Lazy App Developers Beware! Apple To Raise Bar On iPhone App Quality

by Bill French on 23/03/10 at 5:30 am

Bill French is an information architect specializing in Internet applications. He is also the co-founder of MyST Technology Partners and Senior Editor for iPhoneCTO.

It was predictable; eventually Apple would have to raise the minimum quality and uniqueness of native apps. Imagine twenty thousand apps that are nothing more than RSS feed-driven attempts to push worthless content through iTunes. Free or not, the days of cookie-cutter apps that contribute nothing to the topology of unique and useful extensions of the iPhone platform, are coming to an end.

This trend started to emerge in mid-2009 when Apple rejected and pulled more than 800 apps from a single developer who created functionally identical apps that displayed different types of data. And the trend to quash the iPhone equivalent of 1950’s row houses continued in late 2009 as Apple redesigned the App Store to force developers to provide more screen shots and less text; descriptions are now limited to two lines making it more difficult to swamp app pages with endless marketing propaganda. This [seemingly] subtle change forces developers to show innovative substance, a welcome improvement for consumers but a warning shot through the bow of any company using app generator services.

According to TechCrunch, developers interviewed about recent attitude changes at the App Store indicate that while Apple isn’t necessarily opposed to app generators and template-based development services, it is certainly developing a much-needed bias against simple applications that are glorified RSS feeds or attempts to create brand ads under the guise of a native app.

Simple content-oriented apps could easily be developed in HTML and they might even perform better for their intended objectives. Web apps are more easily shaped to address marketing requirements and they also provide significant agility over their Xcode cousins. As such, Apple [correctly] asserts that authors of such apps should consider web implementations. I’m surprised that app generator companies aren’t racing to establish competitive dominance with highly advanced HTML 5 designs. This strategy would give them the freedom to build their services for all mobile platforms without the risk of Apple calling the shots.

In the last few months, many more templated iPhone app services have launched in spite of the fact that some relatively comprehensive services have already folded their tents. Most of these generators produce simple apps with very limited feature sets. A few are pretty creative and provide some unique capabilities. However unique their features may be, in the hands of enough customers, the outcome is still a lot of sameness which is what Apple wants to avoid. This suggests that apps generated through a service or template system are more likely to be closely scrutinized by Apple in the future.

Medialets CEO Eric Litman provides a straightforward analysis of the app generator issue:

“So what are the platforms to do about the recent crackdown from Apple? There’s really only one choice if they want to continue to exist on the iPhone: invest in building out considerably more flexibility into their platforms to allow each app to differ from the others they build. Integrate more features and take the time to nail the design and UI elements to be representative of what Apple wants to see in every app. For better or worse, Apple will be looking more closely at apps from the platforms than from individual developers. AppLoop, the first startup to announce and iPhone-specific app builder, is already gone. Others will almost certainly follow.”

Some app-generator companies such as AppMakr believe that a strong relationship with Apple may lead to accelerated application approval because Apple would be more comfortable with app services that are consistent and reliable in creating fully tested apps. There is some merit in this argument but it’s not likely to be significant enough to outweigh the differentiation challenges of generators that can only be so flexible.

Like a successful gene pool, Apple wants its developer community to create diverse application genetics where innovation is rewarded and consumers can find good value.