Apple Cracking Down On Apps That Incentivizes Social Sharing/Video Watching

We’re sure everyone has come across an app where they can unlock certain features or win “gold” to be used in the game by either sharing the app on your Facebook/Twitter, or by watching a video, which in turn is used to promote another app/service/product. It sounds a bit shady but there’s nothing wrong with that, right?

Well Apple seems to think otherwise. According to a report from TechCrunch, Apple is reportedly set on cracking down on such apps, which either use incentivized video viewing or reward social sharing, which are some of the examples we mentioned earlier. One developer claims that his app was recently rejected for an update, with the reviewer claiming that the app violated some of the App Store’s guidelines.

The guidelines include section 2.25 and 3.10, with the reviewer stating, “The 2.25 rejection is for promoting other apps not your own. The attached screenshot showed an EA game as a “Free Game”.” and “Additionally, your 3.10 rejection was for offering free in-game credits for watching videos of other apps by developers other then [sic] yourself.”

The developer claims that he has successfully updated his app four times before this, so it looks like this crackdown could be a new thing. What do you guys think? On one hand it could potentially hurt developers who are trying to make a living through these ads, but on the other hand, it could benefit users who are just trying to enjoy an app and don’t necessarily want to share that information on their social media channels.

Tyler Lee
Categories: Apple
Tags: Apps