Apple announced today a change in their policy on 3rd party development tools. Previously, use of tools like Unity and Corona, which can be used to develop iOS apps without XCode, was grounds for rejection from the App Store. As of today, such tools are now allowed, as long as the apps created do not download executable code, something already forbidden in all apps, 3rd party tools or not.
Also available today is a lengthy document providing guidelines on what is and isn’t allowed in the App Store. Until now, such rules were known informally around the development community, mostly from developers sharing stories about their apps’ rejections, but this is the first time we’ve seen Apple come out publicly and say just what they look for before striking down an app submission.
As an iOS developer myself, I think these are both great steps for Apple to take. For game developers in particular, being able to use 3rd party tools will allow for far more rapid development cycles in a spectrum of choices of development environment. And for the App Store in general, the added transparency should lead to fewer bad app submissions, which should lessen the load on Apple’s reviewers and shorten approval times.
The guideline document (available to members of the developer program) is direct and refreshingly blunt. There are a few instances of imprecise language that could take on some dangerous interpretations, but overall Apple makes their point pretty clear: Don’t use non-public method calls, don’t be a jerk, and don’t make crap. To be so up front about internal policy is an unusual move for the typically secretive company, but this new philosophy of transparency should come as welcome relief to a lot of baffled iOS developers.
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TAGS: developer
