Apple Ban on templates Apps widens - Any impact on B4i?

[Andrew (Digitwell)]

See article : https://techcrunch.com/2017/12/08/a...s-wiping-small-businesses-from-the-app-store/
https://techcrunch.com/2017/12/08/a...s-wiping-small-businesses-from-the-app-store/
I was wondering what the community thought about this.

I just started a business developing bespoke apps but also I have just launched an app "Your Advisor" which could be considered a form of template under the terms used at the end of the article.

We’ve also heard from one source that the change will affect other companies building apps, including MindBody (apps for fitness studios), eChurch and Custom Church Apps (apps for churches), Olo (apps for restaurants), Hopscotch (games), uCampaign (apps for Republican lawmakers) and others. [Hearing that Hopscotch may not be affected; others haven’t commented.]

“I’m sure that Apple has some business rationale for doing this, but they have just disenfranchised an entire ecosystem and none of us can really understand why,” Shapiro said. “There were much easier ways to fix their perceived problem.”

The odd thing is that Apple seems to be pushing people to develop Progressive Web Apps as an alternative.

“We understand the need to clean up the App Store, but we feel Apple could have gone about it in a different way,” noted Bizness Apps CEO Andrew Gazdecki, who is transitioning his clients to progressive web apps, per Apple’s advice. (my emphasis)

I'd hate to have to move to PWA, largely as I don't like Javascript/HTML/CSS combo.

What do you guys think, is this likely to be a growing problem for the B4I community?

 

[Erel]

B4i creates 100% regular, native apps. There are "no coding" platforms / wizards that allow you to build an app based on a template. for example: https://www.swiftic.com/

This is not the case with B4i.
It will only affect you if you are creating multiple variants of the same app.

 

[LWGShane]

I'd hate to have to move to PWA, largely as I don't like Javascript/HTML/CSS combo.

What about using ABMaterial to create web-apps with B4J/B4X? I plan on using ABMaterial for various ideas/apps I have planned because I can't see myself paying Apple $99/year to submit free apps.

 

[Andrew (Digitwell)]

Hi Erel,

It will only affect you if you are creating multiple variants of the same app.

I think that is my point, to keep the costs low for small businesses, I have a "template" which is branded and customized for each customer. So it seems that this is not a business model that Apple will allow in the future.

I knew it wouldn't directly affect B4i.

@UFOCoder13 I have been meaning to take a closer look at ABMaterial, perhaps this is the excuse I need.

 

[nwhitfield]

Wow; that's astonishingly awful of Apple. It's hard to see on the iTunes store because the developer is listed as the local cab firm, but on the Android one, there are over 120 cab firms using the same app as my local firm. Apple's effectively telling them to sod off, and let Uber gobble up their market.

Similarly with local restaurants; my local Chinese uses an app called Appaway, as do many others in the UK. It doesn't take commission on each order. But again, Apple's sticking two fingers up at these people and saying "chance your luck with Deliveroo/Uber Eats/Just Eat"

I hope they get whacked really hard for such an anti-competitive decision.

 

[Erel]

On the other hand, there is an opportunity here for app developers. If templates are not allowed then each company needs a unique app (or website).

 

[nwhitfield]

Well, yes, it's an opportunity for developers - assuming the people running small companies like these (especially take-away restaurants, which are often family firms) have the time and money to sit down with someone, work out the design of a custom app, and actually pay for it. Many are existing on small margins anyway, especially in cities like London.

Regardless of opportunity, Apple is loading cost and burden on small firms, in a way which will directly benefit the big VC-backed outfits like Uber. That's shameful and disgusting, and shows why it's so dangerous to allow unaccountable companies to act as digital gatekeepers.

 

[MikeH]

I agree with Apple. They have a reputation for being high quality, so its in keeping that they reject spam and encourage well written apps in their store. B4I is well suited to creating such apps, just dont use it to create "template apps".

I actually got a phone call from Apple about 3-4 weeks ago regarding this. It was about one of my apps that they said was an identical copy of one I'd recently submitted and therefore fell into the spam category. I had to explain that the latest was the ad free, paid version and that was the only difference - ie one had ads, one didnt. They accepted that answer but I realised they made a fair point and I decided not to submit that version.

 

[Andrew (Digitwell)]

I'm with @nwhitfield here. Quality is not really the issue.

As the article states:

Another company affected by the rule is ChowNow, which designs apps for restaurants using components that allow them to have their own online ordering systems and loyalty programs.

ChowNow used to be an Apple favorite. In fact, the company was even quoted in Apple’s documentation regarding best practices for Apple Pay because it was one of the first companies to integrate Apple’s payments technology into its app-building platform.

But even ChowNow is being told by Apple that after January 1, things will change for them.

“There was no way in June [when the guidelines changed] that we would have said, ‘that’s going to target our apps,'” ChowNow CEO Christopher Webb told TechCrunch of how he first reacted to the news. “Apple had told us you aren’t being targeted by this from a quality standpoint. So being hit now under the umbrella of spam is shocking to every quality developer out there and all the good actors.”

Apple’s concern over template-based apps for restaurants, Webb added, also doesn’t make sense because “there’s only so much you can do with apps that perform the same utility – ordering food.”

Pizza apps, for example, will all tend to have photos of pizza, use red in their designs, and offer buttons for pickup and delivery.

also:

Not surprisingly, Apple’s partnership with IBM, which involves IBM building template-based apps for enterprise clients, is not impacted by the new rules.

Small businesses as we know are very price sensitive, the whole point of a template is an initial entry. Just like web site templates. As the business sees a ROI on their app investment, then it will be possible to up-sell a more bespoke solution.

Maybe the B4J/ABMaterials would be a possible solution. I need to investigate it further.