Microsoft and Facebook are two big tech companies that are condemning Apple’s App Store policies. “Apples with defects” once again stood at the tip of the antitrust public opinion.
According to TheVerge, the world’s largest social media developer has launched a Facebook game app for iOS, which can be used to watch live video game streams. However, the “mini-games” feature should be removed. “The application goes through a strict approval process from the Apple App Store. Facebook has publicly expressed its dissatisfaction with the incident.
Sheryl Sandberg, CEO of Facebook, told TheVerge in a press release: “Unfortunately we had to completely remove game functionality in Apple’s standalone Facebook game app for Apple to approve. Yes, that means iOS users will get a lot more to be.” Worst Experience for Those Using Android We have always focused on building a community of the more than 380 million people who play games on Facebook every month – whether Apple approves of it on standalone apps or not.
Facebook says it has been rejected by Apple for its Facebook Gaming app several times in recent months. The company says Apple has cited App Store 4.7 Policy to justify the denial, asserting the main purpose of the Facebook Gaming app is to play games. Facebook said it shared usage data from the Facebook Gaming app on Android that showed 95% were gaming Livestream activities, but that still hasn’t changed Apple’s opinion.
Apple announced its appeal process for situations like these at WWDC in June, but Facebook said it tried this and failed to convince Apple to change its decision. “We even appealed to this guide under the newly announced application review process at WWDC,” a Facebook spokesperson said. However, we received no response. “Facebook is now forced to give up and completely remove mini games from the Facebook Gaming app on iOS.
In fact, Facebook Gaming is mainly used to watch gaming livestreams, like the Twitch app known on both iOS and Android. The Android version of the app also includes several mini games from Facebook’s Instant Games platform.
This isn’t the first time Facebook has crashed on the App Store. Vivek Sharma, CEO of Facebook Gaming explained in a statement: “Even on the main Facebook app and Messenger, we’ve been forced to bury Instant Games for years on iOS. This is a common pain in the game industry, in the end players and developers will be the ones to suffer, and seriously hamper the innovation of mobile game formats. such as games in the cloud ”.
Apple is facing increasing criticism from rivals and the gaming industry for easing restrictions on the App Store. Most recently, Microsoft was forced to cut its xCloud iOS test earlier this week after App Store policies prevented the company from launching the app for months. Microsoft made the decision and condemned Apple: “Apple is alone as the only platform that rejects consumers from game subscription services and cloud gaming platforms like the Xbox Game Pass. “.
Apple defended its decision to block cloud game services like xCloud, Stadia, and GeForce Now from the App Store. “Our customers enjoy great apps and games from millions of developers and game services can be launched on the App Store as long as they follow the same set of principles that apply to All developers, including submitting each game for review and appearing in the rankings and searches, “an Apple spokesperson said in a statement on Friday.
Apple’s argument is that these services are out of control, the company cannot review each game offered on its streaming services individually. However, the company does not have the same requirements for services like Netflix or YouTube that stream millions of videos, TV shows, and movies to Apple iOS devices that Apple cannot consider.
The excuse for Apple’s App Store comes just months after the company got caught up in a heated battle over the new Hey email app. The event attracted widespread condemnation from lawmakers and developers, Apple eventually had to approve the application. Apple is one of several US technology companies facing a series of antitrust investigations. The EU has also opened an official antitrust investigation into the activities of the Apple App Store and Apple Pay.
With Microsoft and Facebook openly criticizing Apple, the company will inevitably face more questions about App Store policies in the near future.