Why Is Apple Rejecting Some App Submissions For The App Store?

It was found out recently that since last month Apple has been rejecting App Store submissions and blocking developers from promoting their apps when the names of such apps contain pricing information. Specifically, apps that contain the word “free” in their metadata are being refused of promotion on the iOS and Mac App Stores.

On Tuesday, VentureBeat reported that the Cupertino giant’s iTunes Connect service has been turning down app submissions to the iOS and Mac App Stores for the past month or so. The reason for this has to do with the updated developer guide that now discourages developers from including the word “free” and mentioning discounts in the name of an app build.

Developers who did not follow the guideline received notifications, requesting them to make necessary changes before resubmitting their apps to iTunes Connect. “Your app’s name, icons, screenshots, or previews to be displayed on the App Store include references to your app’s price, which is not considered a part of these metadata items,” the notification reads.

Also indicated in the notification is Apple’s advice to users that they should remove any references to pricing from their app’s name and simply advertise the pricing in the app description. “Please remove any references to your app’s price from your app’s name, including any references to your app being free or discounted. If you would like to advertise changes to your app’s price, it would be appropriate to include this information in the app description. Changes to your app’s price can be made in the Pricing and Availability section of iTunes Connect.”

An Apple spokesperson has already confirmed the changes to the developer guide but declined to comment further on why Apple did this. Also, it’s not clear why some apps on the App Store still contain the word “free” in their names. MacRumors pointed out that Disney’s “Where’s My Water? Free” and “Doodle Jump Free” are still not affected by the change. Whether Apple is only implementing the new rule to new app submissions or not remains unknown at this point.