Small businesses are slowly being wiped out from the App store following Apple’s widened ban on templated apps. The move by the company is not being received quite well by the owners of these small businesses though Apple insists what it is doing is for the best. The new move is basically one of the company’s larger App Store cleanup strategies and is targeted at eliminating spam and the low-quality clone apps.
Matters are apparently changing pretty fast. One thing that is quite evident is the fact that numerous app-building companies which had already pronounced themselves clear are in shock after realizing that they are affected as well.
January is the set deadline for any of those small companies that wish to submit their apps and moving past the set deadline means that they won’t be considered anymore. The company has the App Store Review team in place and it is the one entrusted with either giving approval or rejecting the submissions. At this point, quite a substantial number has succeeded at maintaining their existing apps but the one thing that remains rather uncertain is regarding how long that might be lasting.
The expanded policy enforcement to some might be a good thing. However, it is crucial to point out the fact that it usually targets the small business market and that is rather unfortunate. These app makers are dedicated to help all those businesses that aren’t in a position to come up with their own apps because of financial constraints or other factors.
Businesses that benefit from such services include restaurants, churches and the small fitness studios. It is a process that involves using a given template in the creation of an app presence. Further customization is usually carried out using the brand of the business in question or selected images.
An expert familiar with Apple’s moves opined, “As one app builder put it, the decision to limit these small businesses’ ability to compete on the App Store is as if a web hosting company said that they would no longer allow web pages built with WordPress templates or those made using website wizards from services like Wix or Squarespace.”
