Hey, This is the daily Overpass.My name is Eric and I make apps.
Now today, I want to talk about how the app store policies are very vague.
So I get asked a lot of questions about policies.
Either the app store policies or Google Play policies.
You know things that.
A lot of the time I just say "I don't know".
So, to give you an example, somebody will say in an email, I'll get an email from somebody,
or somebody will ask on a live stream saying " Eric I have an app idea that does this...will
Google Play allow this"?
Or they'll say " I've got these two apps and they're pretty similar.
Do you think Google will say that they fall afoul of the new repetitive content policies?
And my answer is usually "I don't know".
Right, its because it's not that I haven't read through the policies.
I have read through the Google Play policies and the Apple App store policies.
And I think that the Google Play policies are much more readable.
They do a much better job on it.
But the language a lot of times is a little bit vague.
It's like legal language, so they'll use words like it can't be offensive, it can't be repetitive,
things like that.
And a lot of times people want more answers than that.
It's left up to interpretation by the reviewer.
It's so annoying.
I talked a few weeks ago how I had an app that was flagged up by Google Play saying
" That the button sending them back to the playstore to buy the full version for GDPR
consent.
They were saying that was an ad.
One reviewer was saying that that was an ad, but all the other apps went through just fine.
So, I had to make that change, but it was open to interpretation by that reviewer.
On the Apple side we have that all the time.
It's the reviewer.
Like if you can get it past the reviewer you're fine.
And I don't like to say that something is allowed or not allowed, because I've had apps
that have gone through, and I thought that worked.
You know the reviewer's accepted it.
It's obviously allowed, you know it doesn't fall afoul of that rule.
And I've had other people tell me that theirs were rejected for that same reason.
And this can be so annoying.
I mean especially when you do client work.
There's nothing worse, than releasing a client application, and putting it through the review
and having Apple reject it for some little reason like you mentioning android, or something
like that and you have to make these changes.
A lot of the times the client will look at you like, oh Eric, I thought you knew these
policies.
I'm like I do, but we put this through so many times before, but you do.
And I think it's just going to be the way it is.
I think putting an app on the on the Appstore , or on the Playstore is not like putting
something on the web.
If you put something on the web there's no rules.
You can put it onto the web, you might have maybe Google won't index it for whatever reason
but, you can put pretty much anything you want to on the web.
But when it comes to apps, that's not the case.
Of course having said that, if you did an android application and you got pulled from
Google Play, you got suspended from Google Play, you could still sell it.
That's like getting removed from the shelves of Walmart with you product.
You could still put it on Amazon.
There's other app store out there for android.
Or you could just have a download link on your website, right, that's not so bad.
Apple on the other hand, that's a whole monopoly thing.
You have to follow their rules, they're a lot more strict.
They're a lot more totalitarian, I think.
Well anyway, my big problem with giving advice on the policies, is that they can be a bit
vague.
One person will be allowed something, and another person will not be allowed something,
not because it's unfair, but a lot of times it's open to the interpretation of the reviewer.
I think it's a lot like, you know like they say with art.
I can't describe art but i know it when I see it.
A lot of the times I think a lot of the stuff is the reviewer, they know it when they see
it and they need to give the reviewer the power to not be contradicted all the time
by having tight rules and everything.
But it's a very annoying , I think it's one sf my biggest grievances with the app store
policies, i just wish they would be a bit more specific.
Anyway I don't know if you guys find the same thing.
Let me know if you have those kind of issues too.
Because this is one of the reasons we put apps out there and they get rejected.
It's like (sigh) because we would do what we're supposed to do if we knew, but we can't.
So anyway let me know what you guys think.
That's it for today.
I'll talk to you guys again tomorrow.