Mention Android In Your Application And Apple Might Pull It From The App Store

Apple is continuing unabated with its campaign to keep a rigorous reign over what is allowed into its application store.

Chalk up one more restriction to the list: mentioning Android is now a big no-go in submitted applications.

Tim, the founder of Flash of Genius, a test prep application company, received a threatening email from Apple recommending the removal of references of Android from his application. Either do that or face possible “interruption in the availability of Flash of Genius: SAT Vocab 2.2 on the iPhone App Store.”

Or in Apple-speak: pull the reference that your application was a  finalist in Google’s Android Developer’s Challenge, or we will pull your app at some point. Make you a little mad? Me too.

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This is the offending application, with the problem text in the shot:

Of course, it is Apple’s store, and they can do with it what they want. But with that, we still get to judge them for their actions. This level of censorship strikes me as more than a touch ridiculous.

We have included the full letter from Apple below. The original copy can be found here, on the Flash of Genius blog.

Dear Flash of Genius, LLC,

Thank you for submitting Flash of Genius: SAT Vocab 2.2 to the App Store. During our review of your application, we found that your application contains inappropriate or irrelevant platform information in the Application Description and/or Release Notes sections.

Providing future platform compatibility plans or other general platform references are not relevant in the context of the iPhone App Store. While your application has not been rejected, it would be appropriate to remove “Finalist in Google’s Android Developer’s Challenge!” from the Application Description [Emphasis added].

Please log into iTunes Connect to make appropriate changes to the Application Description now to avoid an interruption in the availability of Flash of Genius: SAT Vocab 2.2 on the iPhone App Store.

Regards,

iPhone Developer Program

[emphasis by Flash of Genius]