The Apple Watch is just about to arrive on people’s doorsteps, which means Apple will officially have a smartwatch available in the real world, putting it in direct competition to other smartwatches out there.
That obviously includes the Pebble smartwatch, the wearable that effectively introduced the smartwatch rage in the first place. And while the iOS App Store has had many apps available in its catalog that supports the Pebble smartwatch, including “SeaNav US,” it looks like some things might be changing behind the scenes at Apple.
According to a forum posting on Pebble’s site, the developer behind SeaNav US is complaining that the latest version of their app was rejected by Apple due to having a reference to the Pebble smartwatch. Specifically, the developer notes in the metadata of the app, and the description of it for the public, that the app supports the Pebble smartwatch. According to the developer, this has been the case for the last two years, but Apple is just now rejecting the app:
“From Apple
3.1 – Apps or metadata that mentions the name of any other mobile platform will be rejected
3.1 DetailsWe noticed that your app or its metadata contains irrelevant platform information in the app. Providing future platform compatibility plans, or other platform references, is not appropriate for the App Store.
Specifically, your app and app description declare support for thePebble Smartwatch.
Next Steps
Please remove any instances of this information from your app and its marketing materials, including the Application Description, What’s New info, Previews and screenshots.
Since your iTunes Connect Application State is Rejected, a new binary will be required. Make the desired metadata changes when you upload the new binary.
NOTE: Please be sure to make any metadata changes to all App Localizations by selecting each specific localization and making appropriate changes.“
As many have replied in the forum, this is not a new policy from Apple and has been present for the last four years. Of course, the timing is certainly interesting. While Apple has not had a competing smartwatch available for customers to buy up until just recently, the fact that Apple is reportedly rejecting this app, despite its previous clearance, and for the reasons it is doing so is certainly questionable.
The developer should be able to resubmit the application to the App Store after they remove any mention of the Pebble smartwatch from the areas that Apple has noted above. While the official Pebble smartwatch app is still available in the iOS App Store, this is certainly one trend that many app developers will not want to see continue.
[via Pebble forums]
