Apple has revised an App Store guideline that was designed to curb spam apps, but instead threatened to wipe out thousands of apps for local restaurants, churches and other small businesses.
The policy change, and the controversy surrounding it, illustrate just how much power Apple and its guidelines have over the $143 billion app market.
Apple’s original rule was introduced in June and unilaterally banned apps made from a template — a technique some developers use to churn out low-quality apps that clog up the store and aren’t worth a download. But the rule, which was set to go into effect in January, also ended up catching legitimate developers that help small companies without development resources make their own apps.
That includes developers such as those at ChowNow, a Los Angeles-based company that’s worked behind the scenes with 9,000 restaurants across the country to develop their own apps.
Small businesses have been slow to modernize for the mobile age — 29 percent still don’t even have websites — but many are increasing their investment in apps. A survey from business intelligence firm Clutch found that while just 42 percent of small businesses had an app at the start of 2016, 67 percent planned to have an app by the end of 2017.
But when the local pizza shop or church decides that it’s time to jump into the app economy, they may not know where to start. That’s where a service such as ChowNow or eChurch — which makes apps for churches — comes in. They offer a service similar to what Squarespace or Wix offers for websites; restaurant owners can choose what features they want to have in an app, and the developer acts as a consultant or middleman to create the app. The problem is that, while these developers invest time and effort into their apps with these products, templates are also associated with spammers.
ChowNow didn’t think Apple was trying to kill small business apps, said chief executive Chris Webb. But, he said, Apple had clearly not thought through the consequences of its action. “It’s easy to make a change and not realize the fallout from that change,” he said.
