White-label apps vs. Appstore review
As Zagl is a mobile commerce platform, time and again we have been asked by a potential clients that if they could have their own mobile app instead of listing on Zagl, so I would like to clarify this topic a bit further and put it to rest once and for all.
Ban on white label apps
Basically a few months ago Apple band white label apps by updating their review guidelines to include the following statement:
4.2.6 Apps created from a commercialized template or app generation service will be rejected.
When this guideline was passed it was quite clear that small businesses could not have their own apps, while there was huge downsides to this, at least it was clear.
Ban lifted with restrictions
But after a huge uproar from the community and also what involvement from Congressman in the US, the ban has been lifted by modifying the clause to the following. While this has lifted the ban, it has certainly made the line blurry which has lead to more confusion in this regard.
The following argument applies to both software providers of white-label apps and also for businesses interested in getting one for themselves.
Apple does not like white-label
Apple has a genuine aversion towards similar apps being listed on the app store, while they have updated the controversial clause, there are still enough rules in the guidelines that could get your app rejected.
Even after amendments, clause 4.2.6 clearly states that, if you are planning to deploy a lot of similar apps, it is better to combine these apps into one container app in an aggregated or picker model
Spam
The other prominent clause that could get the app banned is the spam clause.
Basically from the point of view of Apple, if a lot of apps look and function in a similar way they consider it as design spam even if they are published under a different developer account.
This clearly states that the same app must not be deployed using different bundle IDs, which is a prerequisite for white-label apps
Common Rejection Reasons
That is a page in Apple’s website which lists down the common reasons for app store rejections, along with a simplified statistics of the most common reasons why apps gets rejected.
Here you could see that the top 10 reasons totally contribute to 88% of rejections on the app store and “Design Spam” is #2
Human factor in app review
One of the biggest frustrations that we faced when we were running a white-label app company is that getting an app passed by the review team is not the end of it.
The same app could be rejected for a totally different reason the next time you submit an update
I happens because different reviewers pick up different areas of the review guidelines and they are not very consistent. So my advice would be to consider the fact that app reviews are done by humans and to play it safe when it comes to app store and to create apps that are extremely well within the review guidelines.
Guidelines can change in future
While this applies to almost all kinds of apps, you have to be careful not to bet on the edge of what is already despised by Apple. While you cannot predict, always be defensive about possible changes to the guidelines as they could be retrospectively applied for already deployed apps on the app store.
Foundation of white-label app business model
In order to create a sustainable business, the foundations had to be extremely strong and Apple’s review guidelines intentionally makes creating and running white labelled apps tough.
So it is advisable that software providers come up with innovative solutions to address this problem rather than circumventing around the review guidelines, only to get caught in other clauses that work against this model.
Small businesses invest on their apps
So my biggest concern for any app provider is that when you deploy an app for your client, basically you’re making a promise of delivering an app and you also are creating an impression that this app could be a lasting asset that they could count on for many years to come.
Based on the experience of providing white-label apps for a lot of small businesses, I could say that most of them invest a lot of time and money in promoting their apps and increasing their downloads, so they will be totally devastated if the app could not be sustained for whatever reason in future.
In this article I have totally focused my attention on the impact review guidelines has on white label apps. Apart from this, I have also written another article which outlines other problems surrounding this model.
In summary the odds are totally stacked up against white label apps, both for the providers and the clients. Think about these factors in order to avoid surprises and frustration for your clients in future.
Being a software engineer I have never paid so much attention to a legal document, reading and making choices based on app store review guidelines makes me feel like a lawyer.
Perhaps you should consult one.
If you would like to know how Zagl solves the problem of white-label apps or if you would like to have a mobile app for your store checkout our website.
