Apple Rejects Facebook's Gaming App, For At Least the Fifth Time

[BlueHacker]

After a few weeks of consideration, Apple denied Facebook’s new Gaming app. “Since February, Apple has rejected at least five versions of Facebook Gaming,” reports The New York Times. “Each time, Apple cited its rules that prohibit apps with the ‘main purpose’ of distributing casual games.” From the report:

Facebook Gaming may also have been hurt by appearing to compete with Apple’s own sales of games, two of the people said. Games are by far the most lucrative category of mobile apps worldwide. Apple’s App Store, the only officially approved place for iPhone and iPad users to find new games and other programs, generated about $15 billion in revenue last year. Apple’s rejections of the app from Facebook, a fellow Silicon Valley powerhouse, illustrate the control it exerts over the mobile software and entertainment ecosystem – clout that regulators are increasingly examining.

The Facebook Gaming app on Android shows a catalog of simple games presented by category and with colorful icons. Facebook initially submitted its Gaming app to Apple for approval in late February, said the people with knowledge of the situation. Apple rejected that version, they said, citing Section 4.7 of its app rules, which state that HTML5 games are allowed “as long as code distribution isn’t the main purpose of the app” and “the code is not offered in a store or store-like interface,” among other restrictions. But the initial version of the Gaming app that Facebook showed to Apple was similar to the Android version, listing games by category in a manner that could be interpreted as “store-like.” Trying to get the Gaming app through Apple’s review process, Facebook then changed the design of the presentation of games in several ways, the people said. The colorful icons were removed in favor of a bland listing. The different games categories were removed to list all games at once. The ability to sort games was also taken away.

Facebook also included a version that looked almost exactly like how such games are presented already within the main Facebook app on Apple devices, which is a single unalphabetized, unsortable list, the people said. Apple said no to each of them, pointing to the same rule, they said. In Facebook’s most recent submission, the Gaming app did not include a separate tab for playable games and included no way for the user to choose from a wide selection of games to play, the people said. Instead, that version suggested certain games within the user’s news and activity feed. Apple denied it. For what it’s worth, Google quickly approved the app and began offering it worldwide on April 20.