented this summer. First, developers will not only be able to appeal decisions about whether an app violates a given guideline of the App Store Review Guidelines, but will also have a mechanism to challenge the guideline itself."
Apple also announced that bug fix releases will no longer be rejected over guideline violations, except for those that pose a legal problem. This would, in theory, fix the situation that Hey Email originally ran into.
"Second, for apps that are already on the App Store, bug fixes will no longer be delayed over guideline violations except for those related to legal issues. Developers will instead be able to address the issue in their next submission."
Apple announced a host of other technologies and new ways for developers to submit feedback to Apple in the press release.
