This morning Apple told James Thompson he would have to remove or drastically change PCalc’s Today Widget. Having seen the writing on the wall over the past few weeks, I sent this email to Apple executives on October 25th:

I’m concerned that Apple is in the process of making a grave mistake in rewriting the App Store Review Guidelines to exclude features that have already shipped in many iOS 8 apps. I’ve been seeing apps pulled, hearing about rejections for things that were previously approved, and now PCalc appears to be in the line of fire.

The press may or may not make a ruckus, and even if they do it will quickly die down, but I think a policy shift this late in the game will have long term implications for the iOS ecosystem.

As I’ve mentioned in previous emails, I fear App Review. And that’s no small thing. So many decisions I make end up being filtered through whether or not I think something might get rejected. Which has a profound impact on my team’s entire development process — from what ideas we explore while brainstorming to how we implement specific features.

In the grand scheme of things my current apps aren’t particularly important to the iOS platform and if my team and I limit our thinking and don’t come up with any great new apps or features it’s unlikely Apple will be perceptibly worse off for it. But if a significant number of people involved in iOS development start to fear App Review the way I have the past couple years, that changes the game. And I’m not just talking about indie developers like me. Contractors may steer their clients away from taking risks. Project managers at companies like Facebook and Pinterest may think twice before pitching a new feature. Venture capitalists may pass on a fledgling company because its product is too dependent on an iOS feature that might get rejected.

I’m obviously incredibly biased, but I think it may just be worth allowing some arguably sub-par user experiences in the App Store to prevent the iOS platform from becoming a place where risk is avoided. The App Store is a beautiful and diverse forest of apps, a little pruning here and there might not seem like a big deal, but it’s always hard to predict how an ecosystem will adapt.

david