In June 2017 Apple made an announcement which people in the development world now refer to simply as “4.2.6”.
This new guideline by the Apple App Review team has sent shockwaves through the app development industry and we are now seeing businesses close because of it.
What 4.2.6 means is that Apple will not allow an App to be published into their App Store if the app was developed using a “commercialised template or app generation service”. The means the average small business like a restaurant, barber shop or even a church can no longer use an affordable tool to get an app into the Apple App Store. What used to cost R15 000 for perfectly fine app will now cost 10 times that amount as it needs to be completely built from scratch. In South Africa we are not as affected by this announcement by Apple as iPhones only have 9% market share and is declining. Strange to think that the iPhone may soon join Nokia and Blackberry as forgotten brand name phones.
There are now various institutions taking Apple to court regarding the 4.2.6 ruling. Apple’s decision has already caused several app building platforms to close down.
It would be interesting to see Apple launch their very own low code app generation service like an Xcode for dummies and then obviously Apple would allow those templated apps into their App Store while making a wonderful monthly profit on a SAAS ( software as a service ) offering.
When you look around, you will see that more of your friends have ditched their iPhone for a Samsung or Huawei. Just better value for money. Can you believe this giant of a brand is getting it so wrong so consistently since Steve Jobs passed on.
Will be amazing if Apple can somehow turn this around.