Apple Getting ‘Carried Away’ with its newest App Store Ban on Gambling
Apple has added a new guideline for developers that says:
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In order to reduce fraudulent activity on the App Store and comply with government requests to address illegal online gambling activity, we are no longer allowing gambling apps submitted by individual developers. The includes both real money gambling apps as well as apps that simulate a gambling experience.
As a result, this app has been removed from the App Store. While you can no longer distribute gambling apps from this account, you may continue to submit and distribute other types of apps to the App Store.
Apple finishes the statement by saying:
Only verified accounts from incorporated business entities may submit gambling apps for distribution on the App Store.
Whoever enforces the above does not understand it, as some companies (such as magazine apps that have nothing to do with gambling at all) are experiencing problems. An example is below via Twitter:
It is not only magazine apps, another example is an app for the Apple Watch called WatchPlay, which allows a user to search and view YouTube videos on the Apple Watch.
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The reason that apps unrelated to gambling are being removed appears to be because the ban currently applies to any apps that allow users “unrestricted web access”.
When developers submit their app to the App Store, a section called “Rating” asks them to rate their app’s content based on a chart and identify how frequently the content appears.
The content marker “Unrestricted web access” in this section applies when a user can access any URL by opening a browser window from within the submitted app.
Ticking it automatically slaps the app with a 17+ age rating if it makes it to the App Store, because it gives users of the app the potential ability to circumvent parental controls.
However, on the face of it, Apple’s gambling-related ban today looks to have overreached significantly in this regard.
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