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An issue I haven't seen previously discussed is Apple's enforcement of their "Business" guideline (3.2) which effectively prevents certain b2b apps from making

An issue I haven't seen previously discussed is Apple's enforcement of their "Business" guideline (3.2) which effectively prevents certain b2b apps from making it onto the App Store because the app is supposedly not available to a wide enough consumer audience. This is a very subjective policy because popular b2b apps such as Slack, Zendesk, etc which have a wide reach are allowed, but more industry specific b2b apps are rejected even if our theoretical user base spans 10s of thousands of people simply because only clients of the business are able to use the app. And btw this policy is not actually encoded in their rules[1] but 3.2 is the code they cite when rejecting your app. The rejection wording is as follows [2]: "During our review, we found that this app was designed for a specific business or organization and not for general distribution on the App Store. Business apps available on the App Store are meant for use by a wide variety of external customers around the world. As this app is not intended for general distribution, it cannot be made available on the App Store. We encourage you to review the other ways to distribute your business app and choose one that better meets your business needs." [1] https://developer.apple.com/app-store/review/guidelines/ https://developer.apple.com/app-store/review/guidelines/ [2] https://developer.apple.com/forums/thread/122473 https://developer.apple.com/forums/thread/122473 (not actually my thread but same rejection copy)

easton 6y ago
Then there’s things like this: https://apps.apple.com/us/app/hondamobile/id1455573927 https://apps.apple.com/us/app/hondamobile/id1455573927 Which is an app specifically for Honda internal employees and it still passed review.
- slow_donkey 6y ago
  Wow that's mind boggling. It's possible that's a whitelabeled app developed by a different company which has greater overall reach. But yes, this is exactly why Apple's subjective enforcement of invisible policies is so enraging - it's like you need to negotiate some secret backdoor deal just to get your app into the store.
donmcronald 6y ago
> We encourage you to review the other ways to distribute your business app and choose one that better meets your business needs." At least that won't take long. Lol.
- oauea 6y ago
  Android it is.
Marsymars 6y ago
Huh, I wasn't even aware of this. My business has an app that's only usable by our B2B customers. (Which are low in number, but high value.) It would cause significant consternation if Apple decided to reject it.
RonanTheGrey 6y ago
In the past several years I have used half a dozen apps that were "designed for a specific business or organization" including a VPN app that only works for a large California software company, an account management app that only works for a company that does software contracting (different than the other), among others. The distribution audiences of these are comparatively tiny. So why were they allowed? Rhetorical question, we know why.

easton 6y ago

Then there’s things like this: https://apps.apple.com/us/app/hondamobile/id1455573927 https://apps.apple.com/us/app/hondamobile/id1455573927 Which is an app specifically for Honda internal employees and it still passed review.

slow_donkey 6y ago
Wow that's mind boggling. It's possible that's a whitelabeled app developed by a different company which has greater overall reach. But yes, this is exactly why Apple's subjective enforcement of invisible policies is so enraging - it's like you need to negotiate some secret backdoor deal just to get your app into the store.

donmcronald 6y ago

> We encourage you to review the other ways to distribute your business app and choose one that better meets your business needs." At least that won't take long. Lol.

oauea 6y ago
Android it is.

Marsymars 6y ago

Huh, I wasn't even aware of this. My business has an app that's only usable by our B2B customers. (Which are low in number, but high value.) It would cause significant consternation if Apple decided to reject it.

RonanTheGrey 6y ago

In the past several years I have used half a dozen apps that were "designed for a specific business or organization" including a VPN app that only works for a large California software company, an account management app that only works for a company that does software contracting (different than the other), among others. The distribution audiences of these are comparatively tiny. So why were they allowed? Rhetorical question, we know why.