Apps and Apple

It’s an interesting read in full:

On Sept. 9th, Apple finally released the long awaited set of guidelines to iOS developers. The process to date has seemed somewhat capricious and arbitrary. The doc is written in plain English and is refreshingly honest (As TechCrunch notes they say “we don’t need anymore Fart apps” and “if you run to the press and trash us, it never helps”.) Honest.

TechCrunch has done a nice job of highlghting the more interesting and pretty specific rules:

Thou Shalt Not Chatroulette Or Russian Roulette: The Best Of The App Store Rules
by MG Siegler

Obviously Apple is not the only App environment. There are options to build apps in Facebook, Google Android, open source, etc.

I just think it’s interesting to review the value system, business values and closed’ness of the Apple app environment. I find the rules that are driven by ad and revenue needs interesting. It’s not entirely closed but it does reflect a marketplace and environment that is bounded by a corporate culture and protecting Apple’s trademarks and its own self from criticism. That’s their right and there are alternatives.

Stephen